1455 West Georgia | 156.7m | 46 fl | Proposed

[Feathered Friend]

This one is heading to a public hearing sometime after July 18th. There's rumors that there might be hearings added between now and September, but the next scheduled meeting is for September 18th.

https://council.vancouver.ca/2018071...20180710ag.htm

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by Feathered Friend

This one is heading to a public hearing sometime after July 18th. There's rumors that there might be hearings added between now and September, but the next scheduled meeting is for September 18th.

https://council.vancouver.ca/2018071...20180710ag.htm

This was on the agenda for 31 July. Now the item, and the project have apparently been withdrawn. It seems odd, as staff were apparently recommending approval. Maybe the market for high end towers is going to pause, as many have suggested it will. If so there are other landmark projects that might not happen. On the other hand it coyuld be something related to the developer here, rather than a wider issue. Perhaps we'll have an explanation some time.

[MrFreeze]

This week I have received in my mail box the hearing notice and it's scheduled for the 31th of July.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by MrFreeze

This week I have received in my mail box the hearing notice and it's scheduled for the 31th of July.

As noted above - not any more.

[csbvan]

It is indeed pulled due to market conditions. An article in the Globe discusses the situation:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...signs-of-weak/

I anticipate a number of luxury downtown buildings will also be put on hold. The article states that the Landmark on Robson condos, heavily marketed overseas and here somewhat, has sold a mere 50 units...

[osirisboy]

Well that's good. Maybe they can make the project work with more normal priced units

[officedweller]

The Ritz-Carlton -> Trump underwent a redesign to smaller units after the 2008 stock market collapse.

[connect2source]

Originally Posted by csbvan

It is indeed pulled due to market conditions. An article in the Globe discusses the situation:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...signs-of-weak/

I anticipate a number of luxury downtown buildings will also be put on hold. The article states that the Landmark on Robson condos, heavily marketed overseas and here somewhat, has sold a mere 50 units...

Similar to what I'm hearing in my industry. We're getting record commission bonus offers from many of these projects which is always an indication that things aren't going well, some of the biggest have been from Mirabel on Davie.

The Landmark on Robson project would likely not have proceeded at all if market conditions had been like this in 2017 which makes me wonder if the hotel would have still be operational and would have avoided the wrecking ball.

[whatnext]

Come back foreign money launderers!

[osirisboy]

Instead of giving big incentives to realtors how about the developers lower their fucking prices instead. i always hate these realtor bonuses. You should be showing places your client would be interested in, not places that you will get a large bonus. And I'm saying this as a realtor

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Instead of giving big incentives to realtors how about the developers lower their fucking prices instead.

no kidding!

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by officedweller

The Ritz-Carlton -> Trump underwent a redesign to smaller units after the 2008 stock market collapse.

True but that was in the face of a big global recession. The circumstances around this cancellation are Vancouver-specific. Our economy is booming, so it’s clear this building was never intended for local wage earners.

[trofirhen]

So this fantastic building is cancelled, or shelved, at best? That's a real drag! It would have made such a stylish and bold addition to W. Georgia.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

maybe make it an office tower instead.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

maybe make it an office tower instead.

Is that feasible?? If so, let's go for it!!

[Galaxy]

At the very least if this building is uneconomical to build in Vancouver I would love this design may be a little taller to be built in Burnaby and or Surrey! It's a shame that a lot of really nice buildings get planned and don't get built.

[Feathered Friend]

What puzzles me is why it was dropped when the public hearing was literally only a week(ish) away. Wouldn't it be more profitable to have the rezoning approved and then, at worst, sell the property later on.

I have heard there's been softening of the pre-sale market, but other properties (like 1444 Alberni) still seem to be moving ahead. That said, I wonder if there could be a connection to the recent decision to eliminate parking minimums Downtown. Even if eliminating the parking would have required a substantial design change, I would have thought that would just require an amendment, rather than a whole new application.

[Changing City]

It's perhaps not surprising that an inexperienced developer, with a very ambitious project, would back off before proceeding with something that might not be worth trying to market as currently designed. As far as I can see they're based in Shenzhen where they are a high-tech printing company, mostly producing cigarette packaging, so this is a significant departure. They've also bought a big site at Ioco in Port Moody from Imperial Oil, and switched architects on that project last year.

It's possible they'll mothball the design, and wait for the market for high-end towers to recover. It's not like they've demolished the existing buildings, or that they paid crazy money for the site. They could see if another developer wants the site, or they could redesign the tower to reflect a market for smaller and less expensive units, although they'll still have to include a proportion of 2 and 3 bed units to meet city policy. It's not a location that lends itself to an office tower, and the floorplate would be really inefficient for office use, so that seems a pretty unlikely option.

[bb1510]

Originally Posted by csbvan

It is indeed pulled due to market conditions. An article in the Globe discusses the situation:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...signs-of-weak/

I anticipate a number of luxury downtown buildings will also be put on hold. The article states that the Landmark on Robson condos, heavily marketed overseas and here somewhat, has sold a mere 50 units...

I mean Landmark has no selling features whatsoever; it's not taller than the other new developments, isn't designed by a starchitect, nor does it have any better amenities yet they're asking prices just as high. I don't think people are that stupid but yeah, the luxury market is slowing down. Even luxury rentals are slowing with price cuts everywhere

In this case, will the Bosa Ole Scheeren towers as well as the Landa Ramsa projects proceed?

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Changing City

It's perhaps not surprising that an inexperienced developer, with a very ambitious project, would back off before proceeding with something that might not be worth trying to market as currently designed. As far as I can see they're based in Shenzhen where they are a high-tech printing company, mostly producing cigarette packaging, so this is a significant departure. They've also bought a big site at Ioco in Port Moody from Imperial Oil, and switched architects on that project last year.
...

Sounds like a perfect poster child for what's wrong with Vancouver's estate market then.