Westbank downtown Vancouver office project shifts to hotel, housing, data centre | Daily Hive

Westbank's major downtown Vancouver office tower project at steam plant site pivots to hotel, residential, and data centre uses

Concept of the 2026 revised concept for 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Align Architecture/Westbank)

One of downtown Vancouver’s largest office development projects, first planned during the pre-pandemic office market boom, will not proceed as originally approved, given the prevailing weak office market conditions.

Instead, the office tower project previously approved for 150 West Georgia St. (formerly addressed as 720 Beatty St.) — situated at the southwest corner of Beatty Street and West Georgia Street, immediately adjacent to BC Place Stadium’s northeast corner — is now in the very early stages of being repositioned as a mixed-use hotel and residential tower with a data centre, based on an all-new architectural design concept that also adds density and height.

A number of preliminary conceptual artistic renderings also show this drastic pivot.

All of this will be integrated into the district utility company Creative Energy’s new on-site replacement and expanded steam plant facilities, which have incurred major cost increases and experienced delays, including factors related to local developer Westbank’s liquidity challenges.

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Since 2023, major construction activity has been ongoing at the site, which is home to Creative Energy’s 1960s-built industrial steam plant utility that critically provides the bulk hot water and steam heating needs for more than 45 million sq. ft. of building floor area in over 200 customer buildings across the downtown Vancouver peninsula, with this service supported by 14 km of underground steam distribution pipes.

A spokesperson for Creative Energy told Daily Hive Urbanized the current construction work is being led by Westbank.

According to the building permits issued in 2023 and 2024 for the site, the current project involves building five below-grade levels — from Expo Boulevard’s ground level below the stadium’s outdoor concourse to the Beatty Street level at the top of the escarpment — for vehicle parking and the new plant premises (concrete shell space) for both the new main steam plant and the new decarbonization plant, which is also a steam plant but depends on a different energy source. Construction progress on the new plant premises reached the Beatty Street level’s concrete pour in late 2025.

The new steam plant is the essential replacement facility that ensures reliable steam service using natural gas, while the decarbonization plant is a separate, supplemental project on the site that adds electric steam boilers to reduce emissions by displacing some gas use rather than replacing the steam plant itself.

The new facility will provide expanded capacity within a smaller, more efficient footprint and will continue to rely on natural gas-fired boilers to ensure reliable service. In parallel, Creative Energy is developing a separate decarbonization plant that will introduce high-voltage electric steam boilers to reduce emissions by displacing some natural gas use. The utility company says procurement of major equipment has been completed, while final design work for the decarbonization plant remains ongoing.

Creative Energy’s spokesperson also shared that they expect the installation of the equipment, infrastructure, and systems for the new decarbonization plant within the below-grade concrete shell space to begin in late 2026. With this timeline, the decarbonization plant is still a few years away from completion.

“The Creative Energy Decarbonization Project will be constructed inside the building when the building has progressed sufficiently,” the utility company’s spokesperson told Daily Hive Urbanized.

720 beatty street 150 west georgia street vancouver steam plant creative energy

Site of 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Google Maps)

720 beatty street vancouver steam plant office october 13 2023

Oct. 13, 2023 construction progress on the below-grade structure of 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver, for parking, the Creative Energy plant, and entertainment pavilion. (Kenneth Chan)

Jan. 16, 2026 construction progress on the below-grade structure of 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver, for parking, the Creative Energy plant, and entertainment pavilion. (Kenneth Chan)

The issued building permits also indicate that Westbank’s current construction project includes building the six-level, 30,000 sq. ft. circular-shaped pavilion building — a unique entertainment destination with uses such as restaurants, a sports bar, a brewery, and other commercial uses, in alignment with Northeast False Creek’s future evolution into a stadium-anchored entertainment district.

Westbank’s financial challenges and delays with Creative Energy’s new plant facilities

According to an April 2025 written ruling by a panel of the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC), the independent provincial regulatory agency for energy utilities, the new steam plant project has incurred major delays due to project cost escalation and Westbank’s financial issues.

From the outset, Creative Energy had a Trust and Development Agreement (TDA) with Westbank, where the developer was supposed to cover most of the construction cost of the new steam plant, new plant premises, and Creative Energy’s new 4,000 sq. ft. office space, with the utility company’s financial contribution to the capital costs capped at $15 million.

The new steam plant saw its cost increase from $53.1 million in 2018 to $74.3 million in 2022, but Creative Energy’s contribution remained the same at $15 million. At the same time, the decarbonization plant cost increased from $37.5 million in 2021 to $60.3 million in 2024, which includes the cost increase for BC Hydro’s new underground electrical transmission line between the Murrin substation in Chinatown and the development site — rising by $6.7 million to $23.7 million.

