BC Business
1133 Melville's proposed tower, seen at the centre of the skyline
1133 Melville’s proposed tower, seen at the centre of the skyline
Bigger is better If plans for a new 33-storey office building at 1133 Melville Street in downtown Vancouver are approved, the city will have a new tallest office tower. Not only tall but also, well, bloody big: each floor would range from 20,000 to 23,000 square feet for a total of 660,000 square feet. Between that and the soon-to-open 22-storey Telus Garden, downtown could see a sizable increase in office space over the next few years—though 1133 Melville certainly wins in terms of height. In fact, it rivals our tallest hotels too. Currently, only the Shangri-La is taller in terms of feet, though the Trump Tower and Skyfront buildings, opening in 2016 and 2018, respectively, will knock 1133 Melville down to fourth place overall. It will still oversee every other office building from a lofty 524 feet, however—well, assuming Oxford Properties’ rezoning application is approved. (via Vancouvermarket.ca)Who needs a car?Car2go, Vancouver’s ubiquitous carshare, is about to get even more, umm, ubiquitous. Owned by German Daimler AG, Car2go’s new and improved Vancouver fleet will be the world’s biggest, the company announced Tuesday, as it’s adding 625 new cars, increasing the total to 1,250—yes, that’s double. The new vehicles will be different in one respect, however: they’ll only be accessible through the smartphone app—as in, cards won’t unlock the doors. The new vehicles will begin appearing on roads August 4 with the rollout completing late September. Between this and BCAA introducing Evo earlier this year, Vancouver is fast becoming a city of carshares.
Actually, I’ll have a G&T The B.C. government announced Tuesday that it’s loosening B.C.’s liquor laws in one, albeit niche, respect. Effective immediately, distilleries, wineries, cideries and breweries with licensed areas can now sell liqour they don’t produce—in short, you can get a glass of wine at the brewery with your craft-beer-loving friends. “How many British Columbians have been on a cidery tour and wanted to buy a glass of B.C. wine at one of their stops and been turned away?” asked Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton in a release (I don’t know. Six?) “Well, as of today, these issues are a thing of the past.”