Blood Alley Music Hall: New 600-person event venue opening in Gastown

Blood Alley Music Hall: New 600-person entertainment venue opening in Gastown (PHOTOS)

Blood Alley complex at 23 West Cordova Street in Gastown, which is the location of Blood Alley Music Hall. Construction progress as of March 23, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Blood Alley and the broader Gastown area in downtown Vancouver will get a much-needed lift from the opening of a new major entertainment and music venue.

Local developer Westbank’s Blood Alley complex at 23 West Cordova Street recently reached substantial completion, located immediately north of the old Army & Navy department store and west of Tacofino’s Gastown restaurant.

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Next week in a public meeting, Vancouver City Council is expected to approve the Event-Driven Liquor Primary License application for Blood Alley Music Hall, which will be located within the basement of the complex.

According to the application, the two-storey underground venue will have a capacity for up to 598 people. Its spaces include a balcony/mezzanine level overlooking the main hall level and stage, along with supporting spaces such as green/dressing rooms to enable concerts and performances, and a kitchen and bar.

The music hall will be jointly operated by Live Nation Canada, which also runs the Commodore Ballroom in the Granville Entertainment District, and Siegel Entertainment, which is a talent booking company.

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Main hall level floor plan for Blood Alley Music Hall. (Revery Architecture)

Balcony/mezzanine floor plan for Blood Alley Music Hall. (Revery Architecture)

blood alley music hall square 23 west cordova street vancouver

Blood Alley complex at 23 West Cordova Street in Gastown, which is the location of Blood Alley Music Hall. Construction progress as of March 23, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The liquor license would allow alcohol service only during pre-booked events, in addition to food service during operations.

The operating hours will be limited to 11 am to 1 am from Sunday to Thursday, and 11 am to 2 am from Friday to Saturday. Minors, accompanied by a parent or guardian, would also be allowed to enter all areas when food service is available, until 10 pm.

“The programming proposed in this event space will include items such as musical concerts, recitals, comedy performances and touring companies offering live performances,” reads the application.

“It will also host cultural events, corporate receptions, private parties, banquets, fashion shows and celebratory event rentals such as birthdays, anniversaries and other significant events. Siegel Entertainment and Live Nation Canada will work with the applicant to help with local, national and international programming for the establishment.”

Blood Alley complex at 23 West Cordova Street in Gastown, which is the location of Blood Alley Music Hall. Construction progress as of March 23, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The music hall is designed by Revery Architecture, which has prior experience with major performance venues such as the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus, Arena Stage in Washington DC, and Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong. Both Revery Architecture and project consultant LMDG are also in the process of designing the new PNE Amphitheatre.

It is noted that Blood Alley Music Hall’s underground location, without any exterior windows and doors, should have minimal noise leakage. As well, this is a new purpose-built venue space — not a conversion of an existing space within an older building without modern design considerations for acoustical insulation. When the project was first being considered as a proposal about eight years ago, a larger underground entertainment venue was originally envisioned, but it did not receive support from fire officials at the time.

At ground level, the Blood Alley complex provides commercial space to activate its frontages of West Cordova Street to the south and Blood Alley Square to the north in the laneway. This includes retail space and a one-of-a-kind restaurant and lounge destination.

There is also a north-south opening through the ground level, providing a mid-block pathway for pedestrians to walk through between West Cordova Street and Blood Alley.

Blood Alley complex at 23 West Cordova Street in Gastown, which is the location of Blood Alley Music Hall. Construction progress as of March 23, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The new 10-storey building — designed by Henriquez Partners Architects — retained the West Cordova Street heritage facades of the two previous buildings at the property. In the levels above, there are 142 homes, including 80 social housing units and 62 market rental homes.

Westbank owns the music hall, commercial space, and market rental housing portions of the complex, while BC Housing owns the social housing component. According to a 2018 City of Vancouver staff report, BC Housing covered about $28 million of the construction cost towards the social housing component, including $1.6 million it received from the municipal government. Non-profit operator Portland Hotel Society is responsible for operating the social housing component.

In addition to the redevelopment, the City-owned public Blood Alley Square space has been undergoing a complete reconstruction with a new and improved design that is integrated with the building complex. Construction on the City-led project for the new event-friendly public plaza, coordinated with the building’s construction, began in early 2022, and it is now approaching completion.

Blood Alley complex at 23 West Cordova Street in Gastown, which is the location of Blood Alley Music Hall. Construction progress as of March 23, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The building redevelopment provides its Blood Alley Square frontage with murals by local artists, including the duo of James Harry and Lauren Brevner, and renowned Douglas Coupland.

The various commercial uses of the Blood Alley complex, the new retail/restaurant components and especially Blood Alley Music Hall, combined with the redesigned Blood Alley Square, will help revitalize Gastown, which has been particularly struggling lately from the spillover of the Downtown Eastside’s social issues.

Immediately to the south of the Blood Alley complex, the former Army & Navy department store is being eyed for a transformative mixed-use redevelopment.

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