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Dan Fumano: The latest stab at developing Vancouver's 'most complicated' property

Is new tower proposal putting the cart before the horse or a catalyst to kick-start the development of Vancouver's biggest, unrealized city-making opportunity?

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How complicated could it be to build an office tower on a downtown site that has sat, for decades, as a drab parking lot?

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If the property in question is at 601 West Cordova St., the answer is: Very.

Dan Fumano: The latest stab at developing Vancouver's 'most complicated' property Back to video

It’s one of the “most challenging” parts of Vancouver to develop, said architect James Cheng, who has helped shape the city’s skyline over the decades with skyscrapers including the Shangri-La and Fairmont Pacific Rim.

“It’s the most complicated site I’ve ever worked on, with so many affected parties.”

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Now, Cheng’s firm has designed a 22-storey, tree inspired office tower for the property, which is owned by Cadillac Fairview.

The parking lot sits between two of Vancouver’s most iconic heritage buildings and beside B.C.’s busiest transit hub, surrounded by a complicated mix of real estate ownership at street level, underground and in the airspace above.

A decade ago, Cadillac Fairview tried to advance a controversial proposal for a tower — which critics dubbed “the ice pick” — on the site. It was rejected by the city’s urban design panel and never went anywhere. (Cheng and his firm weren’t behind the earlier design).

Just to the north is the central downtown waterfront, one of Vancouver’s largest unrealized city-making opportunities. This stretch of the downtown foreshore between CRAB Park and Canada Place has been the subject of debates, plans and proposals for decades but still remains a dead spot: gravel lots, railway lines, an unwelcoming foreshore.

Standing in his office’s conference room, Cheng gestures at a large presentation screen showing the downtown skyline as viewed from Burrard Inlet. He points to waterfront from Stanley Park heading east through Coal Harbour to the Convention Centre and Canada Place, and says: “We have a beautiful city up until there,” pointing to around the SeaBus terminal, “and then it stops.”

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Developing this specific stretch of waterfront has proven difficult for years, in part, because of the sometimes-competing interests of the diverse group of parties with a stake there.

In 2024, there was some optimism that the long-standing stalemate might finally break, when a memorandum of understanding was signed by the key players.

Calling themselves the Central Waterfront Planning Alliance, the group includes representatives from the City of Vancouver, the B.C. government, Transport Canada, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and the two major private landowners there: the holding company of Vancouver Whitecaps owner Greg Kerfoot, and Cadillac Fairview, which owns the heritage Waterfront Station building as well as the adjacent parking lot at 601 West Cordova St.

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City of Vancouver chief planner Josh White said the city remains engaged with that working group, and is “motivated to see the central waterfront develop into a community and public space befitting its exceptional location.”

Cadillac Fairview’s new application was submitted to city hall last November, and is now working its way through the approval process.

The 22-storey office tower proposal may be allowed under the property’s current zoning, subject to evaluation under various policies and regulations, including urban design and heritage. If it’s eventually approved — or rejected — it will not be a decision of city council but the development permit board, a group of senior city staffers who consider the recommendations of advisory bodies.

At a pair of meetings earlier this week, the proposal had a split record before two of those advisory bodies: the Vancouver heritage commission unanimously opposed the project, and two days later, the urban design panel voted to support it with conditions.

Next, the project will go before the Gastown historic area planning committee on March 18, and is scheduled to go to the development permit board for a decision on May 11.

That May decision will be a crucial piece of whether the project advances or not, but it’s only an intermediate step. If the preliminary development permit is approved in May, additional approvals will be required before anything can be built on the site.

Another group of volunteers, many of whom are retired city planners, has created their own working group dedicated to the future of the downtown waterfront. They describe themselves of being free of any corporate or political affiliation and dedicated to promoting the public interest in planning this area.

At that working group’s latest meeting Friday, the mood was “encouraged but also cautious,” said group member and former New Westminster director of planning Mary Pynenburg.

The group opposes Cadillac Fairview’s new proposal, Pynenburg said, citing concerns about “heritage loss, excessive scale on the waterfront, and the precedent this sets for the central waterfront.” They were “very pleased” by the heritage commission’s rejection, but disappointed about the urban design panel’s approval in principle.

Vancouver Coun. Lisa Dominato introduced a motion in 2022 directing city staff to “re-engage” with the various stakeholders to “reinvigorate a comprehensive plan for the central waterfront.” Reached Friday, she said she worries Cadillac Fairview’s proposal “potentially encumbers future planning for the area.”

“The city is at the beginning of this planning exercise for the central downtown waterfront,” Dominato said. “So from my perspective, it feels like the cart before the horse.”

Cheng, the architect, disagrees.

This proposal wouldn’t restrict the future potential to develop the waterfront, he says, pointing out that the design includes a right-of-way to preserve a public walkway connecting Cordova Street and the waterfront. On the contrary, he says, it could be a catalyst to “kick-start” the rest of that waterfront development.

“We don’t have to wait,” Cheng said. “Freezing it is just keeping the city back.”

dfumano@postmedia.com

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