Pacific Metropolis

Millenium Water

The latest renderings and design plans for the post-Olympics SEFC neighbourhood are now available online.

Check out the Millenium Water website - as the project is being called - for more information.

Among the details - 620 condos will be built for this part of the SEFC neighbourhood alone, with prices ranging from $450,000 to $6 million per unit (link here to pdf).

The Vancouver Sun provides some additional background on how the vision for the site and other elements of its design came together here (link to pdf).

Putting the Olympics' Pricetag in Perspective

Since there's been a lot of talk lately about Olympic construction cost-overruns, and the supposed 'waste of public funds' for what is 'nothing more than a two-week party', we thought we'd take a closer at the numbers behind the 2010 Winter Games.

Indeed, when one hears that it will cost about $1.7 billion to put on the Olympics, or that the Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion project is $235 million over-budget,  it does sound as though there's a lot of money being thrown around on the Games and related projects (ie: the Canada Line, the Sea-to-Sky Highway, etc.)

• Total cost of Olympics: $1.7 billion
• Of which, $580 million will be spent on venues
• Another $200 million is earmarked for security

Essentially, we taxpayers are on the hook for the $580 million that's been earmarked for venue construction and upgrades, although we'll get to use the facilities long after the Olympics are over (ie: the UBC rinks, the Richmond Oval, etc.)

As for the rest of the $1.7 billion budget, including security - that will be covered by the sale of broadcast rights, corporate sponsorship revenues and ticket sales. To date, VANOC has raised at least $550 million in sponsorship deals, with a few major sponsor categories still to be filled.

It's also worth considering that this isn't just a 'two-week party,' as many critics like to suggest.

The Games will showcase Vancouver to a global audience of more than 1 billion people, and for a province where tourism is a $10 billion industry, the OIympics will indeed be paying dividends for years to come.

But to see Olympics-related spending in another light, below are the five largest categories of federal government spending, according to the 2005 budget.

• Interest payments on the national debt - $34.1 billion
• Support for seniors (Old Age Security, etc.) - $27.9 billion
• Health Care transfer payments - $15.2 billion
• Employment Insurance (EI) - $14.7 billion
• Social assistance, education transfers - $7.9 billion

The federal government also provided nearly $12 billion in tax benefits and other cash payments to low- and middle-income families during 2005.

It's important to keep in mind that this is what the federal government spends each year.

So, during the 2004-2010 period (during which most of the $580 million in taxpayers' money will be spent), the federal government will also spend $204.6 billion on interest payments on the national debt, and $72 billion on social assistance programs.

Unfortunately, most people aren't given this context when the headline-grabbing numbers of Olympics spending are thrown around.

While it's good to keep the heat on VANOC, to ensure that they don't dig us into a financial hole, let's not lose our heads over what will in fact be an investment that pays for itself over many years to come.

Vancouver's Latest Boutique

Now taking reservations for this coming July, Vancouver's latest boutique hotel is brought to us by the Los Angeles-based Kor Hotel Group.

Located next to the almost-completed Melville building, the Loden Hotel will have 130 rooms and 11 suites for the world's grid-skipping hipsters. It's also conveniently located nearby Vancouver's business district, so expect a few corporate weasels running around the joint as well.

Another cool feature will be the hotel's rooftop pool and bar, which will provide private cabanas to its guests, and night & day entertainment for Melville residents.

Probably of greatest interest to Vancouverites will be its future restaurant and 50-seat lounge, which will no doubt serve as yet another stop on our city's growing list of boutique hotel-bars.

For some shots of both the Loden and Melville while they were under construction last summer, check out the above video. (And for your listening pleasure, Chrispitality.com lays down a funky beat).

Now, if we can only get Ian Schrager to build one of his gems up here.

Vancouver's Worst Eyesores

As a follow-up to Heritage Vancouver's list of the ten most-endangered buildings in the city, we thought we'd try and come up with a list of those buildings that we'd like to see torn down as quickly as possible - preferably before they're granted heritage status.

From where we sit, there are plenty of ugly buildings in Vancouver that would be ripe for replacement with a 600 to 800 foot skyscraper.

At the top of our list would be that God-awful Sears building at Pacific Centre. Apparently its 'toilet white' colour was considered an 'architectural disaster' when it first went up in 1972.

Another would be the ScotiaBank Tower, even though we know that it does have some friends and supporters.

Third on our hit-list would be the Sapphire, although that eyesore hasn't even been finished yet.

Any other candidates out there? Perhaps you secretly loathe the Aquatic Centre? We know that many of you hate that triangular green building in Kits, just off the Burrard Street Bridge.

Meanwhile, BC Place seems to have earned a few enemies of late as well.

