A blog written for the tenants of 225 West Eighth Avenue (all of you who work at 225), a creative group community.

Introduction

Hi there. This is the Summer Blog, the second blog of the year (the previous one being the Spring Blog).

Welcome!

As landlords, we have started three new initiatives: this blog (quarterly); an annual summer party on the 4th floor deck; and distribution of “home grown” vegetables from our Vegetable Garden. This is because we want everyone who works at 225 to feel part of a community. Covid has had a profound impact on our lives and many of you now work at home some of the time. When you come into the office, we want you to feel that it is a friendly, welcoming space.

I hope this blog gives you some useful information (about the neighbourhood in particular) and helps you get to know others who work in the building.

Let me know if you like the content. All feedback welcomed.

Summer is nearly over, but not quite! We still have a couple of weeks to enjoy Vancouver at the end of summer.

Lesley

(and landlord group Ken, David, Lauren)

management@west8th.ca

**Mount Pleasant named the 40th coolest neighbourhood in the world by** **Time Out, 2021**

The Building and the Environment:

We are committed to fostering a sense of community within the building, to be good neighbours, and to be mindful about the environment.

We are happy that each floor has two decks to enjoy for clean air, working (weather permitting), and socializing. For those who bike to work, we have secure bike storage and two floors have showers. Our Vegetable Garden on the 4th floor south deck has delivered a lot of produce this year, but it has also attracted bees and butterflies. We are in the process of providing enhanced air filtering for our HVAC systems - we are changing with the times and thinking about what we can do to provide a healthy working environment.

🎉📸🍹

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Deck party photos

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🎉📸🍹 〰️ Deck party photos 〰️

Deck Party

We hosted our first annual summer party on the 4th deck on the 18th July. Thanks to everyone who attended and I hope more of you will come next year. We ate, drank, listened to music, played games and generally had a really fun time. It was hot! Many thanks to Josh, The District, for allowing us to use his space. Without his generosity, it wouldn’t have happened.

🔗 Click here for the rest of the digital photos. 📸

🔗 Click here for the rest of the film photos. 🎞️

A Creative Group Community: our vegetable garden

We planted a vegetable garden in May of this year. We are growing tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant, herbs, and carrots. We also have two apple trees. Each week during the summer I distribute our harvest from that week. Not only am I enjoying the feeling of growing food for you all (along with brilliant Master Gardener, Irfan Ahsan) I am loving the butterflies and bees that now visit the garden. It has turned into a special ecological delight. Many thanks AGAIN to Josh, The District, for allowing us to use this space (4th floor south deck).

If any of you are tempted to try this at home, here are a couple of tips:

Use Miracle Grow all purpose fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks.
Don’t let the plants dry out, especially tomatoes (in the summer that means watering every day).
Only use a very sunny space.
Our wooden planters are chemical free.

Our main harvest is tomatoes: take them home and make salsa, ketchup, virgin caesars, bruschetta ……

Or make a very simple delicious summer pasta (Spaghettini with cherry tomatoes, chilli and basil from Feenie’s cookbook by Rob Feenie). Rob Feenie had two restaurants in Vancouver, opening in 1995. They were very successful and won many awards. After a business fallout with his partner, Rob Feenie moved to other restaurants and is now chef at Le Crocodile.

3 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered (best in the summer when cherry tomatoes are in season)
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 Thai chili, deseeded and finely chopped
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb dried spaghettini
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Gently toss together cherry tomatoes, garlic, chilli and oil in a large bowl. Bring a stockpot of salted water to a boil. Add spaghettini and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, or until al dente. Drain in a colander, then add to the cherry tomato mixture.

To Serve: Add basil and Parmesan to past and toss gently but well. Divide among four warmed plates.

Neighbourhood Corner

Mount Pleasant is changing fast.It has always been a unique mix of industrial, commercial and residential buildings with its own eclectic flavour. But in recent years, it has also turned into a cool hip place, home to many craft beer breweries (33 Acres is along the road from us at 15 W 8th) with boutiques, restaurants, cafes and small shops. Here are two new places we like:

**Community Clay**

Speaking of downtime (see above), I imagine that moulding clay on a wheel to create a special piece in a studio must be relaxing and creative. *Community* *Clay* on West 6th offers pottery classes (even Date Night classes), teachers and equipment. Also has a shop.
Visit their website
Google Maps link

Art Corner: Mt. Pleasant Street Art and Mural Tour

Mount Pleasant has become known for its mural-covered buildings (over a hundred of them).

