Above the Post Office

Developers Bentall Kennedy (now owned by Sun Life Financial) working with architects Musson Cattel Mackey Partnership show off their plans for the huge former Canada Post building in downtown Vancouver.

Proposal for Hamilton and West Georgia

Preliminary plans by the developer consist of constructing five new towers up to 19 storeys high on top of the existing 686,000-square-foot building – effectively the redevelopment’s podium – framed by Dunsmuir Street to the north, West Georgia Street to the south, Homer Street to the west, and Hamilton Street to the southeast. The site is across the street from the Vancouver Public Library and Queen Elizabeth Theatre and within close proximity of Larwill Park, the future home of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Altogether, about 900,000 square feet of floor area will be added to the building, which will give the overall project a floor area exceeding 1.5 million square feet.
Approximately 300,000 square feet of retail space, varying from big open spaces to small units, will occupy the first four floors.
The reconfigured podium will provide the downtown retail market with much-needed large-scale retail spaces suitable for larger retailers. Three large retail spaces, accessible using escalators from the retail concourse along Homer Street, are planned: a 27,200-square-foot space on the ground level, 75,000-square-feet space on the second floor, and a 102,000 square-foot space taking up the entire floor plate on the third level.. . .
. . . . There are no plans to develop the existing ground level parking area that borders the building’s West Georgia Street facade into useable floor area. Instead, the space will be converted into a plaza with patio space and a street level entry into building’s retail. . .
. . .  no shortage in bike parking spaces is expected as the plans consist of building a 1,000 secure bike parking facility.

According to Jeff Lee in the Postmedia’s Vancouver Sun:

Tony Astles, Bentall Kennedy’s executive vice-president for Western Canada, said the inquiry “is very, very early in the process” and that no firm designs have yet been considered.
“Our goal is a sustainable mixed-use development that ultimately leverages the great transit and amenities in the area,” he said. “We have to work with the city, the planning department, the heritage department and the real estate department to see what we can achieve.”
Jackson said the inquiry from Bentall Kennedy and BCIMC proposes to build office, hotel and a mix of “for-profit affordable rental” and condominium housing above the existing building.