The Workshop

We've said it before, and we'll say it again - using 'the French' in regular English conversation is more than a little pretentious. As a result, we're not all that supportive when developers use French names as a means of adding a little je ne sais quois to their projects.

But perhaps the worst part about the marketing for Atelier, is its vain attempt to put Vancouver (and even worse, Robson Street) on the same level as some of the world's great cities.

'Like Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, the Champs-Elysees in Paris or Fifth Avenue in New York, Vancouver's Robson Street is an address of fashion, glamour and excitement.'

Such absurd comparisons ring hollow, making it all the more apparent how far we really are from being a New York, London, or Paris.

As for the Atelier itself, it's actually a sharp-looking building, thanks to its interesting curves.

Its location isn't bad either, since it's kitty-corner to the main library, and not far from Vancouver's future cultural precinct.

Upon completion in 2009, the building will be 29 storeys tall, with 200 condo units. For more information and a couple extra photos, check out this article here (link to pdf).

They have everything, for you to enjoy

For those who might be interested, the marketing website for the 42-storey YMCA building is now up and running.

Besides the usual pre-registration information, the site also has a new rendering of the building, plus some photos of its fabulous views.

Somewhat surprisingly though, the marketing is a little out of character for the YMCA, as the developer has gone with a haute couture theme for the project, naming the building Patina.

We'd have thought they would have used the natural, built-in marketing afforded by the Village People.

Heck, it's not like the building doesn't already have its own theme song and music video.

Coquitlam Town Centre

Since we've found ourselves in Coquitlam this week, we thought we'd take a look at what else is going on at the emerging Coquitlam Town Centre. (Click map for a larger version).

It's one of the GVRD's eight Regional Town Centres, which planners hope will bring greater density to the area around the Coquitlam Centre shopping mall - a future stop along the Evergreen Line.

Among some of the latest highrise buildings that have either been proposed, or are under construction in the area, are the following:

• Obelisk (35 storeys)
• Levo (2 buildings, 38 storeys each)
• Westwood Village/The Edgemont (26 storeys)
• The Regency (27 storeys, 163 units)

In addition to these four projects, this past February another proposal for a two-building development (28 and 33 storeys, 550 units in total), called the Grand Central went before Coquitlam City Council. For more info, click here.

Pictured below - the Regency.

Getting into the spirit of the GVRD's Sustainable Region plan, the marketing for Bosa's Westwood Village says it all - 'cars are optional here, because the options for shopping, dining, recreation, nature and the perks for everyday living are endless and just steps away.'

Pictured below - the Edgemont.

For more information on the City of Coquitlam's Town Centre Plan, where you can find maps, the OCP, and other details about future development in the area, click here.

And in case we've missed anything, contributions from readers would be most welcome as well.

The Nevergreen Line

Despite the fact that the completion date for the Evergreen Line has been pushed back from 2009 to 2011, it would appear that the project is still moving ahead.

The main obstacle at present, is funding. According to this report from Translink, only $570 million of the estimated $970 million that is required to build and operate the system has been committed so far.

The good news though, is that this hasn't stopped Translink and the municipalities of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam from pushing the project forward - a $20 million detailed design study was commissioned this past October.

According to results from the preliminary design phase, the Evergreen Line route will have 12 stations in total, which will connect Douglas College in Port Coquitlam to the Millenium Line at Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby.

Light-rail trains will run along the route every 7 minutes during rush hour, while the end to end ride will take approximately 24 minutes.

At this point, if all goes according to plan (ie funding comes through), then construction is scheduled to begin by this coming September.

For more details on the project, check out Translink's site here.

More on YVR Construction

Courtesy of the good people from the YVR Airport Authority, we've managed to get our hands on some great pictures of the recent construction work that's been going on at the airport.

The recently-opened, four-gate terminal expansion.

Exterior shot of the Link Building, which will connect the Domestic and International terminals to the main Canada Line station at YVR.

Close up of the Link Building construction.

For a larger version, click on each photo. All pictures are by Larry Goldstein.

YVR Gates are Open

Part of the first phase of the YVR international terminal expansion opened yesterday, as four of the planned nine new gates went into service.

Among the new facilities: 400 metres of moving walkways, 27 plasma screens (for traveller information) and automated check-in kiosks at each new gate (for rebooking cancelled flights).

Coming in June 2007: 100 moon jelly-fish, which will be set up in style, in a 30,000 gallon saltwater tank.

The terminal expansion will also include 25 shops and services, designed to milk tourists of their last few dollars before they leave Vancouver.

Oh, and one more thing...YVR has a new logo, which supposedly incorporates West Coast colours. (Presumably symbolizing rain, more rain, and damp moss).

To have a look at our previous coverage, click here.