Two related Gastown items:
First: the City of Vancouver wants to talk about the proposed redesign of this historic place — Blood Alley Square and Trounce Alley. The design work will be by Enns Gauthier (consultants).
- Wednesday June 1, 2016 4-7 pm
- Saturday June 4, 2016 11 am – 2 pm.
Location: Blood Alley Square
Thanks to City of Vancouver
Second: Westbank Projects and Henriquez Partners Architects are seeking approval for a new 11-storey structure around 33 West Cordova. Thanks to Kenneth Chan at VanCity Buzz (and to Ian for the tip).
There will be a total of 214 rental units in the 163,000-square-foot redevelopment, including 80 social housing units and 134 secured market rental units.
On the ground level, a number of retail and restaurant units are planned, including a wine bar, with frontages on both Cordova Street and Blood Alley, which will receive a new southern frontage as a result of the project.
A large cabaret and entertainment venue in the underground level could provide much-needed additional foot traffic into Blood Alley, where the entrance into the venue is located.
Thanks to Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank Projects
Thanks to Henriquez Partners Architects / Westbank Projects
I saw the City’s Blood Alley announcement last week and thought, “Oh, here comes the City sneaking in condos. How is Blood Alley high on anyone’s priority list?” Then I told myself I’ve been living here too long. Try not to be so cynical.
And, now, I find out that a developer “coincidentally” wants to put housing there.
I heard Derek Corrigan on CKNW this morning explaining why Burnaby is going to let the market just settle things out in Metrotown. And, to be honest, his frankness on it was refreshing. Better than Vancouver’s mayor playing all these games and writing open letters that no one believes he even wrote himself without lobbyist help.
BC Housing are co-developers with Westbank, and there are no condos proposed. The City of Vancouver used to own the buildings until a few years ago, and appear to have been working on finding a way to redevelop the extremely tired non-market rooms with a replacement project. A partnership with a developer who will build more rental in addition to the non-market component seems a positive move.
That’s fine. Adding rental is good. But, why doesn’t the City just come out and say that a developer wants to put in a rental building, and we’re going to use tax dollars to make the area nicer? Why all the usual crap? Why all the usual games? Just tell people the truth. It’s always some spin.
And, after this, I wouldn’t be surprised if they put in a condo after this initial development. That happens all the time too. And, you know, I’m okay with that as well. Just stop spinning the crap out of everything.
134 rental apartments and 80 social housing units in a mid-rise development can’t be a bad thing. These are not private lofts or luxury strata condos, and social housing can’t justifiably be called gentrification. The club may be a noisy intrusion into Blood Alley, but who’s to say it will remain an entertainment venue forever? Besides, the alley has deteriorated a lot since the Classical Joint closed and crack hit the streets in the 80s.
Overall, this one does seem to fit, if a little tightly and blandly.
Change and cleaning up the mess here is essential, as is restoring vitality to Blood Alley. I would have liked a bit more daylight penetration through the site, though.