Redevelopment of the former Plaza 500 hotel at Cambie and West 12th has taken a new turn with word that owner KBK Ventures Ltd. is approaching the city regarding alternative uses for the property.
The 153-room property was originally scheduled to reopen last October under the Hotel Indigo banner, but, according to sources contacted at the time, the sheer volume of work prevented that from happening. Opening was rescheduled for spring 2012, although the reservations line wasn't accepting bookings.
However, the hotel's makeover bogged down last October when contractors filed liens against the property. A lawsuit was then filed in January seeking $146,271 on behalf of Advanced Systems Roofing & Waterproofing Ltd.
Now, a city spokesman has confirmed that informal discussions have taken place regarding the future of the property. One option includes the property's conversion to rental apartments.
The change in use would require a development permit application. The city says no formal application has been made regarding the site.
Community advocates are going to be paying close attention to Cressey Development Corp.'s plans for the Ridge Theatre site on Arbutus at West 16th.
Though technically located in Kitsilano, the theatre is just north of Arbutus Shopping Centre, which Larco Investments Ltd. plans to redevelop with 500 units of housing and retail space. Cressey, which bought the Ridge site in June 2011 for $20.3 million, plans 55 condominiums and a 22,000-square-foot grocery store on the narrow site. Total height will be five storeys.
While just a 10th of the size of the Larco project, together the two projects represent the southward densification of the Arbutus corridor, which is anchored by a cluster of urbane, high-density development north of West 12th Avenue.
While neither project is set to start before next year – Cressey has yet to file a development permit application – both will be watched closely by neighbourhood advocates. Doreen Braverman, chairwoman of the Arbutus Ridge Community Association, conceded that density is needed, but added that her association is keen to ensure it respects the character of the community and that increases in traffic flows are managed well.
"To put four families on a single family lot, and add the cars and add the people, you have to be cognizant that people moved into certain areas to have a certain lifestyle, and it should be at least respected," she said. "There can be changes, of course, but it should be respected."
Revisions to the B.C. Building Code in 2009 permitting wood-frame construction for projects of up to six storeys didn't seem like such a wise idea when Remy, a six-storey condo project in Richmond, was consumed by fire last May. Despite the project's use of innovative construction materials such as cross-laminated timbers, the optics were bad.
The blaze also means that the initial phase of Polygon Homes Ltd.'s Anderson Walk development in North Vancouver is the first project to be completed under the new provisions.
Designed by Vancouver architect Ray Letkeman, the five-storey project at 119 West 22nd Street is an unobtrusive structure that Polygon president Neil Chrystal believes will show other municipalities that such structures are viable.
"Many municipalities are trying to understand it," he said.
Anderson Walk began as a standard four-storey wood-frame complex, but changes to the building code prompted a rezoning application to five storeys. North Vancouver city planners required significant documentation demonstrating the design's compliance with the new code.
"We had to do a fair bit of homework to show them what we were doing with this new frame building type based on the new code requirements," Letkeman said.
The successful completion of the project promises to make it an example for other municipalities judging the merits of projects in their own areas – but Letkeman believes scrutiny of the projects will eventually be no more onerous than for any other project, just as four-storey wood-frame buildings became acceptable when changes allowed heights higher than three storeys. In addition to being wood-frame, Anderson Walk features exposed timber and greater glazing that lends the project "another cool West Coast characteristic." •
