Demolition progressing on downtown Vancouver tower as crews prep for new 32-storey development

A rendering of the new 32-storey office tower known as B6 in downtown Vancouver. PHOTO: BentallGreenOak

VANCOUVER—Six months into demolition, crews working at 1090 West Pender Street in the core of downtown Vancouver have reduced a seven-level parkade essentially to ground level. They’ll soon turn their attention to tearing down an adjacent 12-storey office tower that’s occupied the site since 1971.

The demolition work, which is expected to take until the end of the year, will clear the way for a new 32-storey office tower known as B6.

Spearheaded by real estate firm BentallGreenOak, work on the new building is scheduled to take just over three years. Graham Group Ltd. is serving as the general contractor in charge of construction.

The Calgary-based builder will be responsible for core and shell construction on the building, while the interior finishes will fall to other firms contracted directly by the building’s future tenants. Demolition of the parkade and the nearly 50-year-old building currently on the site are also part of a separate agreement.

Construction costs for the new tower are expected to reach approximately $187 million, according to Graham.

Designed by architecture firm MCM, crews working on the new B6 development will be shooting for a LEED Gold certification, along with several other benchmarks. A prominent green roof, a rainwater harvesting system, triple-glazed windows and a heat recovery ventilation system are among the planned sustainability features. The new tower will also incorporate two large section of the old 12-storey building’s exterior precast panels as a nod to the aging tower’s recognizable exterior.

Progress on the B6 project comes amid a Vancouver office space crunch. According to the most recent CBRE Group report, the vacancy rate for Metro Vancouver dropped to a record low of 4.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2019. For AAA space in the city’s core, that rate sits at just 2.4 per cent.

Once complete, BentallGreenOak, which is controlled by Sun Life Financial Inc., said the new tower will add 534,000 sq. ft. of leasable space to Vancouver’s tight real estate market.

Assuming demolition goes as planned, shoring operations and excavation for the building’s six-storey underground parking lot are expected to get underway at the beginning of next year. The scheduled completion date is February 2023.