Project 200 was an ambitious waterfront redevelopment initiative launched in 1968 in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. Named for its initial budget projection of $200 million, the project aimed to revitalize the area north of Cordova Street, stretching from Howe Street to Abbott Street. It was conceived as a

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

mixed-use Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...

complex, which at the time was believed to be the largest single development planned in Canada.

Location

The proposed site for Project 200 was at the base of

Granville Street Granville Street is a major street in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and part of Highway 99. Granville Street is most often associated with the Granville Entertainment District and the Granville Mall. This street also cuts through resid ...

on the harbour, representing some of Vancouver's most valuable real estate. Its proximity to the

downtown core The Downtown Core is the historical and downtown centre of the city-state of Singapore and the main commercial area in Singapore excluding reclaimed lands with two integrated resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands, one of the most expensive buil ...

and its visibility from North Vancouver meant that any development in this location would be highly prominent and easily recognizable.

Project design and amenities

The development was planned to include up to 14 office towers, 1,000 apartment units, a 40-storey hotel, 5,000 parking spaces, and comprehensive retail shopping areas featuring a new department store. Key amenities were to include elevated pedestrian plazas, offering expansive views of the waterfront and enhancing the area's accessibility and aesthetic appeal. Central to the project was the proposed waterfront freeway, a thoroughfare intended to link the city with the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

to the east and west, and with BC Highway 99/ I-5 to the south. The design included direct access to underground parking garages from the freeway, allowing convenient access to the complex. Despite its ambitious scope, only a small portion of Project 200 was realized. The project faced significant hurdles, including challenges in securing financing and opposition to the demolition of historic structures such as the

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

Station, now known as Waterfront Station, which was ultimately preserved.

Legacy

Although most of Project 200 did not come to fruition, several components were completed, including: *

Granville Square Granville Square is a prominent tower located at 200 Granville Street in the Financial District of the downtown core of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Completed in 1973, the building stands at 138.4 metres (454 feet) tall. The building and i ...

: This office tower at 200 Granville Street was completed in 1973, and has since become a prominent feature of Vancouver's Financial District. * CNCP Telecommunications Building: Located at 175 W Cordova, this building was originally part of a joint venture between the two major Canadian railway companies, and is now occupied by Allstream. * Woodward’s Parking Garage: Known today as the Cordova Street Parkade, this structure was rebuilt in the early 2000s and has since been recognized as one of the "coolest parkades in the world." The partial realization of Project 200 has had a lasting impact on the urban landscape of Vancouver, contributing significantly to the development trajectory of its waterfront areas.

Location

Project design and amenities

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading