New retail and office building coming to the foot of Denman Street at English Bay

An under-utilized lot at the northwest corner of the intersection of Denman Street and Pendrell Street, just two blocks from English Bay Beach, in downtown Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood will be redeveloped into a new three-storey commercial building.

See also:

• Sonder to open new boutique hotel in the old Coast Plaza Hotel in Vancouver’s West End
• Smaller ‘Jenga’ tower proposed for Denman Street in West End
• New retail building coming to Robson Street next to Sephora
• Old Greenbrier Hotel on Robson Street listed for sale for redevelopment potential

CBRE’s Urban Group Properties is marketing the leasing of a future redevelopment at 1125 Denman Street, which was the site of a Shell gas station up until a decade ago. Currently, it is being used as ground-level parking.

1125 Denman Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

1125 Denman Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

The building will have a total leasable floor area of 16,342 sq. ft., including 6,140 sq. ft. of ground-level retail space that has been leased to an unnamed “national pharmacy.”

As for the upper levels, the spaces are deemed suitable for office, medical clinics, and a fitness gym uses. The listing indicates there is a “rooftop patio opportunity.”

Preliminary conceptaul artistic rendering of 1125 Denman Street, Vancouver. (CBRE)

Due to the city’s West End Community Plan, the height and density opportunities of any redevelopment along Denman Street between Burnaby Street and Robson Street are highly constrained, limited to heights of up to 60 ft and a floor space ratio density of 2.2 times the size of the lot.

The low heights will enforce the “village” atmosphere and retain Denman Village’s “sunny, primarily low scale business-oriented character.” Denman Street, lined with retail and restaurants, is considered the “main street” of the West End.

However, residential developments are limited on the street under the plan, with a preference for commercial uses “to ensure vibrancy at all times of the day.”

The property’s latest assessed value, as of July 2018, by BC Assessment is $7.847 million — up by over $800,000 compared to the previous assessment year.

Denman Village allowable heights under the West End Community Plan. (City of Vancouver)