Pacific Metropolis

Coopers Pointe and the Mariner

Filling out the picture of Concord Pacific's Cooper's Quay neighborhood, at least three more new buildings will be going up over the next few years.

The first is Coopers Pointe, which will be located next to the Cambie Street bridge, nearby the water. Few specifics about the building are currently available, although by the looks of the following rendering, it appears that it will be at least 15 storeys high.

Marketing for another pair of new buildings, referred to as the Mariner development, is also up on the web. Both towers will be 24 storeys (228 feet) high, with construction set for completion by 2007.

Within the Coopers Quay neighborhood, Mariners 1 and 2 will be located on the east side of Cooper's Park, between the Coopers Point building to the west and Coopers Lookout to the east.

Roll out the Barrel

Continuing its progress along the shores of False Creek, Concord Pacific's latest venture is called the Coopers Quay neighborhood. (Click image for a larger picture).

Located between the Cambie Street Bridge and the west side of the Plaza of Nations, the entire project won't be finished until 2008, when a total of 600 apartment units will be built, bringing about 1,000 new residents to the area, according to this article from the Yaletown View.

Phase one of the development, called Coopers Lookout, will combine a 30-storey (270 feet) building with a smaller, 10-storey building. The design is supposed to look like a ship that faces the water.

Excavation has already begun at the site, and construction is scheduled for completion by 2007. In all, 221 condo units will be have been built once phase I is complete.

One of the best features of the new Coopers Quay development - free kayaks for all the residents (or, at least they'll get to use them for free). There's also a rumour that a bowling alley will be going into the area too.

The PNE at 95

Just like a B-movie monster, it seems as though it may be impossible to kill the PNE.

The Fair is back for another year of carny-filled hokum, bringing such events as the Celebration Parade, Whack-a-Mole, Superdogs, and a bunch of crappy bands you've never heard of into the heart of Hastings Park.

In case you're wondering about the PNE's future, the City of Vancouver is still working out the details, but it appears that the PNE and Playland will live on in one form or another well into the 21st Century. (See the Council decision from June 2004 here).

At present, the Park Board is continuing work on a master plan for the continued redevelopment and greening of Hastings Park, which at 162 acres is Vancouver's second largest. The past six years have already seen the construction of the Italian Gardens, the Sanctuary (pictured below) a skateboard park, and Empire Field.

According to a November 2004 report to City Council, a 15+ year plan for Hastings Park is currently being drafted, with the goal of having a comprehensive site plan completed by April 2007.

It appears that the city has decided to keep both Playland and the 17-day PNE, although they will eventually operate on a smaller, greened site. Most importantly, some heritage elements are likely to be preserved, including the Livestock Building on 'historic' Miller Drive (link to pdf) and of course, the roller coaster.

Hopefully those mini-donuts will live on as well.

An Early Look at The Erickson

Not much information is available yet, other than this one picture of what the Erickson may eventually look like.

Concord Pacific does have a website, where interested parties can pre-register (and pony up a deposit) for this high-end building, when it comes on the market this fall.

The development permit says that the building will be 18 storeys (53 metres) tall, with 61 apartment units. More building diagrams are available in the following City of Vancouver administrative report (link to pdf).

It's set to rise at the foot of Homer, where the Concord Pacific presentation centre is currently located. It should be an interesting landmark on the southern part of the city.

Yaletown Roundup

In addition to our look at a few of the most prominent projects around the Yaletown area (the Freesia, Yaletown Park, Metroliving, the Grace Residences), there's a couple other sites that deserve a brief mention.

The first is the Tribeca Lofts, a 7 storey building going up at the corner of Richards and Nelson. When it's completed, it will have 53 "New York style lofts", but no Robert Deniro. About three floors have been built so far.

The second is Living Mode, at the corner of Richards and Smithe. They've just broken ground at the construction site during the past two weeks, but there's not much going on there right now, nor on the developer's website for that matter. All we can say about the latter is that it's (ahem) rather snappy.

Graceland

Located at the corner of Drake and Richards, construction of the second phase of the Grace Residences is now well underway, with approximately 10 floors of the eventual 27 storeys (300 feet) already completed.

Once it's finally finished in early 2006, there will be 52 apartment units in the main tower, joining the 19 units already built as part of phase one.

From the building's design to the quality of its construction, it's definitely a first rate operation, with some people already suggesting that the Grace will quickly become a landmark building.

