A proposal to build a 33-storey hotel tower at the corner of Granville and Davie streets in downtown Vancouver won the unanimous approval of city councillors at a public hearing Thursday night. Put forward by Musson Cattell MacKey (MCM) Partnership, the project would add 464 new hotel rooms to the Granville Entertainment District. That total would more than double the current hotel capacity on the Granville strip, which MCM places at 318. “Through expanding the hotel inventory and providing additional commercial space, the proposal would not only enhance the visitor experience on Granville Street but also contribute to the overall growth and development of Vancouver’s tourism, cultural and entertainment sectors,” the developer says in its application booklet. The application also touted support from the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and Destination Vancouver, both of which submitted letters in support of the project when it was first proposed in 2023. Leading up to Thursday’s vote, however, public commentary opposed to the project outnumbered that in support of it. The city received 13 pieces of correspondence in opposition to the hotel proposal, with most opponents objecting to the building’s height and some questioning the need for more hotel rooms—as opposed to housing—in the downtown core. Nine pieces of correspondence were submitted in favour of the application, including a letter from the British Columbia Hotel Association repeating its claim that the city will need 10,000 additional hotel rooms over the next 25 years. Other proponents highlighted crime and street disorder on Granville Street and suggested that a new hotel would help revitalize the area. In addition to the new hotel rooms, the proposed nearly 400,000-square-foot development would include a “hotel lounge and bar” accessed from the street, 6,847 square feet of restaurant space and the same amount of “flexible event space,” according to MCM. The building’s height—110 metres (360 feet)—would see it serve as a “visual gateway” for people entering the downtown core over the Granville Street Bridge, the developer said in its application. Councillors voted 11-0 in favour of the project.
