The Mount Pleasant industrial zone has turned into one of the hottest pieces of real estate in the city. A story I did last year, based on planner Andy Yan’s maps showing assessment increases, indicated even then that prices had soared.
That’s because all kinds of companies have spotted this as a fantastically located and designated hip area to do business. It’s close to downtown, to Main Street breweries and hipster/tech employee renters on the east, to the Canada Line on the west, and to a whole bunch of new residents in Olympic Village.
The city’s been working to preserve it as industrial, sort of. Two years ago, it allowed landowners to redevelop buildings to add office, as long as one-third of the space was preserved for industrial. That’s led to some interesting new buildings. But even that wasn’t enough to slake the demand by tech companies and others to get in. (Although apparently one accounting firm has moved in, with a deal that put the Vans shoe people into the industrial part of the building.)
Then came the news among those in the know down there that Westbank Corp. developer Ian Gillespie had teamed up with Hootsuite CEO Ryan Holmes to buy an entire block down there. (The two formed a corporation, 111 E 5th Properties on Aug. 13 and the sale went through on Sept. 15, from the look of land records.)
That comes while there’s also news that the city’s planning department is looking at tweaks to the existing zoning. My more complete Globe story on all of the above is here.
But I’m still trying to understand exactly what might happen on that block and in that area.
Hootsuite people have been talking for at least a year about wanting to create a big co-ordinated campus for employees, who are now spread out in three buildings (two of them on the block that Gillespie and Holmes just bought).
Gillespie told me yesterday that it’s not clear what they’ll do with the property yet, but his longtime architect associate, Gregory Henriquez, has been talking to others about a plan for a campus. As well, I’ve heard via a well-connected grapevine that the financing for a five-storey building on that land has been organized.
Then it’s quite unclear what direction the city might take on all of this. It’s had Avison Young doing a study on the potential impacts of a change in zoning. From talking to several brokers down there, it’s apparent that some are panting for the change so they can get more clients in, while others are worried that it will just turn the area into an office zone or that it will favour some landholders over others.
Anyone with more information on any of this, please get in touch.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Kirk // Dec 4, 2015 at 10:52 am
I’m going to sound cynical here, so fair warning before reading on.
I’ve said it so many times, this whole city is just a big real estate play. Now, even our burgeoning high-tech sector is being used as just another excuse for the usual developer players to get areas rezoned (again/as usual) in their favour. The bright side, I suppose, is that maybe developers will invest in tech start-ups, keeping them alive for the sole purpose of getting rezoning applications. I kind of doubt Telus Gardens would’ve received all their variances if they were an oil company. Hootsuite is a great local brand name, if they ask for a rezoning, I’m sure they’ll get it. Developers are looking to Seattle and salivating over what a handful of tech companies can do for real estate.
2 peakie // Dec 4, 2015 at 12:06 pm
Marina Times, (SF)
“A vote of disdain for Mayor Ed Lee: How the accidental mayor turned San Francisco into a playground for tax-skirting techies”
and see http://www.businessinsider.com/ev-williams-says-why-twitter-put-headquarters-in-tenderloin-2015-7
But remember Hootsuite depends on Twitter, and Twitter is dying….
As are other supporting social network integrations for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, MySpace, WordPress, TrendSpottr. [ What dat!!? ]
“Twitter Inc.
abandoned plans at the 11th hour for a big expansion into Uber and
Square’s 1455 Market St. headquarters, potentially due to a hiring
slowdown.” Bizjournals.com Octover 2015
Shares of Twitter have declined about 27 percent so far this year.
3 peakie // Dec 4, 2015 at 3:26 pm
Ah, Ian Gillespie, famed for the ‘I can do anything’ speech
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2013/06/25/Vancouver-Tower-Debate/
4 Lysenko's Nemesis // Dec 4, 2015 at 9:44 pm
You aren’t being cynical at all. If you are able to see clearly your opinion is even more valued.
After a few years another wave of young and earnest people will arise and promise to clean up municipal politics, just as this current gang promised.
plus ça change
5 Roger_Kemble // Dec 5, 2015 at 9:06 am
High tech! Can you type?
6 davididid // Dec 5, 2015 at 11:53 pm
if you read the skyscraper page post, the point is that he’s rewarded for handing over much more to the city in terms of amenities than any other developer, pushing the envelope architecturally, and of basically making vancouver a better place to live. he’s exceptional in vancouver because so many other developers just want to do the minimum, so planning likes to work with him.
7 A Taxpayer // Dec 10, 2015 at 9:03 am
Before canonizing Mr. Gillespie, take a look at the Sun article about the Utilities Commission ruling on an application by Creative Energy, also owned by Mr Gillespie.
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Utilities+commission+throws+wrench+into+city+energy+plans/11577928/story.html
It would be interesting for some investigative reporter to connect all the dots and net out all the economic benefits. There is no free lunch and it is only a question of who is paying for it – the taxpayer, the buildings covered by the monopoly or a civic minded developer.
8 denzel // Dec 10, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Isn’t COV policy supposed to be directing this sort of growth (especially the high tech, “green” business stuff) into the False Creek Flats..? And so if they fan the redevelopment flames in this area wont they be hurting the redevelopment of the Flats in the image they want?