Ritz-Carlton hotel-condo project rumoured to be dead
 

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Construction of the Ritz-Carlton hotel-condo project in downtown Vancouver stopped last fall and there are now rumours work on the development won't start up again.

President of the Holborn Group, Joo Kim Tiah, tells the Vancouver Sun that buyers will get letters in the mail this week, updating them on the status of the $500 million dollar project.
About half of the 123 Ritz-Carlton condos were sold in the tower that was scheduled for completion in 2011 and prices ranged from just under half a million dollar to $28 million.
The hotel was expected to occupy the first 20 floors of the building, with condos taking up the top 40 floors.

What a shame. But I guess it's only the "right" solution/decision at the current state of the economy. That leaves Shangri-la with one less of a competitor in vancouver. :D

saw that coming when they announced it

Funny how the cyclical real-estate market works eh?

Everyone seems to forget how Yaletown was a dump 15 years ago. Or the area around GM Place.

With that said, it's a real shame. Our skyline today looks sooo much better than the 90s.

Strange, www.vancouversturn.com just shows a blank page saying "Desire has an address..." **UPDATE** Yeah it works, thanks Jah Al!

Vancouversturn.com works, it just takes a long ass time to load the page.

I was kind of hoping that the Ritz would go up because it's one of the finest hotels in the world and the Ritz hotels only occupy the world’s finest cities.

no shit, wait till AFTER the 2010.

On a side note, how can they fuck up on a 150 million budget and blow it over 900 million?

Did that controller get his degree from Fake University?

most likely sfu.

but but but, what happened to every single real estate agent in vancouver saying that the market is stabilizing, now is the time to buy, and prices will rise ?!

so what happens to the peoples that put down a deposit? down the drain or full refund?

Deposits are put in Escrow, IIRC.

Damn that'st oo bad. It would look awesome in our skyline.

nanana hey hey hey gooooooooooooodbye

Our skyline still looks boring because the architects lack imagination in this city. All the condos these days are cookie-cutter 30-storey square-cylinders that are considered "art-deco" by Rennie and the imitators (and I live in a building so described.)

In fact, the Ritz-Carlton would have been one of the few buildings in this city that would have broken the mold. Even the Shangra-La is pretty uninspiring, from an architectural standpoint.

What happens when things don't recover, and the city dumps 1000+ units on the market in 2010?


What industry or resources does Vancouver have that keeps the housing prices so high?


Once foreign money dries up, this market should crash and crash hard, no?

Drugs and Chinese people...Im being serious.

Compare to other provinces...
Ontario = manufacture
Alberta = Oil
BC = Drug Trade and Foreign Money.

BC bud is the #1 trade in BC..drug dealers are buying houses and nice cars with their profits. Also weathly chinese people are flooding our city...and with open arms we welcome them.

We got a unique real estate market in BC. You either fall into 3 categories.

1. Your a drug dealers 2. Your Rich 3. Your servicing the drug dealers and the rich.

Yeah, Yaletown and West End condos are a dime a dozen, but we actually have quite a bit of selection here. Wall Centre, VCCEP (new convention centre), Bentall 5, Shaw Tower.. all unique in their own right. At least they're starting to flex on the whole "height limit" deal. imho that's one of the biggest reasons why we had such a boring skyline for ages.

No worries though. I'll be willing to bet that the'll resume after about 8-10 years. That lot is still prime real estate, and they'll just wait for the upswing. Chances are they're not stupid.

Just heard on the radio, it's now CONFIRMED the project is stopped.

You forgot Tourism?

Tourism isn't foreign money?

I was invited to the grand opening event for Ritz Carlton, and i must say the interior design was quite disappointing, and severely overpriced.

Ive stayed in the VIP suites in Shanghai, and it was quite nice.

The design and materials used in Vancouver were basically the same as an upscale richmond condo, but with nicer appliances. The design was boring and not reminiscent of Ritz Carltons quality and prestige whatsoever.

Also, the valet took my car for a 45 min joyride, but we wont get into that.

I, for one, am not surprised at all to see this happen

What? I'd like to hear about it.

I work in the building beside the Ritz Carlton site. There is a huge 60' deep hole that they are still digging. I wonder what they're going to do with it - swimming pool? :P

I meant Tourism as #1 trade, not drug

it's bound to happen when economy goes bad. They'll restart again eventually.

ROFL! :bowrofl:

Yeah because people in Asia have not been affected at all by global recession :rolleyes:

Drugs I agree that's a huge part of it.