The Empire Landmark Hotel, often referred to by its original name, the Sheraton Landmark, was the tallest hotel in Vancouver, British Columbia. The building was revolutionary at the time as it had a revolving restaurant on its top floor, Cloud 9, which was one of only two revolving restaurants in Vancouver, the other being the Harbour Centre. Between its completion in 1973 and the completion of nearby Bentall Centre in 1974, the Empire Landmark Hotel was the third tallest building in Vancouver. The skyscraper is the tallest voluntarily demolished building in Canada, overtaking the tall Old Toronto Star Building that was demolished in 1972.
Background Information
The hotel was built by the oldest construction company on the West Coast, SBW, otherwise known as Smith Brothers and Wilson. Upon completion in 1973, the Sheraton-Landmark Hotel was the third tallest building in Vancouver at 120.1 m and 42 storeys tall. It was also the tallest building in Vancouver completely devoted to use as a hotel. The Empire Landmark was located on one of Vancouver's busiest thoroughfares at 1400 Robson Street, in the West End of Downtown Vancouver. The site of the former hotel is owned by Hong Kong based Asia Standard International Group.
Demolition
Economic pressures due to rising property values within downtown Vancouver, combined with the building's historically unpopular brutalist architecture and relatively small floor space being prohibitive to redevelopment of the original tower into anything but another hotel, the Empire Landmark Hotel chosen to be demolished and the site opened up for new development. The hotel and its restaurant closed on 30 September 2017 and the building was demolished, floor by floor, over a period of over a year, beginning in March 2018 and ending in May 2019. The building will be replaced by two shorter condominium towers, at 31 and 32 storeys, with 237 market condos, 63 social housing units, and retail and office space on the bottom three floors. The development is called Landmark On Robson and is said to help "breathe new life into the neighbourhood".
