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The design of 800 Granville has evolved significantly since early 2021, when the project first became public through Daily Hive Urbanized’s reporting. At the time, the concept — conceived during the pre-pandemic boom in demand for office space for tech firms and large businesses — envisioned a singular mixed-use tower rising up to 17 storeys, with roughly 400,000 sq. ft. of office space as the primary use, alongside the full preservation of the Commodore Building and expanded retail, restaurant, and entertainment uses in the lower floors.

At the time, Bonnis Properties shared that it had hit a wall with previous City planning leadership, which explicitly preferred a smaller, shorter building to reduce shadowing impacts on Granville Street. During some public meetings with City Council, City staff even suggested that the Granville Strip’s revitalization depended more on maintaining natural light at street level than on creating new critical masses of activity to generate foot traffic.

After refinements to the original design, the developer, working with the project’s lead designer of architectural firm Perkins&Will, submitted the formal rezoning application in November 2022, following City Council’s July 2022 direction to City staff to accept and process the proposal.

In March 2025, the project team submitted a significantly revised application that replaced the major office component with secured purpose-built rental housing, while still fully retaining the Commodore Building, preserving other heritage facades, expanding the commercial retail and destination restaurant uses, and introducing a hotel. Instead of a single mass, the revised plan split the floor area into two high-rise towers.

This pivot from office space to rental housing was driven by the sustained weakness in the office market and the desire to create a financially viable concept that could accelerate implementation and kick-start the Granville Strip’s revitalization.

Existing condition:

January 2021-revealed original concept:

August 2021 revised concept:

March 2025 revised concept:

“A vibrant, resilient future for the downtown core”

The significance of 800 Granville helped trigger the City’s broader planning process, resulting in the Granville Plan, which outlines how the entertainment district could be revitalized over the coming decades through major developments and public space improvements. In June 2025, City Council approved the Granville Plan, which includes policies supporting the 800 Granville redevelopment and could eventually see Granville Street within the downtown Vancouver peninsula become a car-free, pedestrian-only thoroughfare.

“Tonight is an opportunity to uphold what Vancouver cherishes and to help shape a vibrant, resilient future for the downtown core. I’d like to thank you for your leadership and all your work to bring action,” Kerry Bonnis, the principal of Bonnis Properties, said to the City Council during the public hearing on Tuesday.

“In fact, [with] the Granville Street new policy and your continued commitment to the street and our city, I’d like to commend. Especially the new leadership of the City staff and the team, the work in the last 18 months, working collaboratively, has been exceptional and it makes up for the eight or nine years of the obstacles we faced.”

As approved, the project will include two towers — 38 and 42 storeys, reaching up to 440 ft. — made possible by protected mountain view cone changes in the City’s 2024 citywide amendments and the 2025 Granville Plan approval. These tower height figures include the shared five-storey base podium, which contains hotel, retail, and restaurant uses, as well as the preserved Commodore Building.

January 2021-revealed original concept:

August 2021 revised concept:

March 2025 revised concept:

The towers will contain a total of 523 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 450 market rental units and 73 below-market rental studio units. The below-market component offsets the demolition of an older building technically classified for SRO use, though it has not served that purpose for decades. The overall unit size mix includes 186 studios, 154 one-bedroom units, 113 two-bedroom units, and 70 three-bedroom units.

Residential uses are generally discouraged on the Granville Strip due to noise, lighting, crowds, events, and late-night activity typical of entertainment districts. However, the Granville Plan allows some residential uses at the northernmost and southernmost blocks of the district, including the 800 Granville site.

During the public hearing, Ryan Bragg, a principal with Perkins&Will, said the complex will feature a high-performance building envelope to insulate sound. Juliet balconies — shallow balconies with barriers — will also be provided for residential units to further mitigate noise.

The base podium rooftop could also be a source of on-site activity, as it will host much of the 17,000 sq. ft. of outdoor restaurant patios/terraces and flexible event space for the destination restaurant on the fifth level, which will also include 13,000 sq. ft. of indoor dining space.

Levels six to eight of the north tower will be dedicated to a hotel with over 100 guest rooms.

Bonnis said his company has had preliminary discussions with several multinational hotel groups, with the intention of securing a major brand. “All of them expressed a lot of interest and would love to be present here,” he said.

Most of the five-storey base podium will be dedicated to retail, including the potential for large-format retailers on the upper podium levels. Bonnis added that his company prefers to curate a diverse mix of smaller retailers at street level to create variety along the storefronts and across the four preserved heritage facades.

Video animation of 800 Granville, approved by Vancouver City Council.

700,000 sf project:
– 523 rental homes
– 100-room hotel
– 130,000+ sf multi-level destination retail/restaurants
– Commodore Ballroom & Billiards preserved#vanpoli #vanre #vancre 2/2https://t.co/pV77ptyNPc pic.twitter.com/Le6go0Uvne

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) February 12, 2026

“Game changer” upgrades coming to near-century-old Commodore Ballroom

The Commodore Ballroom will receive significant back-of-house upgrades, including a new loading dock and a large freight elevator to improve the movement of equipment for performances.

Aaron Chapman, a local historian who has chronicled the venue’s history and a veteran of Vancouver’s concert industry, was among the public speakers at the hearing.

He described how tours currently must load in and out through the laneway and use an undersized freight elevator to reach the second-floor venue, slowing and complicating production setups and teardowns.

He recalled a 2009 Lady Gaga concert where a large piano shell would not fit in the existing freight elevator and had to be precariously carried up and down the Granville Street front stairs by stagehands, highlighting the venue’s current limitations.

The new large freight elevator, he said, would be a “game changer,” even allowing vehicles supporting concerts to pull in closer for unloading.

