Vancouver’s historic Sun Tower office building sold
Vancouver’s historic Sun Tower office building has been sold to new owners with plans to restore the iconic structure as “one of the most beautiful architectural jewels in the city.”
Philip Kim, owner of the Sun Capital Corp. and new co-owner of the Sun Tower offered that glowing assessment of its aesthetic attributes.
Sun Capital and Argo Ventures Inc. have purchased the building, according to a press release from the selling agent, Cushman & Wakefield LePage.
The price of the transaction was not disclosed.
Argo Ventures owner Jason Hong said that with downtown office vacancies at historic lows, “it is a great time to own office buildings in Vancouver, especially ones as unique as the Sun Tower.”
Calling the Sun Tower a “provocative landmark,” that looks as if inspired by Michaelangelo, Kim said the new owners will spruce up the building’s interior and exterior to “provide funky loft office space and upscale commercial space similar to office buildings in the SoHo district of New York.
The Sun Tower, located at 100 West Pender Street, sits in the middle of what is now referred to as Cross-town, the neighbourhood between Gastown and Yaletown, which “is going through extensive renovation and repositioning,” according to Jeff Rank, Cushman & Wakefield’s managing director in Vancouver.
The 17-storey Sun Tower was Vancouver’s tallest building, and tallest in the British Empire, when it was completed in 1912.
It has gone through several identities. It opened as the World Building, became the Sun Tower in 1924 as home to The Vancouver Sun, which remained there until 1964.