Besides the slick slide show on the developer's site, Dream House magazine has some photos of the phase I penthouse interior for those who want to gawk at the indoor pool and winding staircase (link to pdf).

The developer, James Schouw, can also take credit for the Iliad on Homer, and there's speculation in a recent article from the Yaletown View that he'll build a third building in the neighborhood.

Some other cool features of the building: biometric access control, geothermal heating, gargoyles.

The View From 394 Feet Up

Another beautiful picture of Vancouver, this one taken from the 42nd floor of the Empire Landmark on Robson (click photo for a larger version).

Metrosexual Living

Pardon the obvious pun behind this post's title, but it fits quite well with the ever-so-punny "Six in the City" marketing campaign that's being used to promote the Metroliving project.

Actually, the use of a single brand to market six scattered buildings is quite clever, since it brings everything together into one convenient and easy-to-understand package.

So far, three of the six Metroliving projects have already been rolled out (1180 Homer, 1168 Richards, and 531 Beatty), with plans for 540 Beatty set to be unveiled in September. Further details on 999 Seymour and 1241 Homer will be released at a later date.

Construction at 1168 Richards is already well underway (pictured above), while the 1180 Homer site (below) is also in the midst of going up. In the case of the latter, the facade of the old McMaster heritage building has been maintained, although the rest of the building will be completely new.

A similar restoration will occur at 540 Beatty, while the other four sites will see completely new structures built.

In regards to the number of new suites that are being constructed, 1168 Richards will have 12 lofts, and 1180 Homer will add another 15 lofts to the Yaletown neighborhood. Over towards Gastown, 531 Beatty is set to have 38 new lofts.

So what's the memorable catch that's got people talking? How about garage-style window walls? Put a Harley in the middle of your living room, and you too can shake off that metrosexual stigma before your friends can say "gentle cleansing and exfoliation".

Emery Barnes Park

Located at the corner of Davie and Richards Street in Vancouver's Downtown South neighborhood (at the edge of Yaletown), the 2.3 acre Emery Barnes Park is named after community activist and BC MLA Emery Barnes.

Originally born in Louisiana, Emery Barnes grew up in Oregon before coming to Canada, where he played in the CFL for both the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the BC Lions (where he won the Grey Cup in 1964). After his football career, Mr. Barnes received a degree in Social Work from UBC, prior to becoming a social worker.

In the late 1960's he entered politics, and was first elected in 1972 as an NDP MLA representing the riding of Vancouver Centre. Emery Barnes went on to be re-elected four times, until he finally retired in 1996 after serving as the Speaker of the Legislature since 1994. Mr. Barnes died of cancer in 1998.

Emery Barnes Park was officially opened in September 2003, within the riding that Mr. Barnes served for almost 25 years. Known for its fountains and flowing stream, the park has been designed to provide an open green space for the surrounding neighborhood.

It is one of three parks in the Downtown South area, including Yaletown Park, which is currently under construction, and a third park that is to be built nearby Richards and Smithe. The three parks are being developed as part of a goal to bring 4.5 acres of park space to the 11,000 residents who will be living in the area within the next 10 years.

Putting the Park in Yaletown Park

Most people are well aware of the three towers that are going up at the Yaletown Park development (remember the lineups?). The first two buildings sold out more than one year ago, and the third was sold out more recently.

By now, constructruction is well underway at the site, with Yaletown 1 (pictured above) set to top off soon, while Yaletown 2 (below) looks to have about 10 storeys built so far.

Once they're completed in 2006 and 2007, the three buildings will add 735 new condos to the Downtown South (aka Yaletown) market. The buildings' heights will range from 30 floors (265 feet) to 34 floors (300 feet), with Yaletown 2 being the tallest of the three.

In addition to the three new towers, the development will also be bringing new park space to the neighborhood. Situated on the corner of Nelson and Mainland, Yaletown Park will join Emery Barnes Park as the latest green refuge in the area.

According to the initial Parks Board recommendation (pdf format) from 2003, the 0.4 acre Yaletown Park will reflect the character of the surrounding neighborhood, and will become a potential place to host community events such as street fairs and lunchtime concerts.

Like the pre-construction frenzy that saw most of Yaletown Park's condos sold within a few short hours, Vancouver's homeless have reportedly lined up and laid claim to the park's premier seating facilities in advance as well, with some speculators snapping up as many as three benches at a time.