Cars not out
One of the key moments in the gathering of former Vancouver city planners the B.C. chapter of the Urban Land Institute convened earlier this summer was when Larry Beasley told folks not to count out the car.
Beasley was responding to Brent Toderian, who remarked: "The future is not about the car. It's increasingly about the bicycle and wheeled luggage and things like that."
Toderian said he isn't anti-car, but he didn't see how cities could manage ever-greater volumes of vehicles on their streets. (The same week, TomTom, a maker of satellite navigation devices, tagged Vancouver as having the second-worst congestion in North America.)
"It's not about a better car," Toderian told the audience, "it's about a better city that makes the car fundamentally unnecessary."
Beasley said that space was a consideration, but that the car was a fact of life. The wealthier people become, the more desirous they are of personal transportation. And from what he's seen, the emergence of electric vehicles isn't going to do away with the problem.
"My experience in the world right now is that the future is increasingly about the car," Beasley said. "Everywhere I work, managing the car is the biggest issue that has to be dealt with."
The exchange came to mind as Bosa Properties Inc. announced that "a high-performance charging station" will be included with all new parking stalls sold in its buildings. The move recognizes that cars aren't going away but they will be greener.
Vancouver announced two weeks ago that it plans to have at least 67 charging stations available in the city by the end of 2013, up from six today.
The infrastructure is a step ahead of the public's embrace of electric vehicles.
Insurance Corporation of B.C. records identify 40 in Vancouver, primarily municipal and commercial vehicles. The city hopes to add 30 to its own fleet by the end of 2013.
Cross-border shopping
Bellingham media may be taking a closer look the impact cross-border shoppers are having in Whatcom County, but U.S. retailers are showing significant clout north of the line.
A new report on the Metro Vancouver retail market by CBRE Inc. highlights this dual dynamic, suggesting that fashion and electronics retailers from the U.S. and elsewhere have been in the ascendant, while domestic retailers have put expansion plans on hold – save for such iconic brands as Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire.
"Demand for shopping centres with international brands and strong anchors remains strong, with power centres and major shopping malls recording the lowest vacancies among retail type," the report says. "New store openings by Samsung (Metropolis at Metrotown), Lego (Oakridge Mall), Express (Pacific Centre) and Apple (Coquitlam Centre), for instance, all supported demand within the region's largest centres."
International retailers are also opening at smaller strips: Crate & Barrel sibling CB2 opened at the revamped Pacific Palisades on Robson Street, while West Elm is slated to open on South Granville in premises Shoppers Drug Mart vacated last year for new digs across the street.
Work in progress
Holborn Group has quietly renewed work on 1151 West Georgia Street, which was more than half sold when financial markets were roiled in 2008 and the developer opted to return close to $20 million in deposits.
Workers were pouring concrete at the base of the building last week, which is set to be the city's second-tallest building when it's completed in 2014 (all going according to schedule).
The project was redesigned to boost the number of residential units to 287 from 124; a 187-room hotel is also planned.
Project marketer Bob Rennie told the Urban Development Institute in May that formal marketing won't start until spring 2013, but real estate agents have already been blogging the opportunity with increasing ardour this month. Pricing is pegged at $1,500 a square foot, well below the pricing achieved in 2008 of $2,300 a square foot (but hey, $1,500 is just for starters).
A brand for the hotel – originally slated to be a Ritz-Carlton – been hasn't announced.
