Costly project isn’t even built and already it’s cause for a party
Malcolm Parry
Sun
PUTTIN’ ON THE GLITZ: It’ll be years before the 60-floor Residences at the Ritz-Carlton tower can have jazz star Diana Krall, architect Arthur Erickson and 1,200 others in it simultaneously. But all 1,202 jammed the street-level demonstration centre Wednesday to toast Canada‘s costliest residential project with cascades of the only tipple developer Simon Lim offered: Dom Perignon champagne.
Lim respects fellow developer Peter Wall: “He brought in the tallest building, density transfers and living over a hotel.”
Wall also brought in soprano Jessye Norman and tenor Ben Heppner. Krall, smoothing an Alexander McQueen black-satin dress and aligning jeweled Louis Vuitton slingbacks with the piano pedals, she swung into Frim Fram Sauce, S’Wonderful and other songs from her The Very Best of Diana Krall album.
After modelling $41,000-worth of Badgley Mischka, Holt Renfrew and Monica Rindi mink coats in the warm scrum, Lauren Reynolds, Diane Gagne and Mary Ann Mepperlink thought it s’wonderful to be photographed outside on spacious, wintry Alberni Street.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007