These cost increases are attributed to major changes in scope, site-specific challenges, and significant market inflation in construction equipment, materials, and labour costs following the pandemic. One of the largest early scope changes was the cancellation of the original concept to build a smaller, off-site steam plant within a void area at the base of BC Place Stadium next to Expo Boulevard. The project later pivoted to focus solely on establishing larger utilities and infrastructure at the 150 West Georgia St. site.

In July 2024, Westbank informed Creative Energy that it had experienced a funding shortfall and could no longer complete the construction of the new plant premises.

This prompted Creative Energy to submit an application to the BCUC requesting that the utility company cover $38.5 million of the steam plant’s capital costs, including $31 million to fund the completion of the new plant premises and $7.5 million to install the interconnection infrastructure.

Creative Energy argued that if it did not fund the completion of the new plant premises, the completion of the decarbonization plant would be delayed by two years — delays associated with pivoting the project’s design from an office building to hotel and residential uses.

“Creative Energy estimates that the completion of the Decarbonization Plant will be delayed by at least two years if it does not fund the completion of the New Plant Premises,” reads the ruling.

“It attributes this delay to the time the Developer needs to design a new, non-office development project at the 720 Beatty Street site, complete the rezoning and development permit process and secure one or more tenants for the development project,” continues the ruling, referencing the new mixed-use hotel and residential tower concept with a data centre.

Creative Energy also expressed concern to the BCUC that it could lose substantial time-limited full grant funding from senior governments if the project’s construction did not meet key milestones by established deadlines. This would put the utility company at a potential risk of not only losing capital funding but also being asked for repayment of the grant funds already allocated.

It received a federal grant of up to $8.6 million for a quarter of eligible costs related to the decarbonization plant, with this particular grant based on claiming expenses for actual expenses incurred. The federal government was not willing to extend the deadline for claiming expenses beyond the March 2025 deadline.

The utility company also received a provincial grant of up to $11.35 million to cover half of the transmission line cost. However, after the BCUC application was submitted, the provincial government and BC Hydro indicated they were able to provide a high degree of flexibility with the deadlines associated with the grant.

Ultimately, the panel rejected Creative Energy’s application in April 2025, arguing that absorbing such costs would put ratepayers — the customer buildings that depend on the steam plant for hot water and heating needs — at great financial risk. If the utility company is not able to recover the $38.5 million investment from the developer, ratepayers could see their rates increase by as much as 35 per cent in 2026 compared to 2024 rates.

“The Panel does not accept that it is necessary for Creative Energy to take on the responsibility of costs which are the responsibility of the Developer under the TDA, to avoid both a potential two-year delay in the Decarbonization Plant in-service date and the risk that Creative Energy might be responsible for further costs associated with the delay,” reads the ruling, with the panelists also asserting that the provincial grant flexibility found after the submission of the application has “dissipated” the urgency of the request “at least to some extent.”

Creative Energy also warned the developer in August 2024 that it was in breach of their agreement. The developer responded that it would keep working on the project only until its remaining funds were used up. Based on that response, Creative Energy pulled back its default notice but kept the right to reissue it and take legal action if the developer stopped funding the construction.

The utility company also told the BCUC that while it may have a valid legal claim against Westbank, it had doubts whether it would actually be able to collect any money if it sued, because the overall mixed-use office tower project with the new steam plant utility was already heavily financed with debt. At the time of the ruling, it was stated that the developer owes about $171 million plus interest to secured lenders, meaning that even if Creative Energy won in court, it would likely be repaid only after those lenders — and possibly not at all.

“Creative Energy submits it has diligently asserted its rights under the TDA, but the fact remains that the Developer is experiencing liquidity challenges in respect of the project and the Developer’s indirect parent company, Westbank Holdings Ltd., appears to be experiencing liquidity issues generally and across its other projects,” reads the ruling.

This ruling was made nearly a year ago. With continued, highly visible progress at the construction site — coupled with Creative Energy indicating this month that Westbank’s current work on the new plant premises will enable specific work on the decarbonization plant to begin in late 2026 — it appears the utility company and developer have found a way to advance the project and address the financial challenges without pursuing strategies that require regulatory intervention by BCUC.

Pivot to a new tower with hotel, residential, and data centre uses on top of the Creative Energy facility

In October 2020, Vancouver City Council approved Westbank’s original rezoning application for redeveloping this site into an office tower and a standalone entertainment pavilion building, with below-grade parking and a new replacement steam plant.

Moving forward, essentially everything below grade — including the new vehicle parking and the Creative Energy facility — as well as the new entertainment pavilion building, will remain unchanged, while the office tower project above grade will not proceed.

