Home of the trendy and well heeled!
Yaletown Heritage District is a tiny six-block section of the Downtown core, which until the late 1980’s was home to deserted warehouses and storage facilities for the fashion industry. In the decade that followed it was transformed into “”the place to be and be seen”” in Vancouver. Top restaurants, thriving nightlife, lofty architecture and its proximity to BC Place, Gm Place, and the Granville strip propelled this lowly corner to stardom. In recent years, many of Vancouver’s most prominent sports and entertainment figures have chosen Yaletown as their home. Mainland and Hamilton are the streets to walk to soak up the flavours of Yaletown. Both by day and night there is a flavour here which sets it apart from its neighbours and is reminiscent of Seattle or even New York.
Beyond the Heritage District itself, many of the residents in the surrounding blocks also consider themselves a part of Yaletown. And when you search on MLS under Yaletown the results will also include the area covered on this site as False Creek North. We have chosen to separate the two here as they have such different things to offer, especially as a potential real estate buyer/investor.
THE MARKET
The Yaletown Heritage District (Drake to Nelson / Home to Mainland) is closely protected by the city. There are no buildings higher than seven stories and any new development has had to follow very specific criteria in order to blend in with the existing heritage buildings. There are just a handful of residential addresses to choose from. All have strata title. Half are original warehouses converted to residential since the 1990’s. The others are new buildings made to look (with varying degrees of success) like their heritage neighbours. In all, the common themes are exposed brick, open plan living and hardwood floors combined with high-end finishing, such as stainless steel appliances, gas cooking, stone fireplaces and brushed steel doors. If price is prohibitive in the heritage district itself, there are many more affordable high-rise options within just two or three blocks (see Downtown South and False Creek North). However with the unique style and limited supply of the heritage buildings in Yaletown, there can be little doubt that their long term values is as secure as anything Vancouver has to offer.
