Melville – BC Urban Planning Blog

Proposed Building at 1133 Melville in Downtown Vancouver

The Proposal
The proposal for 1133 Melville calls for a building with a maximum height of 524 feet (159.9m) and with a total floor area of 658,687 SF. It is worth noting that the tower will contain 287 parking spaces, it will also achieve a floor space ratio (FSR) of 22.46. The building will have a sustainability target of LEED Platinum and contain floorplates that average 19,978 to 16,673 SF in size.i At the proposed height, the building would be the fourth tallest building in the City of Vancouver and also the tallest office building in the city. Park Place on Burrard Street would be the next tallest office building in the city at 450 feet (137m). One reason that the building will be so tall yet only 33-storeys is that it will feature high floor heights with ceiling heights of about 13 feet (4m). ii

Heights of the Buildings Adjacent to 1133 Melville Street

What is it Replacing?
The site is currently occupied by a 10-storey office and parkade building which was built in 1982. The building features 79,236 SF of Class B office space on its upper floors, with a typical floorplate of 21,000 SF.iii It is also home to 291 below ground parking stalls and 286 above ground. Currently, 1133 Melville is home to AMEX Americas Limited, Flight Centre, Air G and BCBC. iv The fact that a 10-storey building which was completed as recently as 1982 is now being demolished for to make way for a much larger tower is a good indicator of just how valuable land in and around Downtown Vancouver has become. Expect to see similar redevelopment of low-rise buildings in the future as developers seek to maximize the potential of underutilized downtown sites.

Current 10-Storey Building at 1133 Melville

Is There a Market?
With British Columbia leading GDP growth among Canadian provinces in 2015 and 2016, it would seem that development of new office space is a no brainer.v All of this economic good news however comes against a backdrop of extensive building in the Downtown Vancouver office market. According to Colliers International, the overall vacancy rate for office space in downtown has gone from 8.6% in Q2 of 2015 to 9.9% in Q3 of 2015. This increase has been especially pronounced in the market for Class AAA office space which currently sits at 14.7% in Q3 2015. vi According to Jones Lang LaSalle there is a total of 2,720,000 of Class A office space that will be added to Downtown Vancouver by the end of 2017. They also forecast that during this time the market will only absorb a total of 1,450,000 SF which will drive up vacancy rates. vii It remains to be seen of the buildings of all these new office buildings will be able to find tenants to fill them.