Don Forsgren, president and CEO of Intracorp, a real estate development company with offices in Vancouver and Toronto, is a very thoughtful person. When the City of Vancouver finally began, after decades of non-movement, to re-zone parts of the city’s West End, enabling some new developments and changing the architectural landscape of the area, Forsgren was all over it, but not to simply build another residential tower. “We were able to purchase four single, adjacent lots, at Jervis and Davie,” he says. “They were re-zoned, and we knew something special could be done there.” That something special is The Jervis.
The building will be 19 storeys, almost entirely two-bedroom, two-bath units. But Forsgren’s idea was to ask two professional acquaintances, and friends, of his, to do something unique with Intracorp. Those friends are Niels and Nancy Bendtsen, owners of Inform Interiors, and after lengthy discussions, they agreed to design the building, right down to details, creating living spaces dubbed “built by design, made for living”. With nine-foot ceilings, elegant, open spaces, liveable, usable balconies, and all the design prowess that Inform brings to the equation (including a kitchen inspired by the Bendtsen’s own apartment in Paris), these are highly appealing homes, and likely a sign of things to come.
“The first few meetings with our team and Niels and Nancy were honestly fascinating,” Forsgren remarks. “We were all forced to see issues through new lenses, looking at ways in which we could realistically build something according to the aesthetics presented. We got there, and it was a great process.” Nancy agrees, saying simply, “This was a wonderful challenge. We hope people like it.”
The original properties were all four owned by the same family, and various family members were living in the houses. They have vacated, re-located. But at some point, the matriarch of the family sat down with Forsgren and asked, “Do you think I might buy one of the homes in this building? It would be nice to live right on the same spot my family owned for all that time.” Forsgren readily answered, “Of course!”
