His office and his daughter’s school nearby, Andrew Cheng, an Olive buyer, is a Cambie believer. CREDIT: Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun   Tomato Restaurant owner Christian Gaudreault thinks the new OLIVE/Capers development in the block north of his restaurant will change his area of Cambie for the better. CREDIT: Peter Battistoni, Vancouver Sun   Dr. Andrew Cheng says he likes Cambie’s centrality and lifestyle. The area has retained a small-town feel, although boxy developments have started to encroach. CREDIT: Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun

When Vancouver dentist Andrew Cheng bought a thousand-square-foot penthouse suite in the new Olive development at Cambie and 16th, he was buying into the community as much as into the project.

The 40-year-old Cheng wanted a neighbourhood where his daughter would not only have access to a private school several blocks away, but also one with plenty of amenities and within walking distance of his office at Broadway and Heather.

“There’s a lot of good restaurants there and I go to the Tropika for one,” the single dad reports. “It [the neighbourhood] also has a bit of a bohemian feel, being close to the Main Street bistros, and it’s centrally located. It’s very easy to go from A to B and I don’t have a big house to take care of.

“The area was as equally important to me as the building.”

Cheng’s decision to buy there is just one sign of what many believe is the looming renaissance of a somewhat sleepy neighbourhood between 12th and 19th known as South Cambie Village — a renaissance that will be partly propelled by the Olive development itself, a $50-million, 109-unit townhouse and condominium project that will help redefine the community.

But while the high-end development will bring a lot of new consumers to the area, it will probably be best known for its anchor tenant — a 20,000-square-foot Capers Community Market, the largest Capers in the Lower Mainland.

The natural and organics food store will occupy the ground floor of the complex, which the developer says is designed for “urban gourmet” living.

Capers is expected to open in about a year, offering what the company says will be a greater range of fresh, locally produced organic and all-natural products at a time when demand for such products is experiencing huge growth.

With the pending construction of Olive/Capers, the area may no longer remain the sleepy urban village to which current residents are accustomed.

Christian Gaudreault, a long-time resident, is the owner of Tomato Fresh Food Cafe, a funky restaurant at 17th and Cambie that displays original West Coast art on the walls.

He feels the area is ready for a change and that Capers could be just the ticket.

“I think it will help the neighbourhood and expand the clientele,” he says. “There’s still empty space on this street and it’s good for us. It’ll bring more people.”

Gaudreault says that in recent years several merchants have moved to Main, where rents are more reasonable, and that Cambie needs things that get people out and walking around. “A beautiful chocolateur closed down because there wasn’t enough business.”

He cites south Granville and its high-end shops as a concept that Cambie could emulate. “We need more shops here that people can support. That creates a walking neighbourhood. It think it could be like south Granville eventually.”

Gaudreault says the area is largely single family, and that there’s a “nice feel” to the neighbourhood. “I’m a neighbourhood restaurant (and) there’s a nice feel here. This is the last portion of the west side. Main Street, no offence, is a bit of a change.”

Olive publicist Pamela Groberman is also high on the area. She bought a townhouse at Olive and plans to move from her West End condominium to Olive when it opens in January, 2006.

She says she’s getting tired of the traffic noise in downtown Vancouver and needed a change.

“I love the coffee shops in the (Cambie) neighbourhood,” said Groberman. “It’s west side with a slight edge to it and it has everything you need, like the movie theatre, the Tomato Fresh Food Cafe and a cool florist. And everything’s within walking distance. I’ll probably walk to work downtown.”

Groberman says a lot of younger professionals — most from Vancouver, but also from the North Shore and Burnaby — have bought at Olive and that most of them cited the Cambie neighbourhood as a major reason for buying. “Some of the them pushed the envelope for how much they could afford because they liked the area so much.”

Not everyone, however, is entirely pleased with the changes that the Olive/Capers development may herald for Cambie.

Lorri Troughton, who has lived there for 13 years, feels the area doesn’t need to grow. “The area’s already invigorated, although I do like Capers. But I like the feel of the area now. We have a lot of structures already and I don’t see why we need more. Cambie Street already has its own special magic.”

Take a stroll through the heart of the north Cambie Street neighbourhood — 12th to 19th — and you’ll find plenty of amenities.

Leafy streets with heritage homes branch out from Cambie, which has retained a ‘small town’ feel to it. In the main part of the village — from 16th to 19th — there are few of the chain restaurants and stores that increasingly make every place seem like everywhere.

There’s the Kino Cafe, with its live jazz performances, and Tropika, which specializes in southeast Asian food. There’s Black Dog Video, Amy’s Cake Shop and Cafe, the Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe and the Om Vegetarian Restaurant. There’s also a neighbourhood florist.

Probably the heart of the street is the Park Theatre, one of Vancouver‘s few remaining neighbourhood cinemas.

City Square, a small mall featuring smaller boutiques in restored heritage buildings, is a few blocks north. Further north, big box retailers such as Canadian Tire and the consumer giant Best Buy plan to open stores.

City hall and Queen Elizabeth Park are also nearby.

North of 16th, however, the area loses some of its lustre, with mini-malls and their telltale bright orange metal roofs showing up.

On the west side of Cambie between 14th and 16th, a huge boxy development offers little in the way of architectural interest.

Another structure on the east side has a bare wall facing Cambie.

However, the area is on all the major bus routes, on three designated urban bike routes, and just a short drive from downtown Vancouver and Granville Island.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004