‘Manhattaning’ Vancouver
Ashley Ford
Province
Photo illustration offers a look at the Vancouver skyline of 2011, one that includes the 60-storey Vancouver Turn at 1153 W. Georgia St.
You could call it the “Manhattaning” of West Georgia Street.
Construction has begun on the 60-storey Vancouver Turn, which includes the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and private residences in the same tower at 1153 West Georgia St.
Within spitting distance, the city’s tallest-tower-to-be, the Living Shangri-La, now halfway on its way to 62 storeys, giving downtown Vancouver a bit of a New York look that few would have predicted several years ago.
The two spectacular buildings will dominate the city skyline. Pedestrians are already craning their necks as they walk by and gawk at the Shangri-La. They could get whiplash when The Residences is completed in 2011.
Marketing both projects is Bob Rennie, of Rennie Marketing Systems, who says the towers are architectural signatures that will emphasize Vancouver‘s arrival as a world-class city. “When you attract two international luxury brands like this, you realize the city, our little baby, has finally grown up,” he said.
“Luxury brands are always in limited supply and there may be few other opportunities for projects like these in the central business district in the future.”
The city is already in a protective stance to keep more office space downtown.
The Ritz-Carlton, an icon in the global luxury hotel world, is being developed by Holborn Developments, a private Vancouver-based company. Ritz-Carlton’s operating creed is that it will provide any service for its clients, as long as it is legal, moral and ethical.
The project will fill in the last blighted spot along West Georgia. The shell of a previous building that stood empty for years has been demolished.
The 180-metre twisting glass tower atop a glass podium will feature 123 luxurious private residents on floors 27 to 60 with the hotel taking up 130 rooms on the lower floors.
The tower has been designed by Arthur Erickson in collaboration with Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership and DYSarchitecture.
The majority of residences are roomy, ranging from 926 square feet up to 4,145 square feet for a penthouse and carry equally impressive price tags starting at $1.4 million up to $12.8 million.
Rennie said there is already considerable interest from potential buyers. “We are getting attention from owners of significant properties in Vancouver who value service that goes along with the Ritz-Carlton brand,” he said.
“When you are building a quality project such as this you have to think three years ahead of where design and function will be when it is completed in 2011.
“For instance, the developers flew me to New York just to look at various kitchen designs,” Rennie said.
“That is the sort of stringent planning and design that is going into this building.”