Construction begins on office tower at Main Street-Science World SkyTrain Station

Artistic rendering of the False Creek Station office tower at 1296 Station Street, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/GWL Realty Advisors)

A new office tower being built immediately adjacent to SkyTrain Main Street-Science World Station and Pacific Central Station could potentially accommodate as many as nearly 2,000 workers.

GWL Realty Advisors recently commenced construction on False Creek Station, the name of the building, at 1296 Station Street — the former site of Party Bazaar at the northeast corner of the intersection of Terminal Avenue and Station Street.

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This will be a 13-storey tower with 270,000 sq ft of premium AAA-calibre office space, with large floor plates reaching up to 24,000 sq ft. Office tenants will have various amenities, including a fitness centre, roof deck, end-of-trip facility, co-working areas, and lounges. The ground level entails a retail/restaurant unit of 5,400 sq ft.

This redevelopment was originally pursued by local developer Rize Alliance, but in 2020, the property and city-approved project designs and plans were acquired by GWL Realty Advisors, on behalf of Canada Life. False Creek Station is expected to reach completion in 2025.

1296 station street vancouver false creek station office tower may 28 2022 construction

Construction on the False Creek Station office tower at 1296 Station Street, Vancouver, as of May 28, 2022. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

“We acquired the site and project design in 2020 based on its compelling location. Given the limits of available land for office space in the downtown core — particularly office space with desirable large floor plates — we are seeing a notable shift eastward to emerging areas such as the False Creek Flats,” Geoff Heu, the vice president of development for GWL Realty Advisors, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

He also highlighted how this project aligns with the city’s 2017-approved False Creek Flats Plan of intensifying employment uses in the area, especially tech and creative uses.

“With its great location and landmark design, we believe False Creek Station will be attractive to a variety of sectors, including traditional corporate and tech-related businesses,” he said.

He adds that another major factor that gave them confidence in the project is its close proximity to the future St. Paul’s Hospital campus — just one block to the north.

The major provincial-level hospital is set to open in 2027, and further phases that add medical/research office spaces are anticipated to grow the hospital campus’ workforce to 10,000 on-site jobs upon full buildout.

The new hospital is catalyzing major office projects within its vicinity due to the expected significant demand for new office space for clinics, research, and service-based businesses to support the new healthcare hub.

1296 station street vancouver false creek station office tower

Artistic rendering of the False Creek Station office tower at 1296 Station Street, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/GWL Realty Advisors)

As another sign of the anticipated future demand for office space in the area, in 2020, Vancouver City Council added “health care office” as a permissible use within the nearby Mount Pleasant Industrial Area, which is also becoming an attractive location for medical offices due to its relative mid-point between Vancouver General Hospital and the new St. Paul’s.

For this reason, Heu says the building’s design has seen slight changes to allow for the potential of medical-related tenants.

“Since we acquired the site, the neighbourhood has increasingly been attracting new life-sciences tenants, notably AbCellera and Precision NanoSystems,” continued Heu.

“Seeing this sector as an opportunity, we have modified the original building design to accommodate life-science tenants which often seek higher structural loads, larger floor plates, and accommodation for specialized ventilation, exhaust and plumbing.”

False Creek Station was previously marketed as “The Onyx,” a reference to the building’s irregular crystal shape, with a large glass-enclosed office lobby that sharply juts out as if it were an extension of a crystal. The building’s design is by local architectural firm Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership. A LEED Gold green building certification is targeted.

Artistic rendering of the False Creek Station office tower at 1296 Station Street, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/GWL Realty Advisors)

In 2020, Rize Alliance submitted a development permit application to build a 10-storey office and creative industry building at 306 Terminal Avenue — immediately south of False Creek Station.

Earlier this year, slightly further to the south at 1618 Station Street, an application by Low Tide Properties was submitted to build an eight-storey office and laboratory building.

Immediately north of the future hospital campus, Keltic Development is proposing to build a 10-storey medical office building at 220 Prior Street, and Strand Development is proposing a mixed-use redevelopment at 456-496 Prior Street with 246,000 sq ft of office space, 14,000 sq ft of retail space, and 262 secured market rental homes. City council will consider Strand Development’s rezoning application later this month.

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