Bonnis Properties has submitted a revised development application for a redevelopment project surrounding the historic Commodore Ballroom in downtown Vancouver.

The redevelopment site is located in the 800 block of Granville Street. Company Principal Kerry Bonnis told Business in Vancouver (BIV) that swift approval from city staff is crucial to move the project forward.

“What is important from our view is that things get approved and announced so that the public at large can know that things are improving,” he told BIV. “With new, bigger projects, there will be greater density that further will drive positive activity.”

Bonnis scrapped a previous plan for the site in 2024 after it spent several years in the approval process. That proposal included a 17-storey office tower and featured a 14,700-square-foot, three-storey performance venue valued at $45 million, which Bonnis had planned to donate to the city.

The new concept calls for a 43-storey tower north of the Commodore and a 39-storey tower to the south. If all goes according to plan, the towers will include 500 rental homes, 100 hotel rooms, and five levels of retail, restaurants, and entertainment space. Connecting floors would be built above the Commodore. Residential units would occupy the top two-thirds of the development.

In addition, 15,000 square feet of social housing would replace 73 vacant rooms at the State Hotel.

Bonnis criticized delays in city approvals, saying they have hampered long-sought revitalization efforts on Granville Street.

“What has been problematic with Granville Street is city staff’s delay with all things Granville,” Bonnis told BIV.

Plans call for the highly popular underground bowling alley underneath the Commodore to be preserved.

Pictured: Proposed redevelopment surrounding the Commodore Ballroom in downtown Vancouver.

Rendering: City of Vancouver/Bonnis Properties