Concord submits proposal for Vancouver's new tallest buildings | Daily Hive

Concord Pacific submits proposal for revised Northeast False Creek project that include Vancouver's new tallest buildings

2024 revised concept for Concord Landing at Northeast False Creek. (Civitas Urban Design & Architecture/Concord Pacific)

Local developer Concord Pacific has reached a new milestone in the planning of the Concord Landing development — one of Vancouver’s last remaining large parcels of prime waterfront land.

Their new rezoning enquiry, outlining significantly revised and far more ambitious plans for their final site in Northeast False Creek in downtown Vancouver, was submitted earlier this week.

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Last month, in an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized, Webb shared that the new concept for the 10-acre site — currently largely vacant, mainly used as a parking lot, and situated just northwest of Science World — follows Vancouver City Council’s decision in July 2024 to make amendments to the protected mountain view cones enabling greater building height for more housing and job space, including changes that benefit the sites within the Northeast False Creek Plan area.

Existing condition of Concord Landing at Northeast False Creek. (Google Maps)

“We have submitted our plans to the City this week to begin the rezoning process for Concord Landing. We have been working on it since the new view corridor policy was released in July,” said Peter Webb, senior vice president of development for Concord Pacific, in a statement to Daily Hive Urbanized today.

“This new community will provide significant benefits to both the city and the province, including much needed housing, expansive green space and a revitalized waterfront. We look forward to collaborating with the Province, the City, and our neighbours to ensure the successful completion of the project.”

Significantly larger than the previous 2018 rezoning application concept, the 2025 concept for Concord Landing features 12 buildings, including landmark “Gateway” towers at the future extended southern end of West Georgia Street, meeting with Pacific Boulevard.

Webb told Daily Hive Urbanized today that both of these Gateway towers would become Vancouver’s new tallest buildings, each reaching a height of 65 storeys. The very precise numerical height (ft/metres) is still being hammered out, but it will exceed the height of the 659-foot-tall Living Shangri-La tower, which has been the city’s tallest building since the late 2000s. The two towers are separated by a major waterfront public plaza and frame views of Science World’s iconic dome when viewed from West Georgia Street.

However, Vancouver’s tallest buildings would still be shorter than Metro Vancouver’s new tallest building of Two Gilmore Place at Brentwood in Burnaby, as well as a growing number of other future suburban projects in the development pipeline, including an 853-foot-tall tower in Metrotown.

As well, a new multi-tower proposal by First Nations next to SkyTrain Rupert Station in East Vancouver could have even taller heights.

Other buildings at Concord Landing would reach about 20 storeys for standalone towers and mid-rise base podiums, with some up to 40 and 50 storeys.

concord landing northeast false creek 2024

2024 revised concept for Concord Landing at Northeast False Creek. (Civitas Urban Design & Architecture/Concord Pacific)

There would be over 5,000 new homes across a range of housing tenures. It should be noted that the City’s Northeast False Creek Plan assumes a significant strata market condominium housing component in order to financially achieve the major public benefits and amenities, as outlined by the area plan. Overall, this is up from 3,500 homes from the 2018 concept.

The newly revised concept calls for about 220,000 sq. ft. of commercial uses, including significant retail and restaurant space to establish a vibrant retail village, which would help activate a car-lite public realm. This includes a pedestrian-only internal street and waterfront promenade.

Overall, the revised concept calls for about four million sq. ft. of total building floor area — up from 2.1 million to 2.6 million sq. ft. in the 2018 concept.

2024 revised concept for Concord Landing at Northeast False Creek. (Civitas Urban Design & Architecture/Concord Pacific)

But all of this hinges on the planned demolition of the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts, which have been deemed by the City to be seismically vulnerable. Also, the northern portion of the Concord Landing development site footprint sits on land currently occupied by the viaducts, and a new replacement surface road network would have to be constructed.

Over the past three decades, Concord Pacific incrementally developed the 204-acre North False Creek waterfront previously used for the Expo ’86 World’s Fair, achieving projects generally moving from a west to east direction of progression.

“We have been building large communities for decades. The process always involves bringing groups together and finding creative solutions; this is what we do,” continued Webb’s statement today.

“Concord has been working for some time to develop this last 15% of the Expo lands. We are excited that everyone is now focused to move the project forward. We are confident that this will be a very positive project that will benefit the city.”

Last month, Lon LaClaire, the general manager of Engineering Services for the City of Vancouver, told Daily Hive Urbanized that the planned viaducts demolition and new surface road network face growing costs, and that development-driven revenues from Northeast False Creek’s would be needed to cover the full costs.

Additionally, other revenues would come from developments driven by the municipal and provincial government’s within the area plan, such as the current viaducts footprint south of Chinatown.

“This announcement is a significant step forward for our city,” said Vancouver mayor Ken Sim in a statement today to Daily Hive Urbanized upon inquiry.

“Vancouver’s False Creek area has been evolving over the past fifty plus years. Vancouver needs more housing, more green space, and a revitalized waterfront, and we’re glad to see Concord taking the next step in this process. We look forward to seeing this proposal come before Council and to the conversations ahead.”

Aside from Concord Landing, the other major development site is the Plaza of Nations redevelopment. However, the development entity recently changed ownership, and the Plaza of Nations project — which saw its rezoning application approved in 2018 — is similarly going back to the drawing board with significantly added density through increased height, made possible by the new allowances of the view cone changes.

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