Inside Van: What’s Happening Feb. 22, 2020

By Stephanie MacDonald
February 18, 2020

ASPAC’s Feast of Prosperity at Hollybridge in Richmond

More than 500 guests were in attendance on Sunday, Feb. 2 to take part in a promotional event in which 108 Hollybridge homes were priced at $1,080 per sq. ft. for the Chinese New Year. If one of these homes was purchased during the promotional period between Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, the purchaser would get the chance to choose a lucky lantern. Each lantern corresponded to a prize laid out in a gallery fashion throughout the presentation centre. Prizes ranged in value from $20 - $18,800, covering items from local artisan designers of pottery, housewares, trinkets, books and prints, to cash incentives.

Photography as storytelling

On Sunday, Feb. 9, the Polygon Gallery, the JCC Jewish Book Festival, and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre presented “Photography as Storytelling: A conversation with Terry Kurgan” at the Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver. An eminent South African artist and writer based in Johannesburg, Kurgan’s often ground-breaking work has been described as having the unique capacity to combine high art with intimacy, tragedy and popular culture. Kurgan offered insights on her ability to move between photographs and writing, and her exploration of how images and texts may be ‘read’ for insights about the world and about what it means to be human.

Wesgroup’s Paradigm New Year celebration and grand opening

On a drizzly Saturday, Jan. 25, the Paradigm Sales Centre welcomed over 500 visitors who wanted to be the first to view and purchase new condominiums and townhomes in the established master-planned community of River District. Everyone got an inside look into what $500,000 in Vancouver can get you – value, quality and efficiency, with a variety of amenities and perks that are offered with living in a master-planned community. The first 250 people had the opportunity to choose a red envelope from the lucky money tree, which had a mix of gift cards to each of the River District retailers and two opportunities to win $1,000 cash. Lazy Gourmet set up a doughnut wall and the Coffee Bike served hot beverages that were enjoyed alongside locally made fortune cookies and candy-filled lucky red envelopes for guests to take home.

SFU City Conversations: A city without artists?

Artists are cool, and unfortunately often poor, so they tend to find low-rent neighbourhoods. Coolness accidentally makes these places more attractive for people with money, pricing the artists out of the market. About 60 people sat down to talk about this issue at the SFU Downtown Vancouver campus at noon on Jan. 16. While Vancouver has the highest density of artists per capita in Canada, they’ve lost nearly 400,000 sq. ft. of studio space in the past decade, while their median rental rates have increased more than 65 per cent. This conversation was guided by Eri Ishii, a formerly evicted painter, and director of Portside Studios and the 901 Artists Cooperative; Brian McBay, executive director of the non-profit organization 221A; and Michael Vandermeer, a sculptor (trained in nuclear physics) with ie: Creative on Granville Island.

HAVAN’s Legends of Housing dinner

Almost 300 building professionals gathered at the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre by Mariott in Burnaby on Wednesday, Feb. 5 to hear three industry legends share their histories and give their takes on the upcoming year. Moderated by Ward McAllister, of Ledingham McAllister, the legends were Neil Chrystal, president and CEO of Polygon Homes; Shayne Ramsay, CEO of BC Housing; and Avtar Bains of Premise Properties. The evening began with cocktails in the lobby, where people mingled and caught up with colleagues, then after being seated, the speakers were introduced. (For anyone who remembers Much Music in the 1990s, a brief Google of Avtar Bains reveals he is married to Monika Deol, the host of Electric Circus, oh, and he is also a commercial real estate icon.) Everyone spoke about their backgrounds, and then described the projects they have been involved with that they are most proud of. It was an enlightening evening for all.

Did you know?

The City of Surrey is now considering applications for development along the new Skytrain Expo Line extension through Fleetwood to Langley City, including a proposed parcel along the Fraser Highway that includes three towers up to 57 stories in height.

About Stephanie MacDonald

Stephanie MacDonald is the Editor-at-Large for New Home + Condo Guide Vancouver.

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