Waterfront land running out

Condo project on False Creek one of the last sites left for development

Gillian Shaw

Vancouver Sun

November 17, 2004

Vancouver is running out of waterfront for residential developments, the head of one of the city’s biggest condo builders says.

One of the last such sites, on False Creek’s north shore, is slated to be filled up shortly with a 600-unit Concord Pacific project.

Coopers Quay, a five-building mix of low-rise and high-rise construction, including tower condos, townhouses and lofts, will stretch east from the Cambie Bridge all the way to B.C. Place.

Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell and Concord Pacific president Terry Hui ceremoniously tossed the first shovel of dirt Tuesday for the project, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2007.

“We [developers] have been spoiled in the last decade by different waterfront offerings,” Hui said. “I can tell you that is coming to an end.

“Coopers Quay will probably be the last affordable [waterfront] neighbourhood with units averaging under a million dollars.”

Units begin selling in two weeks starting at about $300,000 for a 530-square-foot one-bedroom, topping off in the $1 million range for 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom and family room units with an entire floor to themselves.

Concord marketing director Ivan Tsao said the residential site is the second to last of the lands bordering False Creek being developed by Concord.

“We have one more site to the east, but this is the last small- scale waterfront development,” he said, adding that there are no immediate plans for the remaining land.

Tsao said that unlike many towers of the Yaletown and downtown area, the Coopers Quay development is very much linked to the water and the activities it offers.

“This neighbourhood is unique in that all the projects are fronting the park and the water,” he said.

Hui said in introducing the development that most units will have a “spectacular view”, along with the Esprit City Club, a 14,000-square-foot recreation centre catering to Coopers Quay residents that will have everything from its own private, two-lane, 10- pin bowling alley, to a fleet of kayaks for residents, to a 60-foot lap pool, a big screen video theatre, fitness centre and a yoga-Pilates studio.

The first phase of the neighbourhood, Coopers Lookout, is reminiscent of a ship facing the sea, rising perpendicular to the creek with a tall condo tower filling in for the ship’s watchtower and the rest of the building stepping down towards the water, which is separated from the building only by a park.

The Coopers Quay project will create 1,700 person years of employment, with Concord and its contractors slated to spend locally $100 million in wages and professional fees.

Hui said that of the approximate half-billion dollars going into the development, about half will be spent on local employment.

Campbell lauded the company and its development, terming the False Creek development, “an example of a city doing things right.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2004