400,000-square-foot project to fill downtown need for space
Derrick Penner
Sun
Bentall Capital wants to build downtown Vancouver’s first new all-office skyscraper in more than five years, a 22-storey, 400,000-square-foot development at Thurlow and Alberni.
Bentall applied to the city for a development permit for the site this week because “the market needs more office space,” according to Tony Astles, senior vice-president of Bentall Real Estate Services.
Speculation around who would step in to build the next new office building has swirled around Vancouver as downtown’s office vacancy rate dwindled — to an all-time low of 3.5 per cent, according to commercial realtor CB Richard Ellis in its latest report.
Astles said Bentall will build the tower on behalf of the province’s big public-sector pension fund, British Columbia Investment Management Corp (BCiMC).
“It’s a very attractive location,” Astles said, across the street from the 61-storey Shangri-La tower, and the new tower “will be an extraordinarily attractive building.”
Bentall is proceeding with the project without an anchor tenant. But Astles said the company is confident it will be able to find a marquee name to rent space.
“We’ve done it before,” he added.
The office tower will replace a number of restaurants, a liquor store and parking garage. It will also add to BCiMC’s downtown real estate portfolio, which includes the MacMillan Bloedel building and Evergreen building. The project’s architect, Musson Cattell, Mackey, will appear before the City of Vancouver’s urban design panel’s June 20 meeting to discuss the project.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
