Real estate developer Reliance Properties and Germain Hôtels plan to convert a downtown office building into the Montreal-based hotel chain's first property in Vancouver, a move that could help ease the city's lodging shortfall.
Reliance bought the 12-storey, 94,886-square-foot offices at 1111 W. Hastings St. at the southwest corner of West Cordova and Thurlow street near the Vancouver Convention Centre, with plans to open a 180-room Le Germain Hotel by 2029, the companies said in a statement.
Germain is the latest hotel operator to partner with a real estate developer to convert older office space to hotel rooms in Vancouver, where soccer fans may struggle to find accommodations ahead ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer championship, one of the world's most famous sporting events.
Destination Vancouver, the city's tourism board, warned in a report two years ago that the region could lose more than $30 billion in spending and other economic impact by 2050 unless 20,000 hotel rooms are built in the greater region over the next 25 years to meet projected demand, of which half are needed in Vancouver alone.
Developers and cities have responded, with roughly 1,000 rooms under construction and at least 2,130 more in the final planning stage, in projects that include office conversions and mixed-use developments, according to CoStar analytics.
“This hotel will not only bring a new level of boutique hospitality to Vancouver but will also play a key role in shaping the city’s urban landscape and help to address Vancouver’s critical shortage of hotel rooms," Reliance CEO Jon Stovell said in a statement.
While the 57-year-old office building in the city's Coal Harbour neighbourhood appears to be fully leased, the site has major appeal as a hotel site, said Paul Richter, director of market analytics for CoStar in Western Canada.
“Vancouver is starved for hotels," Richter said. "It's a fantastic redevelopment site — very close to the convention centre, with views to the north and south, on an already established street of hotels."
Siblings Christiane and Jean-Yves Germain founded Germain Hotels in 1988 and opened the country’s first boutique hotel, Hôtel Le Germain-des-Prés, now Alt Hotel Québec, in Québec City the same year.
The family-run Germain Hôtels chain has 19 locations across Canada under the Le Germain, Alt and Escad brands. Expanding into Vancouver "is a major milestone," Hugo Germain, the company's vice president of operations, said in a statement.
“Vancouver is a dynamic city with a bright future and we are thrilled to invest here in partnership with Reliance Properties," Hugo Germain added.
For the record
Avison Young's Bob Levine was the listing broker in the sale of 1111 W. Hastings St. by Vancouver-based Golden Properties.