Massive urban development to be model for ‘green planning’

Frances Bula
Sun

VANCOUVER – The official plan for the massive urban development that Vancouver city councillors hope will become a worldwide model for “green” city planning received final approval Tuesday.

Although opposition councillors warned repeatedly that the city could be opening the door to its financial undoing with the expensive plan for southeast False Creek, the nine other council members voted solidly in favour.

In an uncharacteristically formal speech, Mayor Larry Campbell said the plan was “an investment we make in our community.”

He dismissed complaints from councillors Peter Ladner and Sam Sullivan that the city will have to “raid” its $1.2-billion property endowment fund to put in all the public amenities, from seawalls to daycares, planned for the area.

Campbell said the purpose of the endowment fund is to make investments in the community, not to put in the bank.

“It’s a strategic fund, not a rainy-day fund,” he said. The city has used it in the past to invest in developing Champlain Heights, as well as putting it into all kinds of social housing that doesn’t return a profit to the city. Several councillors called it a historic moment.

Southeast False Creek consists of 12 hectares of former industrial land, much of which is owned by the city, on the last piece of vacant shoreline along the inner harbour.

About 10,000 people will eventually live in the community, which will be built according to particular environmental practices.

The COPE council decided last July it would enrich the project by including more child-care spaces, a larger community centre, more park space, and more activity along the water. To do that, it decided not to require the neighbourhood to return a profit to the property-endowment fund and that the $50 million generated from sales be returned to the area for public amenities.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

False Creek development gets the go-ahead

John Bermingham

The Province

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

A development plan for southeast False Creek, the greenest-ever community in Vancouver and the site of the Olympic Village, got the go-ahead yesterday.

City council unanimously passed the long-term plan for the 32-hectare site between Cambie bridge and Main Street.

There will be a mix of social housing and condos, few cars and lots of community gardens, amenities and park space.

“I think this is going to be a living laboratory,” said Coun. Anne Roberts. “We will look back and say this was a key turning-point.”

But NPA councillors Sam Sullivan and Peter Ladner were concerned the city was dipping into its Property Endowment Fund to pay for $85 million in public amenities.

He said the $1.2-billion fund would be depleted, and could set a dangerous precedent.

“I hope we are not opening the door to the financial undoing of our city,” said Ladner.

Chief city planner Larry Beasley said the money would come from the sale of city land on the site.

“It can be handled and it can be justified,” he said.

Mayor Larry Campbell said the city is taking $50 million from the fund.

“The investment we are making in southeast False Creek is . . . a fraction of the fund’s total value,” he said.

“It’s easy to put the money in your sock and hide it under the bed.”

© The Vancouver Province 2005

Statistics Canada pegs rise at 25.5 per cent over ’03

Michael McCullough
Sun

British Columbia led the country in the growth of residential construction investment last year, according to figures released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.

Just over $10 billion was spent on new home construction and renovation in the province in 2004, a 25.5-per-cent increase over 2003.

Spending on home building across Canada grew 14.2 per cent to more than $70 billion, the agency said, representing the seventh consecutive year of growth. Quebec was a close second to B.C. with 22.6-per-cent growth, while Ontario and Alberta lagged the national average at 8.5 and 5.4 per cent, respectively — suggesting the home-building boom there may have peaked.

By contrast, M.J. White-marsh, chief executive of the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Home Builders Association, expects the home-building business on the West Coast to at least maintain the same pace in 2005.

Speaking from St. John’s, Nfld., where the CHBA is holding its national board meetings, Whitemarsh said presentations by economists at the event predict that B.C. will be the only province to see further growth in construction spending this year, and possibly into 2006 as well.

“There is still a pent-up demand in B.C. after 10 years of low growth,” she said. “We have builders in our association . . . who have orders on the books right up to 2006.”

In the fourth quarter, $2.6 billion was spent on home construction in B.C., a 15.3-per-cent increase over the same period in 2003.

B.C.’s spending over the whole year came largely from new home construction, whereas Ontario‘s building tab was more directed at renovations.

Of the $70-billion national total — a new record — $23.3 billion was spent on new single-family homes (up 11.2 per cent), $7.3 billion on new rental apartments and condominiums (+29 per cent), $28 billion on renovations (+13.6 per cent) and $6.3 billion on acquisition costs for resale properties (+14.7 per cent).

The agency said low mortgage rates, a strong labour market, high consumer confidence and low apartment vacancy rates in Vancouver and Montreal contributed to the strong picture. But rising building costs were also a factor.

“The increase in housing starts and the rise in the average value of these starts explain the sharp increase in investment in both the construction of new single-family homes and new apartments-condominiums,” the Statistics Canada report said.

Rising labour and material costs represent the downside of having strong residential and non-residential construction activity at the same time, said industry consultant Kerry Jothen, CEO of Human Capital Strategies in Victoria. But the investment climate in B.C. is sufficiently bullish that buyers are willing to absorb the higher home prices.

Jothen said he expects the construction boom to peak towards the end of this year. “We wouldn’t be surprised if it even goes into 2006,” he said.

Peter Simpson, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association, said he expects both new construction and renovations to grow in the Lower Mainland this year.

He cited a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. estimate that renovation spending in B.C. will top $5 billion this year.

Baby boomers who can’t afford to move upmarket are deciding to fix up what they have, Simpson said.

