Campus Overview

Main Street is an epicentre of culture, the border between East and West and a focal point for new talent, new industries and new housing mixes. Our project is at its heart. The Main Alley Campus will create a physical foundation on which the creative economy in Mount Pleasant can grow.

  • 500,000 sf of workspace
  • 60,000 sf of industrial / retail
  • Incubator pods
  • Expansive roof terraces
  • Re-imagined alleyways
  • End-of-trip facilities
  • On-site fitness centre
  • District Energy

Location

Main Alley has the magnitude to become a new industry core, within minutes of downtown, and curated by Westbank, a leading city-builder and culture company. At the campus doorstep, Main Street is host to the Eastside Flea, Car Free Day, Vancouver Mural Festival, Vancouver Arts and Leisure and some of the best coffee shops, breweries and local retail in the city.

Transit

The Best Connected Campus in the City

Main Alley is set to become one of the best-connected workspaces in the country. This project’s central location allows for effortless connections across Vancouver and out to Metro Vancouver districts in a multitude of ways.

The Alleyway

The laneways and generous outdoor spaces at Main Alley will be an extension of the available workspace, providing opportunities to collaborate, connect and create.

Main Alley Campus

M4 Workspace

Main Alley Mural

M5 Timber Rental Residential

Sustainable
District Energy

Demonstrating Leadership in Sustainable Development

By centralizing cooling energy system equipment and connecting to the existing district heating system, the development dramatically reduces the need for individual building energy systems and frees up parkade and rooftop space for additional amenities.

  • Cool Plant
  • Cool Tower
  • DCS / DCR
  • Condenser Loop
  • ETS
  • Heat Recovery Plant
  • DHS / DHR
  • SEFC
  • Heat Rejection
District Energy at Main Alley

Creative Energy

Creative Energy is one of Canada’s largest district energy providers. Supplying low-cost community energy with 99.9% reliability to Vancouver’s downtown core – including St. Paul’s Hospital – for over 50 years, Creative Energy’s downtown plant connects to a network of over 14 km of pipes, heating over 45M sf of space. Since 2014, Creative Energy has been expanding its network across Vancouver, Toronto and the US.

Long-term, Creative Energy aims to help Vancouver become a centre of energy innovation, contribute to a flourishing green economy in the city, and help Vancouver reach its goal of becoming the greenest city in the world. Creative Energy’s existing plant at 720 Beatty is currently being upgraded to increase capacity, future-proof infrastructure and add low-carbon technologies that will result in deep GHG reductions.

Heating

The proposed development will connect to the City of Vancouver’s Southeast False Creek (SEFC) Neighbourhood Energy Utility, which will provide low carbon heat for space heating and domestic hot water. The NEU utilizes high system efficiencies and sewage heat recovery to supply approximately 70% of its annual energy demand resulting in an over 50% GHG reduction in heating compared to conventional building systems. The heat energy will be delivered via a network of below-grade hot water distribution pipes to an energy transfer station located in each building at Main Alley.

Cooling

By utilizing an existing, upgraded mechanical energy centre in 111 E 5th Avenue (M3) located in the center of Main Alley, the project will establish a centralized cooling plant system. The system will initially serve Main Alley only but will have the ability to expand into a district energy system. Creative Energy has been engaged to execute this transition from standalone chiller plant to District Energy cooling system. Creative Energy is a local energy utility which owns and operates Vancouver’s largest district energy system supplying steam heat to over 210 building in the Downtown. As a utility, Creative Energy will operate the cooling system in compliance with the BC Utility Commission in terms of rate setting and regulation. Once Creative Energy has optimized the system, the energy centre in M3 will include heat recovery chillers and cooling towers on the roof.