ALISON APPELBES p e c i a l t o Th e Jo u r n a l

VANCOUVER

For even themost successfuldeveloper,a re-ally spectacular building site comes acrossonceinacareer.That oncehas arrivedfor Hen-ry Man.

As president andCEOof theVancouver firmMagellen 20/20, Man purchased one of thelast remaining residential sites onVancouver’sbest-known thoroughfare — Robson Street.Now,onRobsonat Homer Street,kitty-cornerwithLibrarySquare,he’s buildingahigh-end,mostly residential complex called Atelier onRobson.

“This siteis as goodas it gets.It’s onceina life-time,” saysManat his elegant, loft-styleofficesin the adjacent Yaletown district.

“This is oneof thoselocations that if someoneis buildinga portfolio, it would be the key asset. A location like thisgives you the ingredients to mould a flagship building.”

AUniversity ofB.C.chemicalengineeringgraduate,Man,47, was recruited in 1982 by British Petroleum (now Tal-isman Oil) in Calgary. He spent eight years with BP, andearned an MBA from the University of Calgary.

Back in Vancouver, Man joined Concord Pacific Devel-opments,andbetween1994and 2002 was involvedin theredevelopment of theindustrialnorth shoreofFalseCreekinto a dynamic residential community, now approaching9,000 housing units.

Man servedas Concord’s senior vice-president andchiefoperating officer (COO). And from 1997, he was simulta-neously COO of Concord Adex Developments in Toron-to, builder of the similarly massive CityPlace complex.

Then in 2002, seeking more repose in his life (and witha personal portfolio to manage), Man decided to retire.

“I was doing 15 to 20 trips a year to Toronto, as well asbetweenfiveand seven trips a year toAsia,” says thefatherof three,now aged11 to15.“I was basically —every week

— heading to the airport or heading back.”He wanted to spend more time at home,

coach soccer andplay tennis,and support thelikes of UBC’s Corpus Christi and St. Mark’scolleges, and the St. Paul’s Hospital Founda-tion, of whose boards he remains a director.

“But after a year of retirement people wouldcome to me and say, ‘Henry, I have this site,helpmeout.’ Then I’dlookat thebuildingandsay, ‘No, no, that’s not how you do it…’ Youget dragged in.” In 2003, he established hisown firm, Magellen 20/20.

And while residential projects continue toroll out — most recently the Freesia, a luxu-ry tower a few blocks southofRobson— theyare chosen and developed with care.

“I’mnot thegung-hodeveloper,”Manadds.“It’s important I work with the right people,

and that I feel comfortable. Balancing one’s career andfamily is a process. You learn as you go along.”

Library Square ambienceRobsonStreet,extendingfromStanley Park toB.C.Place

stadium,owes its fame toa stringofflashy retailoutlets —from Zara to Salvatore Ferragamo — that generate anon-stop sidewalk scene. It’s the Bloor Street or RodeoDrive of Vancouver.

This fashion-driven section of Robson — includingRobson Square, with the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Pa-cificCentre—is the retailhub.Then southfromGranvilleStreet,andembracing theiconicVancouver PublicLibrarybuilding said to resemble the Roman Colosseum, Rob-son Street becomes more residential.

The Atelier will inhabit one of few remaining buildingsites in the lively Library Square area.

Views from theAtelier takein thelibraryandmountainsto the northeast, or, to the southwest, a park planned forSmitheandRichards streets,andEnglishBay.Others spanthedowntown,BurrardInlet andStanley Park,FalseCreek,and the south and east of the city to the Fraser River —even snow-capped Mount Baker in the United States.

Halfablockaway is TheCentreinVancouver for thePer-forming Arts, and just beyond sprawls the Queen Eliza-bethandPlayhouse theatres complex.B.C.PlaceandGen-eral Motors stadiums are an easy walk northeast.

Neighbourhood amenities include coffee houses, andswish hotels with bars and restaurants. An IGA Market-place is going up across the street from the Atelier, andan urban version of big-box Costco is close (but not tooclose). The Library Square area boasts attractive lighting,street furniture and public art.

