THE TALK OF THE TOWN

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What Do We Have For You This Month?

Welcome to The West End Journal for March, 2024.

WITH APOLOGIES … For a number of reasons we are unable to bring you all of our usual “Talk of the Town” features this month. I promise that the April issue will see the return of “Our Lead Story”, “West End News & Notes”, and the “West End Moments” photo gallery.

In the meantime, check out the “Developing Stories” report on 1045 Haro Street and the links to other publication’s stories of West End interest found in “The West End - Coal Harbour In The News” that you’ll find below — and enjoy the stories and features you’ll find headlined on our home page.

Thank you for reading The West End Journal

Y’rs,
Kevin Dale McKeown
Editor & Publisher
editor@thewestendjournal.ca

Developing Stories

1045 HARO STREET

By Jake McGrail
(click images to enlarge)

Is the development market getting closer to some sort of tipping point? There’s certainly been a notable increase in large developments going under before they could even finish construction, whether here in Vancouver or elsewhere in the country.

This was the plan (artist’s illustration) for 1045 Haro before the property went into receivership.

The biggest such recent case in the West End is that of 1045 Haro Street, the site of what would be a massive new housing development, should the project ever actually get off the ground.

The land at 1045 Haro and 830-850 Thurlow was sold back in 2018 for an eye-watering $170 million, one of the biggest sales of any kind in the Lower Mainland that year. There is currently a 160-unit apartment building on the Haro lot, while the Thurlow lots have hosted a shifting cast of businesses over the last few years, often restaurants.

The ownership group that purchased the land, Harlow Holdings, is a partnership between three different parties all with their own stake in the project. The sale was financed with a massive loan from BMO which covered a little over half of the purchase price.

Unfortunately for the owners, the project has been bogged down for years. The City of Vancouver has butted heads with proposed ideas for the project, namely the size of the main tower (580 feet) since it could lead to blocking mountain views for parts of the city.

Now, that’s not purely the council members’ own personal sticking point, as in 1989 Vancouver put into law 26 specific “view corridors” that must always retain uninterrupted views of the North Shore mountains and the downtown skyline. 

That 580-foot and 55-story tower in the proposed plan at 1045 Haro would contain 450 strata condo units, and stand next to a separate 15-story tower containing 66 rental apartment units. I In addition, the original plan called for the continuation and establishment of over 40,000 square feet of retail space as well as a new childcare centre.

How likely are we to ever see this come to fruition? It might not be wise to get your hopes up as Harlow Holdings is battling massive financial troubles, to the point where the property is now under receivership. BMO is owed over $80 million in loan repayment, and with the owners unable to put up the money the property will be sold once again.

Back at the end of January, it was ruled that the property could be put on sale after February 24, with an assessed value of $98 million. We’ll see if that price (drastically reduced from what it sold for in 2018) will entice a different owner to take a crack at building something new there. 

RELATED LINKS

The West End - Coal Harbour In The News

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Thank you!
Kevin Dale McKeown
Editor & Publisher
editor@thewestendjournal.ca