46-storey rental housing and hotel tower proposal near Burrard SkyTrain suspended

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design for the tower replacing the parkade attached to 1075 West Georgia Street, Vancouver. (IBI Group/Reliance Properties)

There will not be a redevelopment of the rear parkade structure of Arthur Erickson Place — at least not anytime soon.

In April 2021, Reliance Properties announced a proposal to replace Arthur Erickson Place’s rear parkade structure at the southeast corner of the intersection of Thurlow Street and Dunsmuir Street into a slim 46-storey tower with 478 secured purpose-built rental homes.

However, at the time, the proposed residential uses received negative feedback from City of Vancouver staff, as existing Central Business District policies for the site only permit office and/or hotel uses, with City staff asserting the need to protect long-term employment spaces.

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Then in July 2022, the previous makeup of Vancouver City Council provided City staff with the permission to accept and review the non-compliant proposal’s rezoning application. It was at this juncture that Reliance Properties indicated it had revised its proposal to reduce the number of rental homes to 429 units in order to accommodate a hotel with 72 guest rooms within the lower floors of the tower.

More than a year and a half later, this mixed-use tower with rental housing and hotel uses is no longer in the works.

A spokesperson for Reliance Properties told Daily Hive Urbanized they are no longer going through the formal rezoning application process with the municipal government to achieve the 46-storey mixed-use tower.

1075 West Georgia Street Vancouver Thurlow Dunsmuir Parkade 2022 tower

2022 artistic rendering of the revised design for the tower replacing the parkade attached to 1075 West Georgia Street, Vancouver. (IBI Group/Reliance Properties)

“The ownership group has collectively evaluated the current economic landscape and made the decision to suspend the submission of the rezoning package to the City of Vancouver. This pause was a strategic response to adapt to rapidly evolving Vancouver real estate market dynamics and to focus on the existing asset,” stated the spokesperson.

The site at 1075 West Georgia Street is located adjacent to SkyTrain Burrard Station, and adjacent to Hyatt Regency Vancouver hotel.

In 2021, to acknowledge its celebrated architect, Arthur Erickson Place was renamed from its previous longtime name of the MacMillan Bloedel Building.

Extensive green building upgrades have been in progress on the building since 2022, which has now earned the building a “Zero Carbon Building — Performance” certification from the Canada Green Building Council.

Although a mixed-use tower will not be added to the city block, some major changes are currently taking place next door at Royal Centre, which is in the process of building a new and upgraded West Georgia Street lobby for Royal Tower with a new covered outdoor plaza and a new pavilion building with a 9,000 sq ft, two-storey restaurant. This renovation will reach completion by late 2025.

Artistic rendering of the office plaza entrance upgrade at Royal Centre in Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Warrington PCI Management)

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