Vancouver : Ritz-Carlton condo project stalls

[ErickMontreal]

Ritz-Carlton condo project stalls in Vancouver

 

Construction of one of Vancouver's most prestigious condominium projects has been halted, but the developer says design changes, and not the international credit crisis, are behind the move.

 

Work halted on the Ritz-Carlton construction site on Friday, and crews did not return on Monday after the weekend, leaving a giant hole in the ground near the corner of West Georgia Street and Bute Street in the heart of Vancouver.

 

Fifty per cent of the condominium units were reportedly pre-sold, but the building's developer Simon Lim, president of the Holborn Group, told CBC News financial concerns were not behind the decision to put the project on hold.

 

According to Lim, the work was halted so some design changes can be made, and it made no sense to keep crews working, or to keep the sales office open while those changes were underway.

 

Advertising signage around the construction site was missing on Tuesday and construction trailers had been removed from the site. About 50 per cent of the excavation for the foundation of the project had already been completed.

 

The 60-storey tower, which twists 45 degrees as it rises, is an Arthur Erickson design. The design features a high-end Ritz-Carlton hotel on the lower floors and 123 luxury condos on the upper floors priced between $2.5 million and $10 million, with the penthouse priced at $28 million.

[francely57]

Ça devait ressembler à ça, mais d'après l'article il y a eu un re-design?

 

http://www.discovervancouver.com/forum/Vancouver-Buildings-t232221.html

[Habsfan]

WOW!!! à quand notre belle tour comme celle ci???

[yarabundi]

WOW!!! à quand notre belle tour comme celle ci???

 

Si toi qui est dans le milieu de l'immoblilier tu ne peux répondre à ta propre question, qui le pourra ?

[Gbx]

Ça avait belle allure, dommage pour Vancouver. L'effet "twist" semble à la mode en ce moment.

[Habsfan]

Si toi qui est dans le milieu de l'immoblilier tu ne peux répondre à ta propre question, qui le pourra ?

 

Je parlais d'un gros projet. Pas de petites affaires laides de 25 ou 30 étages. JE parlais d'un projet Résidentiel OU commercial de 50 étages et +, qui a été conçu par un architecte de renommé international!

[ErickMontreal]

Inactivity sparks speculation Ritz-Carlton project is dead

 

 

By Bruce Constantineau, Vancouver Sun February 23, 2009 10:01 PM

 

VANCOUVER — Prolonged inactivity at the $500-million-plus downtown Vancouver Ritz-Carlton hotel-condo project has fuelled speculation the ambitious development is all but officially dead.

 

Holborn Group president Joo Kim Tiah said buyers who purchased condos in the project will receive letters this week updating them on the project’s status but wouldn’t provide further details.

 

“The buyers take precedence over the media and I don’t want them reading something in the paper before they hear it from me,” he said in an interview Monday.

 

Construction of the 1133 West Georgia site was halted last fall — supposedly to give Holborn Group time to redesign the parkade portion of the 60-storey, Arthur Erickson-designed twisting tower. But the subsequent global recession and downturn in the Metro Vancouver real estate market have combined to put several proposed condo projects on temporary or permanent hold.

 

About half of the 123 Ritz-Carlton condos were sold in the tower that was scheduled for completion in 2011. Condo prices ranged from about $1.4 million to $28 million — a record Vancouver condo asking price for a two-level unit that was to occupy 7,400 square feet of living space. A 127-room luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel was supposed to occupy the first 20 floors of the building, with condos taking up the top 40 floors.

 

When Ritz-Carlton announced plans to enter the Vancouver hotel

market about 18 months ago, company vice-president Michael Beckley said the hotel chain had considered the Vancouver market for several years.

 

“Toronto and Vancouver have been in our sights for quite a long time, so we’re very happy to have such a great location,” he said at the time.

 

Ritz-Carlton was to manage the entire building, with the condo portion to be called Residences at Ritz-Carlton. Condo owners were to have access to hotel amenities like 24-hour room service, a concierge, housekeeping service, and staffing for special entertainment events.

 

Holborn Group bought the West Georgia property from Cadillac Fairview about four years ago and demolished a partially built concrete structure that sat derelict for years.

 

The site is essentially an empty hole now following a decade of failed attempts to build a private members’ club and a strata-title office building.

 

bconstantineau@vancouversun.com

© Copyright © The Vancouver Sun

[joaobruno]

[MTLskyline]

Pourquoi est-tu content???

[francely57]

même question

 

 

De toute façon ils ont eu le temps de construire plein de trucs avant les pires moments de cette crise, comme...

 

...les installations sportives de Vancouver 2010, terminées un an avant les Jeux et sans dépassements de coûts (c'est le village olympique qui a les gros problèmes de $$$ révélés récemment)

 

 

...ou l'hôtel Shangri-La, 62 étages

 

de Brian Hill Photography de flickr