Concord Pacific’s vision for the former Molson Coors brewery site in Vancouver it bought for $185 million four years ago includes a high-tech campus with 3,000 homes.
The ambitious redevelopment of the lands next to the southeast end of the Burrard Street bridge is outlined in leaked plans for what Concord Pacific is calling Quantum Park. The “preliminary” renderings and a marketing video reveal a vision for a 1.8 million-square-foot high-tech enclave that includes 300,000 square feet of office space, 3,000 homes, primarily in a series of towers of up to 25 storeys, plus a retail component.
The plan would require rezoning of the 7.3-acre site from its current heavy-industrial use, and Concord was quick to explain that negotiations with the city continue.
“It was premature that some early stage planning and development information has gone out to the public. There are many concepts for this site. We want to respect the process and have been and will be working with the city’s planning department and our neighbours, the Squamish Nation,” according to an emailed statement from the company.
According to Concord’s marketing brochure, “Quantum Park will be a centre for local and global technology companies to thrive, collaborate and innovate.”
Concord says the project’s name derives from the study of quantum mechanics. “We want the project to be a tribute to theoretical physics and all the scientists who have, and are, advancing the field. Part of our future vision is to encourage Vancouver to be a hub for leading physicists to meet and exchange ideas.”
Since it bought the site in March 2016, Concord has made no secret of its plans to have the site transformed from industrial use.
In a statement immediately following the sale, Peter Webb, senior vice-president development of Concord Pacific, told reporters that the vision “is to include a mixed-use residential neighbourhood with a knowledge-based work centre to attract both local and international tech firms. The re-imagined Molson lands will become a vibrant addition to Vancouver.” •