Beyond speed and safety improvements, the upgrades would help the Commodore Ballroom meet the growing logistical demands of modern touring productions.

The Commodore Ballroom is now approaching its 100th anniversary. When it was built in 1930, no one anticipated today’s concert production needs. The project team has suggested these upgrades could also help attract more and higher-calibre performances.

Altogether, 800 Granville will include over 130,000 sq. ft. of multi-level retail, restaurant, and other commercial space — a major net gain over what exists today — in addition to the full preservation of the two-storey, 45,000 sq. ft. Commodore Building.

New video screens and neon signage to create Vancouver’s version of Times Square

The complex will also add to the entertainment district’s visual energy, particularly through giant video screens at the building’s corner with the intersection at Robson and Granville streets, complementing those across the street atop the Best Buy/Marshalls building. The Granville Plan encourages this kind of animated signage.

“Granville Street had the historic city bylaws that allowed for oversized and kinetic neon… Fast forward to the next century, here we are with modern technology,” said Bonnis, who agreed with the notion that the intersection could become Vancouver’s version of Times Square.

“So, just as kinetic signage was a big thing half a century ago, our intention here is to incorporate exciting video [screens] into the project itself and create more excitement, especially as this will be truly the civic centre.”

A vertical sign for the Commodore Ballroom — similar to the Orpheum Theatre’s sign — will also return, either as neon or LED, and businesses will be encouraged to install their own neon signage.

In total, the project will contain nearly 700,000 sq. ft. of floor area, making it one of downtown Vancouver’s largest single developments in decades.

Bonnis said construction could take roughly three to four years once excavation begins, with the goal to “get this off the ground as quickly as possible.” The developer has intentionally kept many properties vacant and avoided new long-term leases in preparation.

With rezoning now approved in principle, the project team must complete development and building permit applications and meet the remaining conditions of rezoning.

Bonnis also suggested construction could begin with the south tower, located between the Commodore Building and the Orpheum Theatre’s Granville Street entrance. The project may be phased, but with continuous construction to complete the complex as quickly as possible and minimize disruption.

Major excavation will occur north of the Commodore Building, where several buildings will be demolished while heritage facades are retained. Six underground levels with about 178 vehicle parking stalls will be built in this area, stopping at the north wall of the Commodore Building. The space above the Commodore Building’s rooftop and below the fifth-level restaurant terrace will house secured bike parking, with about 1,100 bike spaces in total.

Towards the goal of “a Granville Street that is active, safe, and alive again”

Taken together, the broader tone of the public hearing pointed to something larger than a single site or single building, with 800 Granville framed as a catalyst for change along the corridor.

Bragg framed Granville Street as more than just a street, calling it “a cultural destination” and “a place of collective memory,” and said the project could help it “return to the glory that it once had.”

He said the project is “about energizing Granville Street and a renaissance of Granville Street,” focused on “people and places,” and creating “porosity and activity at the street,” keeping it active “in the day and in the evening” — as opposed to the current concentration of primarily nightlife-focused businesses, which contributes to the strip’s current issues.

Furthermore, adds the project’s architect, the redevelopment goes beyond a single site. “It’s not about a project. It’s about the city, and it’s about what this project can do for Granville Street,” said Bragg, calling it “a step forward” that would “start with one block” and “be a model for what we can do in the downtown.”

Jane Talbot, president and CEO of Downtown Van, said her organization offers “full support” for the redevelopment, noting that the entertainment district continues to face challenges and is “under significant strain,” adding that “projects like 800 Granville are essential catalysts to drive momentum forward.”

She described the project as “a careful balance between heritage conservation, entertainment, hospitality, and active street use,” stressing the importance of the “preservation and long-term viability of the Commodore Ballroom and the Commodore Building,” which she called “a critical cultural asset.”

Royce Chwin, president and CEO of Destination Vancouver, said the Granville Strip was once “where Vancouver went to feel alive,” describing it as “glamorous,” “a little spicy,” and “unmistakably vital to the city’s identity,” before noting that its appeal “long ago began to fade.”

He said the focus now must be “on implementation,” calling the rezoning of 800 Granville “a long overdue example of that implementation in action,” and said the proposal supports uses that increase activity throughout the day and into the evening, which he said is “essential to revitalization of this once iconic corridor.”

Chwin also linked pedestrian traffic and activity to safety, saying “public safety and street animation go hand in hand,” and argued that the hotel component would also introduce a steady mix of people beyond typical retail hours.

“Incremental policy-aligned investment is how momentum is built and confidence is restored,” he said, adding that approving the rezoning would support “a Granville Street that is active, safe, and alive again.”

ABC city councillor Peter Meiszner said the project has been “very, very long in the making,” and called it “transformational for Granville Street,” adding that it could “really catalyze a lot of the revitalization that we wanna see on the street.”

He said this part of downtown Vancouver “needs new energy,” and argued the project will achieve that goal.

ABC city councillor Lisa Dominato said it was “very exciting to see this come to fruition,” calling the project a “labour of love” by Bonnis Properties and Perkins&Will.

ABC city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung pointed to the project’s balance between history and change, saying “retaining that important history and experience” has been central, “while looking to modernize.”

She said there is “a lot to love about the project,” and added that the preservation of the heritage facades is “really important.” She said she likes the juxtaposition where cities preserve “the human scale at street level” while introducing contemporary uses above.”

In December 2025, Bonnis Properties and Perkins&Will also submitted another notable project for the Granville Strip for a site located about two blocks to the south at the southwest corner of the intersection of Helmcken Street and Granville Street. Their rezoning application for 1105-1109 Granville St. calls for a 35-storey, mixed-use tower with a 112-room hotel, 176 secured purpose-built rental homes, and retail/restaurant uses.

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