St. Paul’s site sold to Concord Pacific
Scott Brown
The Province
The St. Paul?s Hospital site downtown has been sold for nearly $1 billion to developer Concord Pacific. JASON PAYNE
Concord Pacific buys St. Paul’s Hospital land in Vancouver for $1 billion. NICK PROCAYLO / PNG
Artist rendering of the future St. Paul?s Hospital at the Jim Pattison Medical Centre in Vancouver?s False Creek Flats area. St. Paul’s Foundation handout/PNG
The St. Paul’s Hospital site on Burrard Street in Downtown Vancouver has been sold for nearly $1 billion to developer Concord Pacific.
Providence Health Care, which operates the hospital, says the money will be put toward the construction of the new St. Paul’s Hospital and other facilities at the Jim Pattison Medical Centre, which is expected to open in 2026 next to the Via Rail station.
The current hospital will continue to operate until the new hospital is operational.
Providence says its spending will be the largest non-governmental contribution to a capital health-care project in B.C. and, likely, Canada.
St. Paul’s Foundation has committed to raising $125 million for the new $1.9-billion hospital, with $75 million of that coming from a 2017 donation from B.C. billionaire Jim Pattison. The provincial government is spending $1.158 billion on the project, while the rest will come from proceeds of the Burrard land sale.
Dr. Jeff Pike, the physician lead on the St. Paul’s redevelopment project, says surplus money from the sale of the current hospital will be used to fund auxiliary construction on the new False Creek Flats campus.
“To be frank, ($1.9 billion) will cover just the cost of the core hospital. There are other buildings that are also a tremendous interest to our patient population, specifically the clinical support and research centre,” said Pike. “The master plan of the campus sort of outlines what could be there including an innovation park, perhaps a hotel, perhaps a First Nations health and wellness centre.
“What I can say with absolute certainty is that 100 per cent of the proceeds from the sale on behalf of Providence Health Care Society is going to the new campus and new hospital.”
As for what will be built on the Burrard Street site, Concord Pacific vice-president Peter Webb says the company hasn’t figured that out.
The company, which has managed the former Expo 86 site since 1988 when it purchased the one-third of a square kilometre False Creek property from the B.C. government for the bargain price of $145 million, has yet to draw up any plans or blueprints for the 26,700 square metre site of the old hospital.
“We will be working with the city and the public to determine what the best planning outcome for the project is. The physical attributes of that are as yet undetermined now,” said Webb, adding that the property’s existing zoning allows for about 1.9 million square feet of residential density and commercial development.
Because St. Paul’s is not a designated heritage site, Concord Pacific has no obligation to keep the current structure, but Webb says the historic nature of the building will require some sort of response.
“I imagine that through the process of working with the city and the heritage group within the city, we’ll ensure that the heritage element is accommodated for sure,” he said.
The current hospital was constructed in 1912-13 at a reported cost of $400,000. Over the years, it has grown with the addition of two wings and a pair of 10-storey towers.
NDP MLA Spencer Chandra-Herbert lamented the loss of St. Paul’s Hospital from the heart of his West End constituency.
“St. Paul’s has helped so many people I know. So many constituents work there. It’s part of the fabric of the West End,” Chandra-Herbert said Wednesday.
He has concerns around access to the new False Creek hospital site for the many seniors and others who live in the West End and will have to travel further for appointments.
However, Pike said the century-old hospital, which was already showing its age before COVID-19 arrived, has proven to be a difficult workplace during the pandemic.
“Things like outbreak control and the ability to socially distance — even within stairwells — is very challenging in the current hospital,” he said. “So, the new hospital will address those things very well.”
Pike says construction could begin at the new hospital site by the end of this year or in early 2021.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said he is pleased the new St. Paul’s project is finally on track after years of delay under former Liberal governments.
“This was a project that was announced in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011 and 2016 without going anywhere,” Dix said. “What (the NDP government) has tried to do is systematically step-by-step do what’s necessary to build a new St. Paul’s, a St. Paul’s that Vancouver needs in the 21st century.”
With news of the sale, the Chanda-Herbert says he’ll be working to make sure affordable housing, child care and opportunities for employment are made priorities for the development on the old St. Paul’s site.
He said local businesses will feel it when the hospital is gone — as hospital employees spend money in the neighbourhood which helps independent businesses.
“We need more jobs downtown. The neighbourhood needs more affordable housing,” he said.
The St. Paul’s deal is one of only two sites to sell for a billion dollars in Vancouver. The other was the Bentall Centre office complex in downtown, which sold for $1.06 billion in 2016 to Anbang, a Chinese company. In 2019, Anbang sold the Bentall Centre for a reported $1.05 billion to two American firms, the Blackstone Group and Hudson Pacific.
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