MEC West Broadway store could be redeveloped into stunning twin towers

Artistic rendering of the MEC store redevelopment at 130 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Neil M Denari Architects / IBI Group Architects)

One of the largest properties on Vancouver’s Central Broadway Corridor could be redeveloped into a mixed-use redevelopment with twin towers.

MEC’s current flagship store location at 130 West Broadway, just three blocks west of Broadway-City Hall Station, is set to be redeveloped as the cooperative retailer is set to move to a new location in the Olympic Village area.

Site of the MEC store redevelopment at 130 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Neil M Denari Architects / IBI Group Architects)

Site of the MEC store redevelopment at 130 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Redevelopment plans for the sprawling 52,500-sq-ft West Broadway property, which is currently occupied by a 1953-built building that houses the store, are ambitious given the location.

Artistic rendering of the MEC store redevelopment at 130 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Neil M Denari Architects / IBI Group Architects)

Local developer Reliance Properties wants to build 23-storey twin residential towers perched over a side-wide podium with restaurant and retail space, including a corner grocery store. Approximately 275,000 sq. ft. of floor area is envisioned for this design.

Los Angeles-based Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA), with IBI Group Architects as the architect of record, is behind the sleek design of this project, which features double-storey punctured windows and a plaza space on the rooftop of the podium. NMDA has worked with Reliance Properties before, namely the developer’s proposed 300-ft-tall, quartz-shaped white tower at 902 Davie Street.

No formal application to the City of Vancouver has been submitted at this time.

Artistic rendering of the MEC store redevelopment at 130 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Neil M Denari Architects / IBI Group Architects)

There is growing interest in redevelopment opportunities along Central Broadway due to the planned Millennium Line Broadway Extension, which will extend the SkyTrain system to Arbutus Street and add two more platforms to Broadway-City Hall Station.

MEC’s new flagship store within a three-storey, 60,000-sq-ft building on the northeast corner of the intersection of West 2nd Avenue and Quebec Street is anticipated to open in mid-2019. Construction on the new location began in 2017.

Artistic rendering of the MEC store redevelopment at 130 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Neil M Denari Architects / IBI Group Architects)

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