Gastown is one of the last downtown Vancouver neighbourhoods to see a new hotel development, but that’s about to change.
MCM Partnership Architects released a rendering this week related to an upcoming development permit application at 302 Water Street, a historic building built in 1902 and known as the Edward Hotel. The building is one of the few stone-clad commercial buildings in Gastown and was built in the Classical Revival style.
The building was converted to office space decades ago, and is currently home to the head office of restauranteurs Glowbal Restaurant Group. The popular Water Street Café is currently the primary tenant in the ground-floor restaurant space, across from the steam clock.
A two-storey addition to the building is proposed, as well as upgrades to the building’s structure to convert it back to hotel use. More details should be available once the official development permit application is available from the City of Vancouver, but MCM Partnership Architects describes the redevelopment as follows:
“The primary intent of 302 Water St is to preserve the existing heritage structure and character defining elements, while upgrading its structure and services to suit the new program and function. A two-storey contemporary addition will act as the ornate capital.”
The future hotel will include a restaurant on the ground floor, as well as the hotel lobby, and an accessible rooftop terrace for hotel guests.
It’s not yet known who the hotel operator will be, but the location and building would be ideal for an operator like Ace Hotel, a boutique hotelier with locations across North America, including in Toronto.
Demand for hotel rooms in downtown Vancouver is expected to rebound soon, with the recent lifting of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. There will also be an influx of thousands of new high tech jobs in the neighbourhood once the new Amazon head office at the Post opens, plus the nearly complete tech office space located nearby at Deloitte Summit.