Granville and Robson, three blocks north of the Atelier,will be the location of the Robson Street station on a newrapid-transit line between the downtown waterfront andVancouver InternationalAirport.This mostly undergroundsystem, theCanadaLine, willbecompletedin 2009, in timefor the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Large suites, great viewsTheAtelier onRobson,by Vancouver’s IBI-HBArchitects,

is of a fluid, curvilinear design. “Architecturally it’s veryalive— verycultural,” saysManof the workofa teamhead-ed by architect James Hancock.

Noted interior designer Bob Ledingham created the 25-foot-high lobby, fronted by frameless structured glass. Itfeatures walls of creamy travertine and floors of darkbasalt.Aconcierge station, staffed round theclock, willbeof marble, wood and granite.

The podium includes a landscaped courtyard and someretail at street level. A separate entrance accesses a dou-ble-height storey above the lobby, with offices and a fullyoutfitted fitness facility and terrace. Above that, a gardenlevelfeatures plots in which residents canexerciseagreenthumb, and a lawn, play area and well-appointed gardenlounge.

Both the latter levels overlook Robson Square.S e e AT E L I E R / J 5

NEW CONDOS ■ Technology transformsreal-estate sales / J2■ Cacti gardens / J3

J EDITOR: JANET VLIEG, 498-5687; jvlieg@thejournal.canwest.com EDMONTON JOURNAL SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2007

NATIONAL POST, CANWEST NEWSSERVICE, FILE

Henry Man

SUPPLIED

Artist’s rendering of The Atelier on Robson in Vancouver

SUPPLIED

The Atelier project is kitty-corner from Library Square,dominated by the Colosseum-style Vancouver

Public Library.

Developer sees his project of a lifetime in The Atelier condo tower

Robson Street prize

EDMONTON JOURNAL J5C O N D O S SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2007

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Residential units — 200 on 26 storeys,all with 8.6-foot ceilings — begin 50 feetabove the street, with somelarge, terrace-style homes.

On subsequent storeys, suites inone-ortwo-bedroom designs, some with a den,range from 530 to 1,200 square feet. Allhave a large balcony.

There are also two levels of penthous-es.

And it’s here, in the suite designs, thatMan has focused his attention.

“Part of the reason I’ve been successfulis that everything I’ve done is my own,”he says,producinganadvertisingflyer offloor plans of another new Vancouverbuilding and explaining how the spacehas been thoughtlessly chopped and ul-timately wasted.

“Weplanour buildings efficiently,max-imizing thepower of the squarefootage,”he continues, comparing the floor plansfor the Atelier.

“Weask, ‘how are you going to use yoursquare footage? Where will the TV go?Where will the couch go?’ We take carewith the layout.”

European-stylekitchens willhavepres-tigious Sub-Zero or Liebherr fridges andAEG gas cooktops, wall ovens and dish-washers.Countertops willbeof stoneandgranite.

Home away from homeThe cost of property on Vancouver’s

downtown peninsula is high.According toMan, theaverageper-foot

price of a new suite is in the low $700range; inner-city waterfront sells some-where between $1,600 and $2,000 asquare foot.

Given that sales of theAtelier,beginningin April, get off to a speedy start, Manhopes to sell the units for between $650and $700 a square foot.

That puts more thanhalf the units at un-der half a million dollars — “a bargain,”he says. “For Albertans, as a home awayfrom home, or as real estate on an inter-nationally branded street, it’s tough tobeat.”

Lily Korstanje, of the Platinum ProjectMarketing Group of MacDonald Realty,says: “If there’s been talk of the Vancou-ver market levelling off, there’s been noburstof thebubble with theAtelier.Whenyou have a compelling location like this,and a reputation like that of Henry, peo-ple are very savvy.”

Completion of the Atelier is scheduledfor fall 2009.

For moreinformationabout theAtelier,or to pre-register, call Platinum at604-228-2020 or visit www.atelieron-robson.com.

Suite designmakes Vancouver

builder unique

The view, atdusk, of

downtownVancouver andthe North Shore

mountainsfrom The

Atelier site onRobson.

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“ If there’s been talk of theVancouver market levellingoff, there’s been no burst ofthe bubble with the Atelier.

When you have a compellinglocation like this, and a

reputation like that of Henry,people are very savvy.”

Lily Korstanje, of the Platinum ProjectMarketing Group