New False Creek Flats development gives Vancouver tech sector more office space

Buildings planned for False Creek Flats will add the equivalent of almost one-10th of downtown Vancouver's current office space

Credit: Courtesy of PCI Developments Corp.

A rendering of the new PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties building

Buildings planned for the area will add the equivalent of almost one-10th of current downtown supply

As demand from tech firms and other businesses leaves Vancouver grappling with a shortage of downtown office space, False Creek Flats is the new frontier. This spring, PCI Developments Corp. and Low Tide Properties will open a seven-storey office building at 565 Great Northern Way, next to the Centre for Digital Media and the new Emily Carr University of Art + Design campus.

The 160,000-square-foot multi-tenant development is the first move in a push to build out False Creek Flats, where Vancouver-based PCI and Low Tide plan to construct more than 1.9 million square feet of density.

Combined, the new buildings slated for the area will add the equivalent of almost one-10th of downtown Vancouver’s current office space, according to real estate services firm CBRE Canada. In the third quarter of 2017, the city had North America’s second-lowest downtown office vacancy rate, at just 5 percent, CBRE reports.

Credit: Courtesy of PCI Developments Corp.

A rendering of the project’s rooftop deck

The PCI/Low Tide building, already more than 70-percent leased, is designed to house digital media and other creative sector businesses. Its tenants will include video game studio Blackbird Interactive; Caterpillar equipment dealer Finning International Inc., which is moving its headquarters, including its digital division, from downtown; electronics giant Samsung Group; and Spaces, a co-working operation.

The LEED Gold development includes a rooftop deck with views of downtown and the North Shore Mountains, a retail pavilion serving the surrounding neighbourhood and a 20,000-square-foot public plaza.