The Independent (180 Kingsway) | 64.7m | 19fl | Completed

[mcminsen]

Nov.15 '16, my pics

[mcminsen]

Dec.9 '16, my pics

[mcminsen]

Dec.9 '16, my pics

[hotwheels]

Collage of Colours and Materials on Display at The Independent

Another residential project is sprouting above the streets of Vancouver's Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, an eclectic up-and-coming area of the city where young professionals, artists, writers, and a growing number of families mix and mingle. The Independent by Rize Alliance Properties is a 21-storey flatiron tower set to add studio, one-, and two-bedroom floor plans to a steaming local housing market.

[mcminsen]

Dec.20 '16, my pics

[officedweller]

Thanks!

My sense is that the protests and objections against height on this site have forced the complex to constrain the sidewalks around the site
(i.e. it's bulky and there's no breathing room at grade). Plus the Broadway frontage will cantilever over the sidewalk.

[mcminsen]

Jan.6 '17, my pics

[mcminsen]

Jan.24 '17, my pics

[mcminsen]

Jan.24 '17, my pics

[LeftCoaster]

Love the massing so far, really beefing up the neighbourhood.

[vanman]

Thanks for the pics mcminsen!

I agree the massing is great. It looks like it belongs in the inner city of a large metropolis.

[SpongeG]

thanks for the updates, i got to drive passed it last night, looks really big, quite the change in that area

[mcminsen]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

Dec.20 '16, my pics

Jan.24 '17, my pic

[Marshal]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Love the massing so far, really beefing up the neighbourhood.

Yes, that's my main impression: 'Beefing up,' especially with that monster box across Kingsway.

The jump in scale is already to the point that I think we will have a hard time remembering how that area felt before. It's a very big spatial change at street level.

Thanks mcminsen.

[SFUVancouver]

It's also currently at the height that the NIMBYs were demanding the project be limited to in order to not take anything away from the Lee Building.

[Vin]

People liking the massing now, or even utilizing its facilities in the future, may not be the ones agreeing to the scale of the project in the first place. Build it, and they shall come to like, and I think that applies to Vancouver. Let Independent be the first of such buildings in this neighbourhood, among others.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

It's also currently at the height that the NIMBYs were demanding the project be limited to in order to not take anything away from the Lee Building.

Yes, we mustn't forget the poor Lee Building. How it ever would have continued to be relevant and pleasing or even noticeable had this project been any taller? I must admit I don't really notice or appreciate the Dominion Building, the Sun Building or the Marine Building anymore now that we have substantially taller buildings, which have taken so much away from them. In fact, I am surprised they ever allowed those classic buildings to be built and risked taking anything away from the much shorter buildings of the time, like the Flack Block or the Province Building (i.e., the "Arch Alley" Building), etc. I don't even notice those shorter buildings anymore when I am in Victory Square Park, being so diminished as they are by the height of the Dominion Building and Sun Tower. It's a real tragedy. If only we had the NIMBYS back then, we might have been able to have avoided this tragedy. Indeed, I don't even notice the Dominion Building or Sun Tower now that the Woodwards Building exists. The NIMBYS screwed up again. This is why I find visiting New York City or Chicago a saddening experience. All those taller buildings taking away so much from those great shorter buildings. All that tragic layering, texture and diversity of styles and scales.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Yes, we mustn't forget the poor Lee Building. How it ever would have continued to be relevant and pleasing or even noticeable had this project been any taller? I must admit I don't really notice or appreciate the Dominion Building, the Sun Building or the Marine Building anymore now that we have substantially taller buildings, which have taken so much away from them. In fact, I am surprised they ever allowed those classic buildings to be built and risked taking anything away from the much shorter buildings of the time, like the Flack Block or the Province Building (i.e., the "Arch Alley" Building), etc. I don't even notice those shorter buildings anymore when I am in Victory Square Park, being so diminished as they are by the height of the Dominion Building and Sun Tower. It's a real tragedy. If only we had the NIMBYS back then, we might have been able to have avoided this tragedy. Indeed, I don't even notice the Dominion Building or Sun Tower now that the Woodwards Building exists. The NIMBYS screwed up again. This is why I find visiting New York City or Chicago a saddening experience. All those taller buildings taking away so much from those great shorter buildings. All that tragic layering, texture and diversity of styles and scales.

why do the NIMBY's seem to run this city. we need actual leadership. sigh.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Vancity

why do the NIMBY's seem to run this city. we need actual leadership. sigh.

There are two constant complaints I hear:

1. NIMBYs run the city, no development happens ever.
2. Developers run the city, citizens are never consulted about anything.

So... which is it?

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Yes, we mustn't forget the poor Lee Building. How it ever would have continued to be relevant and pleasing or even noticeable had this project been any taller? I must admit I don't really notice or appreciate the Dominion Building, the Sun Building or the Marine Building anymore now that we have substantially taller buildings, which have taken so much away from them. In fact, I am surprised they ever allowed those classic buildings to be built and risked taking anything away from the much shorter buildings of the time, like the Flack Block or the Province Building (i.e., the "Arch Alley" Building), etc. I don't even notice those shorter buildings anymore when I am in Victory Square Park, being so diminished as they are by the height of the Dominion Building and Sun Tower. It's a real tragedy. If only we had the NIMBYS back then, we might have been able to have avoided this tragedy. Indeed, I don't even notice the Dominion Building or Sun Tower now that the Woodwards Building exists. The NIMBYS screwed up again. This is why I find visiting New York City or Chicago a saddening experience. All those taller buildings taking away so much from those great shorter buildings. All that tragic layering, texture and diversity of styles and scales.

The first City Hall was a tent. I guess Nimbys were not around at that time to protest the shacks built afterwards to outshine that City Hall. How tragic. We've lost a piece of heritage cloth forever.

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

There are two constant complaints I hear:

1. NIMBYs run the city, no development happens ever.
2. Developers run the city, citizens are never consulted about anything.

So... which is it?

No.1 is partially true, and developments do happen, especially for developers who would arm-wrestle those who bend over for the NIMBYs, as in the Independent project. No.2 is pretty much a spin by the NIMBYs. Now many developers simply pack up and move to other jurisdictions.