Instead, the previous 264-ft.-tall, 17-storey, bulky, S-shaped office tower concept — designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and HCMA — with 583,000 sq. ft. of office space and 12,000 sq. ft. of additional ground-level retail/restaurant space has been completely scrapped and is now envisioned to become a 450-ft-tall, 48-storey, mixed-use hotel and residential tower with a data centre and ground-level retail/restaurant space, for a total of roughly 700,000 sq. ft. of building floor area.

The significantly increased height for added density is made possible by City Council’s July 2023-approved sweeping city-wide changes to the protected mountain view cones. Design revisions for taller heights are also set to occur for the nearby future Plaza of Nations and Concord Landing projects, made possible by these view cone changes.

Existing condition:

The existing Creative Energy steam plant at 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Cancelled office tower project concept:

720 Beatty Street Vancouver Creative Energy

Cancelled: January 2019 concept of the office tower redevelopment at 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Bjarke Ingels Group/HCMA/Westbank)

Revised hotel and residential tower concept with a data centre:

150 West Georgia Street 720 Beatty Street Vancouver Hotel Data Centre Westbank Align

2026 revised concept for 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Align Architecture/Westbank)

The revised 150 West Georgia St. project is in the pre-application rezoning stage; no formal rezoning application has been submitted to the municipal government at this time.

At this stage, limited information is available about the revised project.

But what is known is that the preliminary concept envisions a substantial base podium — replicating much of the volume of the previously approved office tower — containing both the hotel and data centre.

The hotel, comprising approximately 11 storeys above the lobby level, would be located on the east side of the building at the intersection corner, while the data centre would occupy the western portion of the podium.

Cancelled office tower project concept:

Cancelled: January 2019 concept of the office tower redevelopment at 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Bjarke Ingels Group/HCMA/Westbank)

Revised hotel and residential tower concept with a data centre:

2026 revised concept for 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Align Architecture/Westbank)

According to design firm Align Architecture, the facade screens along the base podium that conceal the data centre gradually transition into the adjacent hotel levels, where windows are introduced to provide natural light and views for hotel rooms.

Rising above the base podium, the residential tower form is positioned directly atop the hotel floors and is architecturally distinguished by a pattern of convex and concave balconies. This balcony geometry — and the overall visual effect it creates — is inspired by the “pillowing” form of BC Place Stadium’s white fabric roof when viewed from above.

At ground level along Beatty Street, the design features a large mid-block opening to improve pedestrian connectivity and better accommodate the high volumes of foot traffic associated with events at BC Place Stadium, Rogers Arena, and throughout Northeast False Creek.

Artistic renderings of the concept also show a silhouetted representation of the adjacent standalone entertainment pavilion building on the property.

Existing condition:

The existing Creative Energy steam plant at 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

Cancelled office tower project concept:

Cancelled: January 2019 concept of the office tower redevelopment at 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Bjarke Ingels Group/HCMA/Westbank)

Revised hotel and residential tower concept with a data centre:

2026 revised concept for 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), Vancouver. (Align Architecture/Westbank)

It is unclear whether the proposed brand new purpose-built data centre could be designed to capture and pipe its significant excess heat to the new steam plant below — a strategy that could potentially yield substantial operating cost and emissions savings by reducing electric and natural gas demand for the boilers. Locating a major data centre directly above the new steam plant and optimizing the use of BC Hydro’s transmission line to the property would, however, appear to be a strategic and deliberate decision.

Daily Hive Urbanized reached out to Westbank for comment on this new approach to redevelop 150 West Georgia St., but they were not able to comment when reached.

Align Architecture is also the developer’s design firm for the proposal to redevelop 2345-2349 Main St. into a 25-storey tower with student housing and a new dance studio for the Goh Ballet.

However, a Westbank spokesperson previously confirmed to Daily Hive Urbanized that they are looking into adding major data centre uses to the 1977-built, six-storey office building at 111 East 5th Ave. This distinctive brick building — part of Westbank’s Main Alley tech campus of new and renovated office buildings in the vicinity of the intersection of Main Street and East 5th Avenue in Mount Pleasant — is perhaps best known for being one of Hootsuite’s office locations since 2014. Westbank noted that at this time, Hootsuite is still the building’s primary tenant.

January 2019 concept of the new Creative Energy steam plant and underground parking at 150 West Georgia St. (720 Beatty St.), as seen from the Expo Boulevard level below BC Place Stadium’s outdoor concourse. (Bjarke Ingels Group/HCMA/Westbank)

creative energy vancouver core redevelopment decarbonization

January 2019 concept: Creative Energy steam plant network in downtown Vancouver, showing the future new facility, the distribution network (yellow), and the BC Hydro power line (turquoise). (Creative Energy)

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