The big picture
Aptly named Canvas will be right at home in burgeoning Vancouver art district
Canvas Project size: 209 suites Address: 396 East First Ave., Vancouver Residence size: 1 — 2 bedrooms; 508 — 973 sq. ft Prices: From mid-$ 200,000 Sales Centre: 1405 Main St. Hours: noon — 6 p. m., Sat — Thurs Telephone: 604- 875- 8508 Developer: Onni Architect: gBL Architects Interior Design: Onni In- house Web: onni. com Warranty: 2- 5- 10 Travelers Warranty Occupancy: Expected March 2016
Canvas, a new condo development from Onni that starts previewing today, is the latest addition to Vancouver’s burgeoning art district in the False Creek Flats, the industrial area bounded by Main Street, Prior/ Venables Street, Clark Drive and Great Northern Way.
To rise just east of Main Street between First Avenue and Great Northern Way, Canvas will be next door to the new 286,320- square- foot Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Both are expected to be completed in 2016.
Already in place are the Centre for Digital media, which offers Canada’s first Master of Digital Media program, and more than a dozen art galleries.
“Monte Clark and Equinox moved from South Granville, so they’re moving from a very upscale neighbourhood to what they see as an opportunity and lots of growth,” says Nic Jensen, Onni’s vice- president of sales. “There are other galleries popping up in the neighbourhood. It’s kind of a reflection of where we see the whole neighbourhood going.”
In addition to the art crowd, the area is attracting businesses that include Mountain Equipment Co- op, which will move into a new energy- efficient head office converted from a former auto parts warehouse, and the Red Truck Beer Company and brew pub across the street from Canvas.
Jensen expects the Canvas homes will appeal to Emily Carr students and faculty, first- time buyers and investors serving the rental market. “The market actually reminds us of a similar buying opportunity on Main at Sixth and Seventh, a project of ours called Social,” he says. “It’s much more affordable than downtown, there’s some opportunities in the market, and just more and more people moving to the neighbourhood.”
The 209 homes are designed to function as artists’ live- work spaces, with oversized windows and commercialgrade engineered white oak floors. Amenities will include an artists’ work space and a party room, with a kitchen, that can be used as a gallery as well as for other events.
Jensen expects one of the most popular features to be the top- floor homes’ private roof decks, ranging from 300 to 600 square feet. All the homes have balconies or, on the ground floor, spacious patios. “We find it’s a big demand for buyers,” he says. “Even the rooftop decks, you can use them, typically, depending on the year and global warming, about eight months a year.”
“There’s incredible mountain views — like from the ground,” he adds.
“And then the way that our building is designed, this is actually a direct view to the city and specifically the BC Place Stadium.” Canvas will comprise two buildings on either side of a landscaped courtyard with garden plots, a fire pit and a long communal picnic table to encourage socializing.
In the narrower six- storey building along East First, most homes will span the width of the building with windows front and back.
The second building, on Great Northern Way, will be larger, with seven storeys and homes facing either the street or the courtyard.
In keeping with the industrial setting, exteriors will be clad in corrugated metal punctuated with hits of bright colour.
Overheight street- level windows along East First will evoke commercial space while allowing for extrahigh ceilings in the homes inside.
“We have a whack of floor plans,” Jensen says. “I think we have 47,” although about half are one- bedroom A, B or C plans. In fact, most Canvas homes will have one bedroom.
Many of the homes will have linear kitchens with a custom movable island that can be moved aside when entertaining, an emerging trend in kitchen design.
Countertops will be composite stone, and the flat- panel cabinets will have rift- cut oak- veneer doors below with high gloss white uppers. All the homes will come with full- sized stainless steel KitchenAid appliances: a five- burner gas cooktop, 30- inch fridge, convection oven plus microwave and dishwasher. Colour schemes are the greybased Sunset and the natural- toned Sunrise.
Bathrooms will have wood veneer cabinetry, composite- stone countertops, deep soaker tubs and frameless glass showers. There will be heated tile floors in the main bathroom of each home.
Every home comes with extra storage and underground parking, although the No. 84 bus to UBC stops outside the door and the Central Valley Greenway follows Great Northern Way. It is an easy walk to the SkyTrain, Main Street and the False Creek seawall.