The search continues for neighbourhood of the year in our very own Curbed Cup. Today we've got South Granville and Mount Pleasant going head to head to determine which neighbourhood had the better year. Voting ends exactly 24 hours after it begins. Let the eliminations commence.
We start our battle of the neighbourhoods with South Granville, a neighbourhood that seems to be growing in popularity these days, especially with all the fantastic retail that lines Granville Street. Often known as "Gallery Row", South Granville has become a hub for the art scene and high end furnishing shops. As well, a whole host of US retailers skip the downtown scene and set up shop south of the bridge, like Anthropologie, Williams Sonoma, Meinhardt, Pottery Barn, and more. For the retail goodness alone, South Granville deserves a nomination as neighbourhood of the year.
It wasn't a huge year development wise for South Granville, though Bentall Kennedy does have their eyes on a 14-storey rental housing development located along West 14th Avenue. With mostly older residential buildings in the area, South Granville real estate is much like that of the West End or Kitsilano. It is speckled with some unique heritage buildings that offer a little more flavor than the average apartment rental.
Up next, Mount Pleasant, a very popular residential neighbourhood that has definitely made its way into the news headlines this year. Most notably because a "vertical forest building" was recently approved and despite the ridiculous descriptor, it actually looks pretty cool. Chip Wilson, former Lululemon CEO, purchased the Wenonah Building located at 2703 Main Street for $6.5M and plans to restore it to its original glory, which goes to show that not every building owner is out to transform the neighbourhood into a cluster of boring glass residential buildings. That being said, developers are eyeing Mount Pleasant like crazy right now and we're curious to see if the neighbourhood vibe of the area will soon be lost in a sea of cookie cutter developments.
We found some noteworthy real estate listings in Mount Pleasant this year, including a loft that is located in a former candy factory, a custom live/work loft that defines the whole concept of industrial living, and a Mount Pleasant rental above a heritage church that actually doesn't suck.