[JonnyCanuck]

Woodwards Downtown Vancouver redevelopment:
Here is a video on this project.

Henriquez Partners Architects

Henriquez Partners Architects is a Vancouver, Canada-based studio committedto design excellence and socially responsible community development.Archimemo is its research arm and online journal.

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The original structure was a combined (adjoining?) mid-rise retail store with offices, warehouse & parkade. As one can see, there was a fair amount of demolishing done beforehand. I think some of the store/offices walls were salvaged. Because it was a mid-rise structure it was easier to re-purpose.
All of the buildings in question on Stephen Ave are mostly two story individual structures. Much more difficult to repurpose them to say ... residential.

 

[Cowtown]

Isn't the entire Nexen building and most of Husky towers empty? Also not sure if Woodward's is a good example. Didn't they bulldoze the heritage structures and only kept facades?

Nexen is completely empty iirc, and WCP is mostly empty. Nexen only has ~400K of space in total and Suncor would need more if they wanted everyone in one tower, and nobody seems to want to be at the west end away from the core.. WCP has more space, but probably not quite enough.
Both buildings are also older, even older than the Suncor towers.
Not that I want to see more office space, but I think that’s why Suncor probably didn’t consider those.

 

[The Familia]

Suncor should just renovate their existing building (Petro Canada Center) as opposed to leaving it. Big Red still looks good from the outside. Never been inside the building other than the lobby, but if they went floor to floor I’m sure they can do something creative to open it up.

 

[O-tac]

Suncor should just renovate their existing building (Petro Canada Center) as opposed to leaving it. Big Red still looks good from the outside. Never been inside the building other than the lobby, but if they went floor to floor I’m sure they can do something creative to open it up.

Last time I was inside the Petro Canada Centre they already had some floors that were completely vacant and gutted. Mind you that was probably 3-5 years ago. In fact they had a photocopier graveyard on one floor.

 

[Travisty]

I agree with Familia's post, in the fact that they should renovate instead of moving. But unlike 5 years ago, Suncor has consolidated all of their offices to Calgary, so capacity has to be the core issue. I am sure there are some Suncor employees that are lurking on here...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/suncor-offices-1.5778013

 

[maestro]

A developer will command well above market value to build space. Construction costs as astronomical right now. 16% is crazy high for class AA. There's probably Isn't enough continuous space for every employee of a major company. You don't need to have every employee under the same roof. I don't see any board approving a move like this. Threatening to move works when negotiating a new lease especially when vacancy is stagnant in the 30% range.

Crazy things have happened in Calgary. This would be the new record holder.

 

[darwink]

Some big swaps would help. Would make everyone better off.

Ovintiv —> Red Square, Suncor —> Ovintiv and Cenovus space in The Bow. Use the old Cenovus space as decanting to make moves and renovations work, and move any sub leaseholders that don’t fit anymore into concessionairy leases in Western Canadian Place.

This would be the kind of deal a swashbuckling Mayor could engineer.

 

[Surrealplaces]

I agree with Familia's post, in the fact that they should renovate instead of moving. But unlike 5 years ago, Suncor has consolidated all of their offices to Calgary, so capacity has to be the core issue. I am sure there are some Suncor employees that are lurking on here...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/suncor-offices-1.5778013

As far as I know almost all of the jobs from Mississauga have moved and capacity is probably being pushed, but I believe most of those jobs that moved are still hybrid home/office, and maybe that's helped with the capacity issue?

A developer will command well above market value to build space. Construction costs as astronomical right now. 16% is crazy high for class AA. There's probably Isn't enough continuous space for every employee of a major company. You don't need to have every employee under the same roof. I don't see any board approving a move like this. Threatening to move works when negotiating a new lease especially when vacancy is stagnant in the 30% range.
Crazy things have happened in Calgary. This would be the new record holder.

There's plenty of space, but there isn't any continuous space large enough for Suncor, unless they do a swap .. as @darwink suggested. The Bow is large enough, and afaik, Ovintiv is still the only tenant in the Bow. Brookfield Place would have been good as well, but there are multiple tenants in the building, with only 4 empty floors and 4 partially empty floors remaining.

 

[EnCana]

The Bow is large enough, and afaik, Ovintiv is still the only tenant in the Bow

Ovintiv and Cenovus are still the primary leaseholders; however, some of that space has been subleased out to Nexen(CNOOC), and I believe Shell is moving its office into the Bow next year. The Bow is the perfect building for Suncor if they can somehow figure out how to deal with those leases.

 

[MichaelS]

Good point about Shell moving into The Bow. Their current headquarters on 4th Ave will soon be empty then I presume, however I don't think that building would suit Suncor better than their current offices.

 

[Urb]

This one is firmly 6 feet under...

 

[CalgaryTiger]

This one is firmly 6 feet under...

Huge if true, just didn't need this. Something could and should go here, just not this.

 

[Urb]

It will go when they find another anchor tenant to occupy the office component. Could be 5-10 years before that happens.

 

[The Familia]

Thank God! If something is going to go in here then it has to be done properly. This was a half assed proposal that they tried to sneak in.

They need to hire a competent architect/developer who is willing to spend the money to save, preserve, and incorporate as much of the historical elements as possible. The design needs to be sensitive to the area with a focus on the pedestrian realm. It should also be an iconic design that can seemingly blend the old and the new together. Do it right or don’t do it at all. I’m willing to wait 5-10 years for a proper proposal.

 

[O-tac]

It will go when they find another anchor tenant to occupy the office component. Could be 5-10 years before that happens.

By that point the 7th Ave buildings will have further degraded. Maybe there will be an 'accident' and half the block will burn down. Hopefully the city can add further protections to the heritage stock with actual teeth. For now I'll be happy if this thing is dead.