It is not planned to break any new height barriers, but the $500 million Burrard Gateway project will add new definition to downtown Vancouver’s skyline.
Jim Pattison Developments and Reliance Properties Ltd. announced plans Tuesday to redevelop 23 city lots located between Burrard and Hornby Streets north of Drake Street separately owned by both companies. Fourteen lots are owned by Reliance, while the remaining nine are owned by the Jim Pattison Group, including the Downtown Toyota property.
Michael Lee, vice-president of Pattison Developments said in an interview that the proposed project includes a 13-storey, 100,000-square-foot office building fronting Burrard Street, and two residential high-rise buildings. One residential tower will be 36-storeys and the other will be 48, about the same height as One Wall Centre.
“It will be shorter than some of the taller buildings downtown like the Shangri-la, the Hotel Georgia,” he said.
The project will include a vastly improved facility for the Downtown Toyota dealership, with a three-storey showroom above ground, and service bays and parking for 155 cars in a four-storey facility underground.
The mixed-use project is targeting LEED Gold status, encompassing several energy and water conservation elements, including a heat exchange system and some passive solar shading design for the eastern and southern faces of the buildings.
Lee said they plan to submit a rezoning application in early November that includes a request to more than double the density allowed for the properties.
“We anticipate it could take upwards of 18 months to go through the usual rezoning process.”
This new development is the latest mixed-use development involving an auto dealership (See “Downtown auto dealers heading indoors” – issue 1093; October 5-11).