Bosa Properties and Kingswood Properties are holding an open house February 4 to get input from the public on plans to build a 50-storey iconic building in the plaza next to an equally distinctive 38-year-old, green-glass building at 1500 West Georgia Street.
The session will take place at the Empire Landmark Hotel at 1400 Robson Street between 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Designs for the tower were first released last June .
The developers have hired German architect Ole Scheeren, who Kingswood president Lorne Segal has described as a “starchitect” in discussions with Business in Vancouver.
The proposal 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 in August 2014 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 has described Scheeren’s design an “edgy, neat, cool concept.”The 329,400-square-foot, mixed-use building would include two storeys of retail and public space under 48 residential floors that would have a total of 235 homes.
There would also be six levels of parking.
References: https://www.biv.com/article/2016/1/public-consultation-looms-proposed-tower-could-tra/?utm_source=BIV+Newsletters&utm_campaign=020f7ebcea-Weekly_Real_Estate_January_27_20161_27_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6d3015fdef-020f7ebcea-210798317
