Vancouver heritage building demolished over risk of collapse

Crews in downtown Vancouver are demolishing a more than century-old heritage building that the city's chief building official says is so badly damaged it is at risk of collapse.

The building at 500 Dunsmuir St. was initially a hotel and also served as barracks for merchant mariners, a Salvation Army home for veterans and later social housing, but has been empty since 2013.

Last month the city ordered that the building owned by Holborn Properties come down, declaring it a danger to public safety "due to severe structural deterioration."

Saul Schwebs, Vancouver's chief building official, says the structure is in that condition due to a lack of maintenance and that a roof leak led to severe rot which caused the ground floor on the southeast corner to fall into the basement.

He says if anything more inside the building were to fall it could lead to a "catastrophic cascading collapse without warning."

Holborn Properties says in a statement that a report it commissioned in mid-October 2024 concluded that while the building should not be occupied, it was not a public safety hazard nor had to be demolished right away.

"We understand the city’s building inspector has a contrary opinion on the structural integrity of the building," the statement says.

"From the outset, we have had plans to redevelop this location, incorporating 500 Dunsmuir Street into a broader vision for revitalization that would benefit the community and we remain committed to this process."

The building, which is on the city's heritage registry, is expected to be completely demolished by late Sunday or early Monday morning though Schwebs says it will take months for the pile of rubble to be removed.