New hotel with bar planned for former Vancouver Film School building in Chinatown

Newly opened hotel in Vancouver Chinatown wears its giant heart on the wall

Public atrium included in new design of 105 Keefer in Vancouver Chinatown

New 33-storey hotel tower for Granville Entertainment District approved by Vancouver City Council

Erasing it from the skyline: The former Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver tower is now being demolished

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Up until recently, for a decade and a half, this 1984-constructed building was one of Vancouver Film School’s various campus locations, specifically for game design and programming. Prior to that, until around 2010, the building was home to the Vancouver station of Rogers-owned multilingual and multicultural television broadcaster OMNI Television.

According to the application designed by WA Architects, this building will be converted into a boutique-style hotel with 57 guest rooms within the upper levels. The ground level will be used as a hotel lobby with a 24/7 front desk and a hotel bar and lounge with 73 seats in various configurations.

It is noted that one of the existing retail units on the ground level will remain, with direct access from East Pender Street. Very minimal changes will be made to the building’s exterior.

Overall, this hotel will span nearly 40,000 sq. ft. of building floor area. Two underground levels will provide 32 vehicle parking stalls.

At this time, the project does not have a confirmed hotel brand and operator. If fully realized, it could provide the struggling Chinatown district with some much-needed economic activity.

This project follows last year’s opening of the Keefer House boutique hotel just to the southeast at 123 Keefer St., within a brand new purpose-built 10-storey building. It has 58 guest suites, suitable for both short-term and long-term stays.

As well, in late 2025, the municipal government’s development permit board approved Beedie Group’s controversial project at 570 Columbia St. (formerly addressed as 105 Keefer St.) immediately west of Keefer House. The long-vacant corner site — just south of the future hotel — is approved to become a new nine-storey, mixed-use building with condominiums, retail, restaurants, and a publicly accessible covered internal courtyard.

Keefer House’s giant heart-shaped mural on its west wall will keep the building visually distinct, until Beedie Group proceeds with the construction of its 570 Columbia St. building, which will conceal the public art.

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• Newly opened hotel in Vancouver Chinatown wears its giant heart on the wall
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• New 33-storey hotel tower for Granville Entertainment District approved by Vancouver City Council
• Erasing it from the skyline: The former Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver tower is now being demolished
• Westbank's major downtown Vancouver office tower project at steam plant site pivots to hotel, residential, and data centre uses
• Over 5,800 new hotel rooms across 29 projects now in Vancouver's development pipeline