The last major development site on Vancouver‘s inner harbour has been acquired by Westbank Developments for construction of a major hotel-condominium project.

The site, between the Shaw Tower and Burrard Street, will be one of the largest developments in the city at 800,000 square feet and cost approximately $500 million, sources told The Province yesterday.

It is the final piece in the ongoing development of the convention centre and the redevelopment of Coal Harbour stretching all the way to the entrance to Stanley Park.

The 44-story building is being designed by Vancouver architect James Cheng and will consist of 415 hotel rooms on the first 19 floors and a further 200 condominium units on the remaining upper floors.

The glass-curtain wall building will rise approximately 140 metres, similar in height to its neighbour the Shaw Tower.

Westbank applied for a development permit from the city earlier this week. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts issued a statement late yesterday indicating that it had a sale agreement with Westbank to develop the hotel-condominium complex, which it will manage.

In essence, it will be the convention hotel for the new Vancouver Trade and Exhibition Centre now rising across the street from it.

The two will be connected by a bridge that will run beneath Canada Place Way, also under construction. The hotel’s main entrance will be a shared plaza with the Shaw Tower.

Westbank hopes to begin construction by July 1, with completion targeted for mid-2009 in time for 2010 Winter Olympics.

Headquartered in Toronto, Fairmont is North America‘s largest luxury hotel management company.

The firm grew out of a marriage between Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts and Fairmont Hotels which it acquired in 1999.

Fairmont operates the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Fairmont Waterfront and Fairmont Vancouver Airport hotels.

This latest success firmly establishes the Vancouver-based Westbank as one of the pre-eminent developers in the city.

It currently has projects under way exceeding $2.8 billion in value, including redevelopment of the Woodward’s store site on the eastside and hotel/condominium Living Shangri-la, a 640-foot tower in the downtown core on West Georgia. It will be the city’s tallest tower when completed.

© The Vancouver Province 2005

Fairmont plans 3rd downtown hotel

Derrick Penner

Vancouver Sun

September 16, 2005

The development group behind the monolithic Shangri-La project, Shaw Tower and the ambitious Woodward’s redevelopment is now buying one of the last lots on Vancouver‘s downtown waterfront to build another luxury hotel and condominium complex.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, owners of the property adjacent to the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre expansion, said Thursday that it has struck a deal to sell the lot for $68 million to Vancouver’s Westbank Projects and Peterson Investment Group.

Fairmont spokeswoman Laura Fairweather said Westbank plans to develop the site as a 43-storey, 800,000-square-foot mixed use tower with a 415-room, five-star hotel and 200 units of luxury condominiums.

Fairweather, Fairmont‘s executive director of public relations, said the company has negotiated a contract to manage the hotel, which will be the company’s third downtown Vancouver property after the Hotel Vancouver and Waterfront Hotel, and its fourth in the Lower Mainland.

Fairmont‘s corporate strategy, Fairweather added, is to divest itself of the real estate portfolio that the company inherited when it was spun off from Canadian Pacific and increase the number of hotel management contracts that it holds.

Fairmont expects to earn between $30 million and $36 million from the deal, which is expected to close in November, 2006, with the hotel to open in 2009.

In a news release, Fairmont CEO William Fatt said the new hotel will strengthen Fairmont‘s presence in the top segment of the hotel market in what he characterized as “a key gateway city.”

Fairweather said the new Fairmont hotel will work cooperatively with its existing Vancouver properties.

“We maintain a very positive outlook for the city,” Fairweather said. “Obviously with the new convention centre opening in 2008, we’ll have a good idea of the business on the books for that new facility, and with 2010 [Olympics] coming, there are going to be a lot of opportunities.”

Westbank principal Ian Gillespie refused to comment on the deal Thursday.

Westbank and Peterson Investment, however, are not unfamiliar with development in downtown Vancouver.

Westbank developed the Shaw Tower, and is in partnership with Peterson Investment to build the 60-storey, 196-metre-high Shangri-La tower, which will be the cities tallest building. It will also house a five-star Shangri-La hotel.

Fairmont is a leading owner and operator of luxury hotels and resorts. Its managed portfolio consists of 88 luxury and first-class properties around the world.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005