15 replies to this topic

[AllseeingEye]

Proposed new development on the iconic 800 block of Granville Street, home of the Orpheum Theatre and - according to some people - one of the best live music venues in the world, the Commodore Ballroom.

 

Lord knows I saw enough acts in the latter when I lived in the big smoke and had more than a few memorable nights there. A friend who is in the movie/entertainment biz in Vancouver says locals are stoked for this to happen and re-energize what used to be one of the busiest entertainment districts in the country.

 

If nothing else its ambitious - https://www.urbanyvr...lle-and-robson/

 

From the Vancouver Sun - https://vancouversun...d-bowling-lanes

Edited by AllseeingEye, 19 January 2021 - 07:10 PM.

[LJ]

Saw that on Global news tonight, I agree, I like it.

[AllseeingEye]

Holy moley look at the scope and scale - not to mention the building designs - of this development on the south end of the Burrard bridge, a partnership between the Squamish FN and Westbank....crikey:

 

https://dailyhive.co...5p2W_KYGZEyjtgU

[zoomer]

How amazing would it be to have that partnership here at Rock Bay.

I can see it happening on a Victoria scale, but with 30-40 storey buildings in the next decade or two. Maybe with a casino as I don’t think the city will have any authority over what happens there as is the case in Vancouver?

[Jackerbie]

^ Depends on the legal status of the Rock Bay lands. If the FN was simply given title of the lands, then they have the same rights and obligations of any other property owner. The Senakw development in Vancouver is on Squamish FN reserve lands.

[Brantastic]

I've been excited about this project for a long time. Kitsilano NIMBYs are quite upset about it but there's not really anything they can do about it. 

[Victoria Watcher]

When complete, the towering complex will transform the Kitsilano skyline with 6,000 rental units and 1,200 homes. One of the proposed 11 towers will stand 58 storeys tall – one of the tallest buildings in the city.

The nation will rely on the city for police, fire services, utilities and public works, also drawing on a record-setting $1.4-billion federal loan to fund the project’s first phases.

There’s a reason the project can swing for the fences so freely: developers on reserve land don’t have to abide by city rules around issues like building height, complex density and requirements to provide amenities like park space.


https://www.cbc.ca/n...akw-development

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 05 December 2022 - 08:38 AM.

[Nparker]

Rental units aren't homes?

What's the benefit to the taxpayer for underwriting the $1.4 billion loan?

[Mike K.]

Hey, where is Jackerbie these days?

[Victoria Watcher]

Vancouver’s new mega-development is big, ambitious and undeniably Indigenous

 

In B.C., Indigenous nations are reclaiming power and wealth for their own citizens—no matter what the neighbours think

 

 

Vancouver has long been nicknamed the “city of glass” for its shimmering high-rise skyline. Over the next few years, that skyline will get a very large new addition: Sen̓áḵw, an 11-tower development that will Tetrize 6,000 apartments onto just over 10 acres of land in the heart of the city. Once complete, this will be the densest neighbourhood in Canada, providing thousands of homes for Vancouverites who have long been squeezed between the country’s priciest real estate and some of its lowest vacancy rates. 

 

Sen̓áḵw is big, ambitious and undeniably urban—and undeniably Indigenous. It’s being built on reserve land owned by the Squamish First Nation, and it’s spearheaded by the Squamish Nation itself, in partnership with the private real estate developer Westbank. Because the project is on First Nations land, not city land, it’s under Squamish authority, free of Vancouver’s zoning rules. And the Nation has chosen to build bigger, denser and taller than any development on city property would be allowed.

 

 

https://macleans.ca/...̓aḵw-vancouver/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 March 2024 - 04:21 AM.

[AllseeingEye]

That's a LOT of concrete on only ten acres; if I owned property on Kits Point I'd be none too happy either and I'm certainly no NIMBY. Those building designs are just plain fugly. And yet another 13,000 residences contemplated a short distance away at Jericho? Wow....a good example of how not to make friends and influence your neighbors. Neither of these projects appear to be at all designed in the spirit of the "historic caretakers of these lands" IMO.....

[dasmo]

While it’s cool they are doing that and entirely their right to do so. it’s not cool that the article ridicules the people who object. It’s their community too. Plus it isn’t entirely truthful that’s it super “indigenous” is my guess. Behind this development will be a non-indigenous person who doesn’t care about anything but the money and by giving the nation 51% they can take advantage of their sovereignty with a classic quid pro quo. Prove me wrong….

[dasmo]

It’s also an allegory to what the province is doing to all our neighborhood themselves by up-zoning everything and calling anyone who objects a potential hate criminal. Perhaps this is fitting then.

[dasmo]

So while there’s nothing those people can do towards that Nation. They can sue Wesbank. My guess is they went to them with a proposal.

[Mike K.]

Maybe nothing will come of this project, or at least not until Westbank settles lawsuits.

Real estate developer Westbank faces litigation for Canadian, U.S. projects due to unpaid bills

Westbank Corp., a prominent Canadian developer known for its ambitious architecture, is facing problems at several projects in Toronto and Seattle with contractors claiming millions of dollars in unpaid bills.

The number of lawsuits and liens has been piling up over the past year – a particularly difficult period for the industry as borrowing costs and construction expenses soar. More than two dozen construction and trade businesses have been fighting with Westbank over unpaid bills. The allegations have not been proven in court.

- https://www.theglobe...oronto-seattle/

[aastra]

 

It’s also an allegory to what the province is doing to all our neighborhood themselves by up-zoning everything and calling anyone who objects a potential hate criminal. Perhaps this is fitting then.

 

In our modern enlightened age it's never the deed itself that's right or wrong. The only thing that matters is who does the deed. The exact same action can be noble or wicked, true or false, right or wrong, depending on who does it.

Anyway, it would seem this Burrard Bridge concept wouldn't represent all that much of a departure from other recent major projects in Greater Vancouver. Extreme height and density where you wouldn't have expected extreme height and density even ~15-20 years ago is happening in all kinds of different areas. Methinks if they vary the forms and massing to include a few False Creek-style midrise & lowrise buildings and otherwise reduce the overall height/density/scale by maybe 10-15% then the justification for any kind of serious backlash would be pretty shaky.