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Wednesday, April 22, 2015 | BREAKING NEWS: VANCOUVERSUN.COM
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In this artist’s rendering, a brightly-lit Skyfront at Burrard Place rises above the Vancouver skyline. The project is being developed by the Pattison Group and Reliance Properties Ltd.
Burrard Place reaches for the sky
Massive multi-tower, multi-use project will be third-tallest building in Vancouver
Evan Duggan
“
To see a building
like that in the
south shore is really
going to be a catalyst
to a huge amount of
change in that area.
Special to The Sun
When Skyfront at Burrard
Place breaks ground as expected
at the end of next year, the
multi-tower development will
be the largest project of its kind
in downtown Vancouver since
the 2009 redevelopment of the
Woodward’s building in Gastown, project developers say.
The site situated within Burrard, Hornby and Drake streets
will eventually give rise to two
residential towers, including one
that will stand 54 storeys, making it the third tallest tower in
downtown Vancouver after the
Shangri-La and Trump Tower.
It would also be the largest real
estate project in the Jim Pattison Group stable of assets.
The $500-million, mixeduse development, co-developed by the Pattison Group and
Reliance Properties Ltd., will
include more than 800 residential units, including 87 market
rental units, and a third 13-storey office tower with 235,000 sq.
ft of space for rent and for sale.
The Skyfront project comes
amid a frenzy of downtown
tower construction that is transforming the Vancouver skyline,
including several towers with
roughly 2.2 million sq. ft of new
office space that has real estate
experts scratching their heads
about whether there will be
enough commercial tenants to
fill the space.
But Jon Stovell, of Reliance
Properties, says the project’s
residential component is the
driving vision, and he thinks
Skyfront will emerge as demand
for homes in Vancouver remains
at an all-world premium.
The towers will stand out at
that location, he noted. “That
height is very uncharacteristic
for that part of the city,” he said.
“The big towers like ShangriLa and Trump are in the downtown core amid all the other tall
buildings.”
Michael Lee, vice-president
of Jim Pattison Developments,
echoed that the plethora of new
Jon Stovell
Reliance Properties ltd.
Skyfront will incorporate the Toyota dealership that has stood at that location for 42 years.
large-scale downtown builds
isn’t a deterrent.
“Whether it’s today or tomorrow, we don’t see that demand
really changing, maybe other
than just continuing to increase,”
Lee said. “So right now we just
think it’s the right time.”
He said the Pattison Group
would retain the Toyota car dealership that stood at the intersection of Burrard and Drake
streets for 42 years. “It will be
three levels above grade and up
to five levels below grade,” he
said.
The space is ripe for a major
upgrade, Lee said. “Our location, with the car dealership
and the surface lot, was probably the worst asset in the neighbourhood so we think there is
tremendous opportunity to help
upgrade the area.”
Stovell said Burrard Place represents one of only six build
sites approved by city planners
that will be permitted to accommodate towers that tall. “These
buildings were meant to have
major architectural contributions to the city skyline, (and)
have very high sustainability
requirements in terms of their
environmental footprint.”
The project, which launched
in 2009, has now completed
the rezoning process and on
Monday received the required
development permit from the
city to move forward.
“This is probably the largest
project in the downtown right
now,” Stovell said. “It’s just
around a million square feet
and also the third-tallest building in the city after Shangri-La
and Trump, at 540 feet.”
He said Skyfront rivals the
Woodward’s redevelopment in
magnitude, potential occupancy
mix, and its expected effect on a
neighbourhood.
Skyfront would rise about 30
stories higher than any of the
buildings that surround it and
would include an integrated
mix of uses, including a grocery
store, and community amenity
contributions worth about $16
million. “To see a building like
that in the south shore is really
going to be a catalyst to a huge
amount of change in that area,”
Stovell said.
The latest steps for Burrard
Place also come amid the decision in recent weeks to shutter
and relocate the nearby aging
St. Paul’s hospital to a vacant
plot of land near Main Street
and Terminal Avenue — which
could usher in even more highdensity development along the
south end of Burrard Street.
“We don’t know what’s going
to happen there,” Stovell said of
the current St. Paul’s location.
“It’s going to take some time
but it’s still a very interesting
outcome.”
Stovell said the current explosion of available downtown
office space wouldn’t deter their
vision or strategy.
“We have a very large office
portfolio already in our company,” he said, noting that the
leasable office component is relatively small at about 136,000
sq. ft of the total office component. “We are able to move our
tenants through our portfolio as
we grow and offer them the ability to give up a lease in an old
building of ours and move into a
larger space.”
He said pre-leasing wouldn’t
begin until construction starts,
which is expected to be in January 2016.
evan@evanduggan.com
Twitter: @evanbduggan
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