[Dārayavauš]

Imagine if a couple of those levels were retail instead of inevitably empty office space

They should not be allowed to build it this way. They should be forced to make it retail. Why in the world in 2022 would this City allow any more office space to be built in the downtown core?

 

[Cowtown]

We definitely don’t need more office space, that’s what got downtown into the mess it’s in. Residential would be nice, but again this is just like some of the issues we’ve seen in the beltline. For the love of God why can’t residential be built on one of the several empty lots we have around downtown.

I know it’s a developers choice to build where they own the land but I wish the city would incentivize residential development on an empty lot instead of locations like this one. Maybe some sort of tax break or incentive for developing lots that are empty?

 

[darwink]

Maybe some sort of tax break or incentive for developing lots that are empty?

Don't want to create an incentive where it makes sense to make an empty lot for a period of time.

 

[lemongrab]

Don't want to create an incentive where it makes sense to make an empty lot for a period of time.

You could have both a carrot and a stick. Maybe the stick even pays for the carrot

 

[smart_development]

This is objectively not true.

The post was totally sarcastic...I believe the opposite of what I was stating.

 

[Surrealplaces]

Venturing a guess at possible build-to-suit tenants in tow for the office portion: someone had mentioned that these are tech-sized floorplates in an amenity-rich space like a lot of the new Vancouver office towers and they are absolutely right. If i were to guess, Neo Financial just attained unicorn status after there Series C round, and they seem like the kind of group that could be on a growth trajectory that would be looking for a build-to-suit option to house all of there operations by the time that this space is built and ready for tenant fixturing.

They want to do something with large floorplates like the Amazon building in Vancouver. I could see a company like Neo wanting something like that.

 

[MissingMiddle]

They want to do something with large floorplates like the Amazon building in Vancouver. I could see a company like Neo wanting something like that.

Especially if they're currently separated between different floors & buildings, and just secured a billion dollar valuation with series C funding.

 

[Roaring Flames]

We definitely don’t need more office space, that’s what got downtown into the mess it’s in. Residential would be nice, but again this is just like some of the issues we’ve seen in the beltline. For the love of God why can’t residential be built on one of the several empty lots we have around downtown.

I know it’s a developers choice to build where they own the land but I wish the city would incentivize residential development on an empty lot instead of locations like this one. Maybe some sort of tax break or incentive for developing lots that are empty?

Maybe give a tax break/incentive once a certain percentage of the empty lot has been developed? The tax break/incentive could stack higher depending on the percentage of the land developed

 

[Calgcouver]

Neo is taking the 2 top floors of the Bay building and have a floor or two in the Edison, I doubt it's them. I do wonder if the city could block the office part, I definitely think it's irresponsible to build.

Fair point, not too sure I’m not too in tune with what tenants might be expanding and contracting that would want the space been out of CRE for a while.

 

[October]

I tried to workout what the buildings would look like as part of our skyline height wise, at least the 2 taller ones, this is what I came up with, sloppy considering it did it on my phone on the bus but gives the right idea.

 

[haltcatchfire]

Tallest will be almost exactly mid between the top of Telus & Brookfield.

 

[FCC1982]

So basically the shorter tower as shown is the actual height of the taller tower.

 

[O-tac]

The forumer on SSP who heard about the company moving in says it's Suncor (big oil company in big red building). Imagine adding the Suncor towers to the empty inventory around the core! Amazing that nothing has been learned from every successive oil boom then bust. By the time this tower gets built the war in Ukraine will hopefully be over and the cost per barrel will be much lower. Not to mention the transition to renewables will have further undermined O&G. This proposal seems like an even ballsier move than when Encana had the city grant them the massive parkade and destruction of the York hotel in exchange for a cultural building which never materialized. At least they hired a reputable architect and had a vision. This seems like they are trying to hide the design rather than flaunt it. I have almost zero faith the other two towers will ever happen and if they do they will be much shorter and value engineered.

 

[O-tac]

I'm thinking of calling my councilor to list my concerns and try to give him a reason to push back on this proposal. I fear council will be very eager for any kind of development DT even if it is disastrous.

 

[O-tac]

I hope this dies the same way that the robo-parkade proposal did. At least that one went to the effort of preserving the historic buildings along 7th Ave and not touching Stephen Ave. How sad is it that a parkade had better street activation and was a better proposal than this.