Another new hotel project is planned for the 1100 block of Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, with the intent of helping to accelerate the revitalization of the Granville Entertainment District.
Local developer Bonnis Properties and architectural firm Perkins&Will have submitted a new rezoning application to redevelop 1105-1109 Granville St. — the southwest corner of the intersection of Helmcken Street and Granville Street — into a 379-ft-tall, 35-storey, mixed-use tower with hotel, retail, restaurant, and secured purpose-built rental housing uses.
This would replace the 1928-built, single-storey commercial building, but the heritage brick facade and cornices would be retained and integrated into the new tower. Currently, this property is home to Afro Hair Studio and a newly opened Loonie Plus store, which is occupying a large retail unit that was up until recently occupied by 8th & Main.
This existing building was originally built as a garage for a car dealership, with its use changing over time to car showrooms, food markets, and more recently retail stores. Its current condition is largely a result of extensive renovations performed about a decade and a half ago for the space’s previous use for clothing brand Le Chateau.
The property is also directly across the street from the 14-storey Best Western Premier Chateau Granville Hotel & Suites.
The first 11 floors would be dedicated to hotel uses, with nearly 8,000 sq. ft. of restaurant uses on the second and second mezzanine levels, plus an extensive covered outdoor restaurant patio on the rooftop of the heritage base podium — overlooking the street below. There would also be a 2,000 sq. ft. retail unit fronting Granville Street at ground level.
Separate hotel and residential lobbies would be situated on the Helmcken Street frontage. As well, there would be separate elevators for the hotel and residential floors.
Site of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Google Maps)
Existing condition:
Site of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)
Future condition:
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
The project calls for 112 hotel guest rooms. The entirety of the 11th floor is dedicated to shared indoor and outdoor amenity spaces specifically for hotel guests.
Above the hotel floors, there would be 176 secured purpose-built rental homes, with a unit size mix of 55 studio units, 77 one-bedroom units, 33 two-bedroom units, and 11 three-bedroom units. Residents would have access to shared indoor amenity spaces on the 34th level and an outdoor amenity deck on the 35th level on the tower rooftop.
But there are some policy-related challenges with this proposal, as its rental housing uses conflict with the June 2025-approved Granville Plan, which does not permit residential uses for this particular area of the Granville Strip.
Under the new area plan, which was strategically developed to help catalyze the revitalization of the entertainment district, residential uses are limited to the district’s northernmost and southernmost blocks. These include selective residential uses on the 800 block of Granville Street (between Robson and Smithe streets) to help advance a particularly transformative project, as well as on the 1200 block of Granville Street (between Davie and Drake streets) to support the delivery of replacement affordable housing.
Across all other blocks within the entertainment district, the plan places a strong emphasis on non-residential uses such as hotels, offices, entertainment venues, retail, and restaurants. These uses are considered complementary to the district’s active entertainment programming and nightlife character.
In this context, the significant rental housing components proposed as part of Bonnis Properties’ separate rezoning application — also designed by Perkins&Will — for a high-density, mixed-use redevelopment at 800–876 Granville Street are permitted. Vancouver City Council is expected to consider this proposal on the northernmost block at a public hearing later this winter. The project also includes a hotel among its diverse mix of commercial and entertainment uses, in addition to its major rental housing uses.
For the rental housing uses in the 1105-1109 Granville St. proposal, the same proponents assert that proceeding with rental housing as the project’s other major use is necessary. They deem that 100 per cent hotel use is not financially feasible for this particular project, and office uses above the hotel floors are not possible with the sustained weak office real estate market conditions.
“We also acknowledge that the proposed residential use contradicts some important characteristics of the recently approved Granville Street Plan for Entertainment Core,” reads the application.
“Our rationale is that the given numerous merits provided by the design proposal that satisfies the non-residential, cultural, and heritage goals of the Plan, we believe this limited acceptance of mixed use will provide opportunities for some initial development projects that would not be possible with pure office or hotel in the immediate future. Without initial development, the risk is that the Entertainment Core will languish for another generation.”
Existing condition:
Site of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Google Maps)
Future condition:
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
The project’s density through added height is made possible by City Council’s 2023 citywide view cone changes and the additional view cone changes later incorporated into the Granville Plan — which enabled greater heights to help improve the financial and economic viability of such projects — as well as the 2025-approved citywide policies encouraging more hotel development, including mixed-use hotel and residential towers.
The developer previously attempted to form a larger land assembly, but was unsuccessful. It tried to acquire the 1912-built, two-storey commercial building of 1115 Granville St., located immediately to the south.
No on-site vehicle parking stalls will be provided due to the technical and spatial challenges with building underground parking levels on the tight 9,000 sq. ft. lot. But there would still be two basement levels for back-of-house hotel operations, building systems, and secured bike parking.
The total building floor area would reach 217,000 sq. ft., establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 24.1 times larger than the size of the lot.
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
Conceptual artistic renderings for this project depict the potential long-term conversion of Granville Street in downtown Vancouver into a vehicle-free, pedestrian-only street, as prescribed in the Granville Plan. This includes the relocation of TransLink bus routes, with the street completely redesigned into a purpose-designed space for walking, events, festivals, and other activities that spill out from businesses and entertainment venues — all supporting a vibrant entertainment district.
The architectural design offers a highly contemporary tower that provides contrast with the heritage base facade.
Earlier this month, City Council approved the rezoning application to redevelop 1167-1193 Granville St. — the southernmost end of the same block, at the intersection corner with Davie Street — into a 33-storey tower with 100 per cent hotel uses, containing 464 hotel guest rooms, conference and meeting space, and restaurants.
Additionally, closer to Bonnis Properties’ development site, the 1910-built, four-storey, former Clifton Hotel SRO building at 1125 Granville St. — situated in the middle of the same block — is expected to see a conversion into a traditional visitor hotel with 67 guest rooms. This will be a full renovation of the building, with no additional verticality.
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)
Concept of 1105-1109 Granville St., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)