Granville Island seeks tenant for former Emily Carr campus space

Granville Island seeks arts and innovation tenant for former Emily Carr campus space

Former north building of Emily Carr University of Art & Design at Granville Island. (Google Maps)

The federal entity that owns and operates Granville Island is now stepping up its efforts to seek a suitable organization to occupy the vast majority of the former campus space of Emily Carr University of Art & Design (ECUAD).

ECUAD was previously an anchor tenant of Granville Island, occupying about 175,000 sq ft of space across two buildings until 2017, when it moved to a newly expanded, purpose-built campus on Great Northern Way in False Creek Flats.

In 2021, the former south building of ECUAD reopened as the new, expanded home of Arts Umbrella, a longtime tenant of Granville Island. In the process, Arts Umbrella vacated its smaller space at the southeast corner of Granville Island, which was subsequently occupied by Ballet BC in 2023.

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But to this day, the former north building of ECUAD remains entirely vacant, accounting for most of the post-secondary institution’s old space at Granville Island, with 125,000 sq ft of open and flexible space available within this particular two-storey waterfront building — situated immediately east of the concrete plant.

CMHC-Granville Island has begun the early stages of the bidding process for a tenant for the north building with the start of the Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEOI). Submissions are due at the end of December 2024, and shortlisted proponents will be invited to participate in the Request For Proposal (RFP) process.

granville island emily carr university ecuad north building

Former north building of Emily Carr University of Art & Design at Granville Island. (CMHC-Granville Island)

The intent is to introduce uses that complement the arts and the overall character of Granville Island.

Some of the examples outlined by CMHC-Granville Island for the north building’s future uses include arts and creative industry education, gallery and exhibition spaces, performance venues, event spaces, arts studios, workshop spaces, food and hospitality space, co-working/maker space, indoor/outdoor public space and public art, pop-up retail and incubator space, and arts-related retail.

This would also align with CMHC’s 2017-created Granville Island 2024 master plan, which called for similar “arts and innovation hub” uses within the north building. As well, in 2018, Granville Island conducted a preliminary planning exercise for envisioning such a hub, and it received 130 submissions with a range of ideas, which were used to create the current RFEOI process.

Not the actual design; highly conceptual artistic rendering of the former north building of Emily Carr University of Art & Design converted into Granville Island’s Arts & Innovation Hub. (CMHC-Granville Island)

However, CMHC-Granville Island notes that the north building is far from being move-in ready, and the successful proponent will need to provide the structures with reinvestment for renovations.

ECUAD performed deferred maintenance on the north building for years after they confirmed their plans to build a new campus, and CMHC-Granville Island has only provided basic maintenance over the last few years after the post-secondary institution’s departure.

“Many necessary maintenance items were deferred by ECUAD in the years leading up to their departure. There is evidence of water ingress through the building envelope at several locations, and it is understood that many of the mechanical systems are at, or nearing, the end of their operational life expectancies,” reads the procurement file.

Former north building of Emily Carr University of Art & Design at Granville Island. (CMHC-Granville Island)

The north building was originally built in the 1920s as three separate wood-frame industrial buildings. Before ECUAD relocated to Granville Island in 1980, it joined the three buildings and repurposed the space for their needs, which included adding beams to support suspended concrete floors and various steel elements.

Prior to moving into the south building, Arts Umbrella provided the former ECUAD space with a $27 million renovation.

Former north building of Emily Carr University of Art & Design at Granville Island. (CMHC-Granville Island)

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