Marke Andrews
Sun
Construction crews will break ground on Thursday for a condo and hotel complex that is already more than 90-per-cent sold and will eventually become the city’s tallest building.
Living Shangri-La, located at Georgia and Thurlow Streets in downtown Vancouver, will rise more than 195 metres (642 feet), exceeding Shaw Tower‘s height by more than 44 metres.
When completed in February 2008, the building, which occupies most of the 1100- blocks of both West Georgia and Alberni Streets, will contain an Urban Fare food market, restaurant, and North America‘s first Shangri-La hotel on its first 15 floors. This area will also contain a permanent outdoor exhibition space administered by the Vancouver Art Gallery, which will present a series of public art projects.
Floors 16 to 42 include 227 live-work condominiums, all of which have been sold, with prices ranging from $400,000 to $1.2 million.
Floors 43 to 60 contain 66 large condos whose prices range from $2.08 million to $6.9 million. Only 16 of these units remain unsold.
“We didn’t have our brochure and magazine ready until we were down to 30 suites left for sale,” says Bob Rennie, whose firm Rennie Marketing Systems handles sales of the residential components.
Unit sales, which began last fall, have topped $240 million, and buyers include Americans, Europeans and Asians.
Shangri-La was designed by James K.M. Chang Architects and jointly developed by Peterson Investment Group and Westbank Projects. Construction, at a cost of $250 million and involving 3.1 million man hours, will by by Ledcor Constructions Ltd.
As part of the development, Peterson Investment Group and Westbank Projects will conduct a heritage restoration of the 86-year-old Coastal Church, at 1160 West Georgia.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005