Plans call for a heritage office building in Vancouver’s Gastown area to undergo a partial conversion to a boutique hotel.

The three-storey building is located at 211 Columbia Street. Gastown is Vancouver’s oldest district, dating back to the 1800s.

RH Architects, which is headquartered in Gastown, has submitted a development application to the city on behalf of Columbia and Powell Joint Venture. The JV’s name refers to the building’s location on the corner of Columbia and Powell streets.

The JV is seeking to retain the original use on the first floor and redevelop the second and third floors as hotel rooms, the development application states.

The building was originally constructed in 1893 and received an addition in the early 1900s, according to the Canadian Register, a federal-provincial group that seeks to conserve historic places. The addition’s exact completion date is unknown.

According to brokerage firm Corbel’s website, the building garnered the Heritage Award of Honour in 2003 and “boasts a beautifully restored brick and stone façade, a charming lobby, great ceiling heights, large operable character-style windows, a passenger elevator, and timeless design accents throughout.”

The city is accepting public comments on the development application until September 13. Under Gastown’s zoning bylaw, the conversion project is “conditional” and may be permitted.

But the application requires approval from the city’s director of planning.

Photo: Corbel