Real Estate Update in False Creek Flats

Coming Soon, Part 3 continues from previous posts to look at the exciting, new developments coming to False Creek Flats. Part 1 looked at new commercial office buildings being built, while Part 2 examined the developments around the future St. Paul’s Hospital campus. In Part 3, we’re taking a look at some innovative projects with emphasis on both residential and commercial. From an impressive mass timber rental building evoking Indigenous basket weaving, to a glossy wholesaler outpost, these buildings are sure to be adding to the amazing developments coming to False Creek Flats.

2015 Main Street

Developed by Westbank and designed by Henriquez Partners, the Prototype/M5 will be a “Net Zero Lifecycle Carbon affordable rental tower” at the southwestern edge of False Creek Flats. As part of the forthcoming Main Alley, “a five building, four city block collaborative campus,” the Prototype/M5 tower will be an eye-catching rental tower aimed at providing more capacity for Vancouver’s low rental vacancy rate.

The Prototype/M5 tower is going to be another mass timber project in Vancouver. Mass timber employs various techniques to supplement or replace carbon-intensive structural materials. One such technique is Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) construction. CLT is where layers of wood are laid across each other (in a perpendicular fashion) and bonded with an adhesive. Another term for these products are “Glu-Lam” beams. Henriquez Partners are proposing to employ CLT floor panels in between steel vertical supports to allow the building to be structural, but less carbon intensive.

Taking inspiration from the traditions of the Indigenous peoples around what is now known as Vancouver, the façade of the building has an angular appearance with multiple CLT panels. These are arranged to emulate the pattern of cedar basket weaving. The panels are angled in order to provide shading for the windows and enable passive cooling in the summer.

Interestingly, the Prototype/M5 building has no parking stalls of its own. Instead, the underground space is divided into bulk storage for tenants. Should tenants require parking space, they will have to use the parkade at the adjacent Main Alley tech campus. There are, however, bicyclist-focused facilities like a co-op lounge and bike repair area. Bicycles will be incorporated into the interior decor as well. A roof-top deck will provide inviting open-air leisure areas, extensive greenery, and generous urban agriculture areas.

Without even being built, the Prototype/M5 building is already being recognized for its innovative design, being named a finalist in the 2022 World Architecture Festival.

Follow the development of the Prototype/M5 at Shape Your City.

Status: Under review.

349 E 6th Avenue

Under construction next to Mount Pleasant Lions Manor, The Aster by Brightside is something of a 1:1 swap. The new 12-storey building will be a purpose-built social housing development in coordination with BC Housing and Wall Financing Corporation (WFC) intended for families, seniors and people living with disabilities. Most importantly of all, the new building will be move-in ready for residents currently living in the building next door.

In taking this approach to avoid disruption to tenants, the new building isn’t being rushed as it is being built the right way. The Aster is intended to be built according to Path B Low Emission Green Building (LEED Gold) standards. Further adding to this ecological motivation is the retention of six mature trees along East 6th Avenue and two mature trees along Brunswick Street. In order to keep these trees healthy, the massing and underground parking are being designed in such a way to minimise impacts on these legacy trees.

Brightside is hoping to incorporate common amenity spaces for residents to enjoy on-site relaxation and activities. Part of this plan is for an expansive rooftop amenity space with both indoor and outdoor components. A large lounge and party room will have a kitchenette along with spaces for shared dining and lounging. Outside, the rooftop space offers large plantings on the northern side with the southern side having a community garden for residents to test out their green thumbs.

Residents will be living in units offering a variety of configurations, offering flexibility for their needs, such as:

• 35 studio units
• 24 one-bedroom units
• 18 two-bedroom units
• 3 three-bedrooms units

The development will have 20 vehicle stalls, along with 106 bicycle parking spaces.

For more information about the development, visit the City of Vancouver’s Shape Your City portal.

Status: Construction in progress.

1150 Raymur Avenue

In a collaboration between developer Wesgroup and architecture firm TKA+D, 1150 Raymur Avenue will be an almost 300,000 sq. ft. mixed-use office and industrial building in the False Creek Flats neighbourhood. Situated at the northeast corner of the area – on the eastern edge of Strathcona Park – the new building will provide facilities for companies based in the city. Just a few blocks removed from Clark Drive, this new facility is well-positioned near the Port of Vancouver to the north.

This five-storey building is proposed to have both wholesale and office space to accommodate a variety of clients on a single site. There’s 135,000 sq. ft. in wholesale space on the lower two floors, along with three partial floors offering 64,400 sq. ft. of office space. The offset of office space allows for the roof over the wholesale space to act as an outdoor amenity space for workers. Far from being just a massive distribution centre for one user, the floor plates are intended to give comparatively smaller downtown wholesalers and light industrial users a place closer to Vancouver’s downtown core.

There are two levels of underground parking proposed for the development replete with 247 vehicle stalls, along with an “end-of-trip facility” and bicycle storage for commuters.

Follow the development of 1150 Raymur Avenue on Shape Your City.

Status: Application approved, subject to conditions.

E 3rd Avenue & Woodland Drive, EC3 Living

After fielding a variety of townhome developments in East Vancouver, Saint Group’s working on a development at the edge of the False Creek Flats at East 3rd Avenue & Woodland Drive. In the blocks between False Creek Flats and nearby Commercial Drive, EC3 Living will be an 8-townhome collection.

Designed by MA+HG Architects which already has a great track record of trendy and architecturally design-forward homes, these stacked townhomes will be clustered in two 4-storey lowrise buildings. These flank a shared courtyard – which is south-facing to allow better sun exposure. These buildings are going to be wood-framed too.

EC3 is proposed to have family-friendly floor plans. The eight units are proposed to range from 937 sq. ft. for a 2-bedroom home up to 1,435 sq. ft. for a 3-bedroom townhome with den.

• 2 x 937-sq-ft 2-bedroom
• 4 x 3-bedroom from 1,222 – 1,318 sq ft
• 2 x 1,435-sq-ft 3-bedroom + den

The townhomes collection will have 5 vehicle parking stalls with one accessible stall. The primary focus is on secure bike storage for 32 resident bicycles (4 bikes per household, basically) and 2 bike racks for visitors. Rapid transit is fairly close by, and the proximity to both False Creek Flats and Commercial Drive could certainly be of benefit to residents.

Status: In progress, completion to be announced.