麻豆传媒映画

Property: L鈥橝telier building at 2556 East Hastings Street. The building looks unimpressive with its collection of shops with lit signs at ground level. But the interior of the 1940s building that was transformed into live/work lofts in 1995 by Merrick Architecture is a revelation. Diane King bought a second-floor loft in the building as an investment property in 2006.

鈥淚'd heard about this building on East Hastings and like most Vancouverites 鈥� I was born and raised in 麻豆传媒映画鈥� it was like East Hastings, oh my gosh,鈥� said the opera singer and head of the voice department at the 麻豆传媒映画Symphony Orchestra School of Music. 鈥淏ut when I actually saw the building, it was just so amazing,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he hallways are really, really wide and they have glass block floors and ceilings and so it鈥檚 like a solarium outside my door. I have hibiscus and bougainvillea and cacti and succulents. People are growing tomatoes and things in their hallways... plus there's a big rooftop deck.鈥�

King has become a booster for the area with its Italian delis, an array of restaurants and Donald鈥檚 Market just steps from her door.

鈥淚t's really a spillover now from Commercial Drive in terms of attracting your hipster population and then lots of young families with kids,鈥� King said. 鈥淚t's just a really, really vibrant, wonderful neighbourhood, much more interesting than Kits, which is a terrible thing to say.鈥�

She bought a third-floor loft in 2008 from a painter and a potter, and now she and her husband are selling it to buy a house. 鈥淭he day of the hippie-artist-painter-potter is dying, unfortunately or fortunately,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat's life in Vancouver, isn鈥檛 it.鈥澛