Cadillac Fairview on the future of Vancouver's Nordstrom building | Daily Hive

Cadillac Fairview on future of Nordstrom building in downtown Vancouver

The former Nordstrom building at CF Pacific Centre in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Editor’s Note: Cadillac Fairview has retracted its earlier statements that the Nordstrom building structure will be demolished for redevelopment, but maintains that the 30-storey tower that was previously home to the Four Seasons Vancouver Hotel will be demolished for redevelopment into a brand new tower..

Following Nordstrom’s closure in downtown Vancouver in June 2023 as part of the US-based luxury retailer’s surprising decision to withdraw from the Canadian market, there was some expectation that mall owner Cadillac Fairview would repurpose this department store space.

Cadillac Fairview has told Daily Hive Urbanized that the next phase in CF Pacific Centre’s evolution is focused on the redevelopment of both the former Nordstrom building and the demolition of the former Four Seasons Vancouver Hotel tower will ensure “CF Pacific Centre remains the pre-eminent destination of choice in Vancouver for locals and visitors alike,” with both sites amounting to the “next phase in CF Pacific Centre’s evolution.”

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There was speculation that the 230,000 sq ft space of the former Nordstrom Vancouver store, spanning the first three levels of the building, could be reconfigured into three or four smaller retail units, including the possibility of a new La Maison Simons store location mixed in with an indoor mall expansion. In June 2024, Cadillac Fairview announced it would deploy such a strategy for Nordstrom’s former 220,000 sq ft space at CF Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto, with 110,000 sq ft for Simons, 25,000 sq ft for an Eataly food hall, and 18,000 sq ft for Nike.

The former Nordstrom building at CF Pacific Centre. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

2015 condition inside Nordstrom at CF Pacific Centre. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Both the Nordstrom and Four Seasons Vancouver Hotel sites will likely see a range of new mixed uses. Cadillac Fairview has confirmed that the Four Seasons Vancouver Hotel will see a new replacement tower with a hotel as one of the possible mixed uses.

However, there are no further details at this time for both redevelopments as the planning processes are still in the early stages.

Directly above the former Nordstrom levels are four office floors totalling 280,000 sq ft of premium AAA class office space. Each of these office floors spans 70,000 sq ft with 17 ft ceilings, and they are some of the largest office floor plates in Vancouver.

Most of the office space is leased to Microsoft for its Canada Excellence Centre corporate office, spanning over 160,000 sq ft over multiple floors, while the global headquarters office of Sony Pictures Imageworks takes up over 70,000 sq ft.

Nordstrom, the office of Sony Pictures Imageworks, and a 48,000 sq ft indoor mall expansion of CF Pacific Centre within the basement level of the building opened in 2015, while the Microsoft office opened in 2016.

Inside the office space of Microsoft’s Canada Excellence Centre above the former Nordstrom space at CF Pacific Centre. (Microsoft)

Inside the office space of Sony Pictures Imageworks’ global headquarters above the former Nordstrom space at CF Pacific Centre. (Sony)

The 2015-opened indoor mall expansion of CF Pacific Centre within the basement level of the former Sears department store, directly below the former Nordstrom space. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Previously, this former Nordstrom building was entirely used as a Sears department store, spanning 650,000 sq ft over eight levels, including the basement level, which was the men’s clothing area.

Sears closed this location in 2012, and Cadillac Fairview subsequently undertook a complete renovation of the entire building to introduce its new mix of uses and exterior facade design.

This seven-storey building was originally built in 1973 for the Eaton’s department store.

Designed by internationally renowned American architect Cesar Pelli, the building’s original design — before the post-2012 renovation — featured a boxy windowless design clad with large white marble panels. However, the building was also mocked for its toilet bowl or urinal appearance following a vertical expansion in the 1980s that added one additional department store floor, which featured a white curved cornice for the exterior design.

Shortly after the closure of Eaton’s in 1999, Sears took over the space.

2011 condition before renovations:

sears pacific centre vancouver 2011 design

2011 condition of the seven-storey Sears department store at CF Pacific Centre, before its renovation for Nordstrom and office uses. (Google Maps)

Existing condition:

The existing condition of the former Nordstrom building at CF Pacific Centre. (Google Maps)

The future redevelopment represents just one of three massive redevelopments planned for Granville Street in downtown Vancouver.

At the southwest corner of the intersection of Robson and Granville Street, just kitty corner from the Nordstrom building, there are plans to proceed with the 800 Granville Street redevelopment with a revised design.

In an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized in December 2024, Kerry Bonnis of Bonnis Properties shared major architectural design and mixed-use changes are being undertaken for his company’s 800 Granville Street proposal, including the introduction of over 500 rental homes and a 150-room hotel and the reduction of a significant portion of the office space previously contemplated. However, the concept for retail, restaurant, and entertainment uses found within the first five levels will be retained and/or intensified, including preserving the Commodore Ballroom and Commodore Billiards.

Bonnis also noted that the municipal government’s 2024 relaxations to the protected mountain view cone policies that regulate building height now enable taller tower designs for both 800 Granville Street and the potential future redevelopment of the Best Buy/Marshalls building at 798 Granville Street.

Change is also afoot for downtown Vancouver’s Hudson Bay flagship department store, located just a block north on Granville Street.

In early 2022, Hudson’s Bay first revealed a redevelopment concept that preserves the heritage facade but demolishes the interior structure for a new replacement six-storey structure and a 12-storey vertical expansion for a new overall 18-storey mixed-use building. It would contain a new smaller Hudson’s Bay, additional retail and restaurant spaces, and about one million sq ft of office space. A revised design that reduces some of the office space components and introduces other types of mixed uses is expected to be revealed later in 2025.

hudsons bay vancouver redevelopment concept 2022

Daily Hive photo of the 2022 concept for the Hudson’s Bay Vancouver redevelopment. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive | Perkins & Will/Streetworks Development/Hudson’s Bay Company)

674 Granville Street Vancouver hudsons bay redevelopment

2022 concept for the Hudson’s Bay Vancouver redevelopment. (Perkins & Will/Streetworks Development/Hudson’s Bay Company)

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