“Our renovators are going great guns,” he said.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Scott Simpson
Sun

VANCOUVER – Proponents of Vancouver’s convention centre expansion challenged developers on Monday to come up with plans to make the $565-million project the hottest “people place” along the city’s waterfront.

The group overseeing the expansion envisions a mix of restaurants, shops and cultural attractions that will create an unprecedented link between Burrard Inlet and downtown Vancouver.

Those amenities will be housed in a 7,153-square-metre waterfront strip that wraps around the outer perimeter of the expanded convention centre, with street access from downtown along both Thurlow and Burrard streets.

They’re also looking for proposals for floating restaurants and other enterprises to be incorporated into a potential 4.75-hectare marina serving charter, private and public boats, as well as a float-plane terminal.

“This is our last really good opportunity to connect the downtown core with the waterfront,” said Russ Anthony, president and project director of Vancouver Convention Centre Expansion Project (VCCEP), at a public information meeting. “We know we have to make this an animated place, a comfortable place for the public.”

None of the group addressing the meeting would give any specifics on what’s being sought.

Urban consultant Phil Boname said examples of anchor tenants could include a first nations cultural centre, an existing city museum looking to relocate– or even a popular attraction such as Ripley’s Believe or Not.

He said commercial development along the waterfront edge of the facility “promises to be probably the most interesting place on the waterfront of Vancouver.”

The meeting, the first of two on Monday, attracted about 75 business people.

The project group broke ground on the expansion site last November, and the target for completion is 2008.

Pile-driving to establish footings for the four-city-block building begins later this month.

Anthony said that before the end of March, the project office will issue requests for proposals.

Other facilities sought include a 440-stall parking lot.

Anthony said one developer could undertake the project, or form a consortium to carry out its various aspects.

“We want this to be an attractive place for Vancouverites as well as delegates. I don’t know what it’s like when you go to conventions, but usually, you can hardly wait to get out of a convention building and into the city so that you can see real live people again,” Anthony said.

“The intention here is to ensure that this is so attractive that people from Vancouver, the residents of the area, the people working downtown, will want to use this area on a regular basis, and that the delegates will just add to that dynamic.”

Vancouver city planner Rob Jenkins said the city is looking for innovative proposals that will soften the visual impact of the massive facility and transform it into a promenade and a major destination point that reflects the ambience of Coal Harbour to the west of the convention centre site.

Jenkins cited Granville Island as an example of the integration of public and commercial interests, saying, “That’s what we want to see continued and reinforced as we move from Coal Harbour and Stanley Park, up through Harbour Green Park and to this site.

“There are a lot of opportunities here to create vibrant, active, animated public spaces and commercial opportunities, and that’s what we want to see,” Jenkins said.

“A big challenge on this site is dealing with the scale of building and the scale of development. These kinds of opportunities in kind of public open spaces, walkways and retail opportunities help to mitigate the scale and blend and work with the scale of the building and make it fit in its urban context.”

EXPANSION NUMBERS:

Total area: 102,600 square metres (about 1.1 million square feet, or four city blocks.)

– It will take at least 4,000 truckloads of concrete, 25 kilometres of steel-pipe piles and 1.5 hectares of glass (enough to cover a 20-storey office building) to build this project.

– Building has a 2.4-hectare “living roof” with plants native to the West Coast.

– A 90-metre connector will link the existing convention centre and the new facility.

– 6,700 person-years of employment during construction, 7,500 new full-time jobs once operating.

– Expansion complete in 2008.

– Upgrade to existing convention centre complete in 2009.

– Becomes international broadcast and media centre for 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Sun

SURREY — Jake Siemens of Landmark Realty Corp. in Abbotsford was elected president of the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board at the board’s annual general meeting Feb. 23. The association also honoured Ken Cowie of Re/Max 2000 in Surrey with the John Armeneau Professional of the Year award, which recognizes lifetime achievement in real estate and community service.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

Marke Andrews
Sun

Construction crews will break ground on Thursday for a condo and hotel complex that is already more than 90-per-cent sold and will eventually become the city’s tallest building.

Living Shangri-La, located at Georgia and Thurlow Streets in downtown Vancouver, will rise more than 195 metres (642 feet), exceeding Shaw Tower‘s height by more than 44 metres.

When completed in February 2008, the building, which occupies most of the 1100- blocks of both West Georgia and Alberni Streets, will contain an Urban Fare food market, restaurant, and North America‘s first Shangri-La hotel on its first 15 floors. This area will also contain a permanent outdoor exhibition space administered by the Vancouver Art Gallery, which will present a series of public art projects.

Floors 16 to 42 include 227 live-work condominiums, all of which have been sold, with prices ranging from $400,000 to $1.2 million.

Floors 43 to 60 contain 66 large condos whose prices range from $2.08 million to $6.9 million. Only 16 of these units remain unsold.

“We didn’t have our brochure and magazine ready until we were down to 30 suites left for sale,” says Bob Rennie, whose firm Rennie Marketing Systems handles sales of the residential components.

Unit sales, which began last fall, have topped $240 million, and buyers include Americans, Europeans and Asians.

Shangri-La was designed by James K.M. Chang Architects and jointly developed by Peterson Investment Group and Westbank Projects. Construction, at a cost of $250 million and involving 3.1 million man hours, will by by Ledcor Constructions Ltd.

As part of the development, Peterson Investment Group and Westbank Projects will conduct a heritage restoration of the 86-year-old Coastal Church, at 1160 West Georgia.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005