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Nearly four months since our last update, and the three-tower W1 (445 SW Marine Dr) residential complex in South Vancouver has now reached completion. Standing at 27, 21, and 7 storeys apiece, the high-density trio has brought a healthy mix of residential and retail space to the area, with a grand total of 460 units.
Designed by GBL Architects for Concord Pacific, the colourful trio has been made distinctive owing to the inclusion of multi-coloured spandrel. The latest in a collection of similar builds in the area, W1 is representative of a major shift, as more and more older, affordable housing apartment blocks and townhouses give way to shiny new mega developments such as this.
Complete with chain restaurants, big box stores, a movie theatre, and more, the SW Marine Drive corridor has become a bustling city within a city. Hundreds, if not thousands of new residents have flooded into the neighbourhood over the last few years, a move made all the easier thanks to the immediate proximity of Marine Drive Station.
Complete and move-in ready, it will not be long before the hustle and bustle of new owners and residents make this most recent addition a hotbed of activity. For while there will remain those who bemoan the significant loss of affordable housing that this and other developments like it represent, there will be countless others who are simply happy to see signs of progress and new life - to say nothing of the chance to buy into Vancouver's daunting real estate market.
SkyriseVancouver will be sure to return to this project as progress continues. For more information, check out the associated Database file and Forum thread, and as always, feel free to join the conversation in the comments section below.