The Vancouver Mural Festival celebrates the neighbourhood in August every year with performances, tours and music. You can still take a Mural Tour in September; or get a mural map, grab some friends and walk around the area yourself. Don’t forget to stop at some of the breweries on the way.

There is also an Industrial Lands Walking Tour on Saturday September 28 at 10:30 am.

Click here for event details

Landlord Corner

Where we give you a tip from our lives: (Three families have owned 225 West 8th Avenue for over 30 years: The Altmans, the Koos and the Donaldsons).

As a group we have all been in various businesses and we all have grandchildren. Our interests as a group include travel, photography, food, sports, design, quilting, reading. These tips are designed for Vancouverites as well as any of you who are working remotely around the world; or for those who work at 225 but are new to Vancouver.

KOO: Kenny owns Identica, a branding strategy and design firm. He has offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong and from time to time works out of Suite Genius, 3rd floor.

Tip: “on the subject of Chinese cuisine, there are a lot of choices in Vancouver! There are two fantastic restaurants in our neighbourhood: Dynasty Seafood Restaurant at 777 West Broadway (their Dim Sum is to die for) and Chef’s Choice at 955 West Broadway (serving Dim Sum lunch as well as dinner). Be sure to make a reservation for both.”

DONALDSON: Lesley has managed the building for - well, a very long time! It has become like a second home to her and she hopes you notice the special touches.

Tip: “ Kitsilano Pool is a heated outdoor saltwater swimming pool. It is the largest outdoor swimming pool in North America and is in a stunning setting at Kitsilano Beach. Unfortunately it needs major repairs (having opened in 1939) - it is open until September 9 this year, may possibly stay open for 2025 and then will close for major repairs. Go while you still have time!”

TENANT CORNER

Tenants:

The District (Josh, Founder)

Suite Genius (Mitchell, Founder)

Red Hook (Chris, Co-founder)

Picture Shop (James, CEO)

FEATURED TENANT: RED HOOK

Founded by industry veterans Chris Bourassa and Tyler Sigman, Red Hook Studios is an independent video game developer based in Vancouver, BC. Over the past 11 years, the company has established itself as a preeminent boutique shop, releasing the critically acclaimed Darkest Dungeon & Darkest Dungeon II.

The Darkest Dungeon community is home to a diverse and dedicated group of gamers. We have an active Discord server that is home to 40,584 members, as well as a popular subreddit with 224K members. The Darkest Dungeon series also has a very active modding community, with over 3000 mods created for the first game alone. We are constantly impressed by the creativity and passion our fans demonstrate in the mods they create, as well as the fan art, fan fiction and other Darkest Dungeon themed creations they share with us.

Red Hook employs a diverse group of talented people who work hard every day to create exceptional gaming experiences.

We love visiting the wide array of coffee shops and lunch haunts in the area, stretching our legs with laps around Jonathan Rogers Park, or popping down to Olympic Village for a bite.

Interested in knowing more about Red Hook Studios & Darkest Dungeon II?

Check out our linktree!

https://linktr.ee/redhookstudios

Previously (Spring Blog):

Playlist from Josh, The District https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/7F9Ez0vl4KDSuNlTw036aO
If you are into house music, I wanted to pair the list with one of our long standing brands the team on the 4th floor works on - Selected - check out the channel here:
https://youtube.com/@SelectedBase
Happy Listening!
Cheers,
J.

New to or visiting Vancouver?

We know that some of our tenants have employees all over the world who visit Vancouver from time to time. We have also met some of you who are new to Vancouver. If you are one of those people, or if you live in Vancouver, but need reminding of some of its wonderful places, here is a reminder:

Vancouver in the summer is awesome. Check out Jericho Beach. The east side caters to swimmers, the west side to sailboats and windsurfers. It has a concession stand and is one of the beaches where you are permitted to drink alcohol during the summer (until September 30).

Jonathan Rogers Park

We have a cool park NEXT DOOR. It has spectacular city views, playing fields, a children’s playground, and dogs are allowed. It is a great place for lunch or a run or a visit to the Community Garden. Don’t forget that when you need a break, you can walk out the main door and it is right there! Here are some photos of the garden.

https://www.lookingatthegardenfence.com/deryaakay.html