Old Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver tower slated to be demolished

The downtown Vancouver tower that was a Four Seasons hotel for more than 40 years is now slated to be demolished rather than rebranded.

Property owner Cadillac Fairview told the Daily Hive late Thursday the tower on Howe Street above CF Pacific Centre, which had been a Four Seasons hotel until 2020, will no longer be renovated for a new hotel operator to come in and occupy the space.

Cadillac Fairview declined an interview request from BIV. In a prepared statement, the company said on Friday that the next phase in CF Pacific Centre’s “evolution” will be focused on the redevelopment of the former Nordstrom store and the replacement of the hotel with a “new modern and efficient tower.”

“Cadillac Fairview’s plans for the new tower are aimed at bringing exciting uses to the centre, which would continue to include a hospitality offering,” the statement said.

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan-owned Cadillac Fairview, which bills itself as having more than $30 billion in assets under management, had been priming the site for a new hotel, after friction between Cadillac Fairview and the Four Seasons prompted lawsuits and the hotel chain’s 2020 departure from the tower.

Inside reconstruction took place during the pandemic and was ongoing as recently as June 2024, but no new hotel brand was announced.

In December 2023, Cadillac Fairview’s now-retired senior vice-president of retail, Tom Knoepfel, told BIV no plans had been finalized for the building.

“There may be a residential component to it. I don’t know. We haven’t determined the final use for the building. I would expect that, ultimately, at least a portion of the building will be a hotel.”

That was after a January 2022 development permit application was submitted to the City of Vancouver, which revealed how the site would be retained and transformed into a new hospitality destination with restaurant, bar and rooftop lounge features.

Now, those concepts are being cancelled, and the tower is set to be demolished for new-build redevelopment.