Bosa Properties and Kingswood Properties want to build a 50 storey iconic building in the plaza next to an equally iconic 38-year-old, green-glass building at 1500 West Georgia Street.
The two companies submitted a letter of inquiry with the city June 11, which is the first step in the process.
The initiative is not unexpected.
Kingswood president Lorne Segal first mentioned the project to Business in Vancouver a few months ago, referring to how the developers had contracted what he called a “starchitect,” or a star architect to design the tower – Germany's Ole Scheeren.
The proposal also follows the City of Vancouver’s decision to allow higher density allowances under its revamped West End Community Plan (WECP). That plan increased property values along major West End thoroughfares and spurred several real estate transactions – one of which was Bosa and Kingswood's pact to buy the site last August for $120 million from the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).
Both Segal and a HOOPP representative confirmed to Business in Vancouver at the time that a density hike on the site, thanks to the WECP, was a key factor in consummating the deal.
HOOPP likes to own real estate that is already developed whereas Bosa and Kingswood often want to add value to their holdings.
Segal called Scheeren’s design an “edgy, neat, cool concept.”
Some have referred to it as resembling a Jenga game, which is a game in which players try to remove blocks from a tower and then place them on top to create a taller yet less stable structure.
“We’re in early stages but the architect is in town to talk to the city and to talk to the planners to start to tell the story of the design,” Segal said June 12.
