Downtown Vancouver skyline from East Hastings

A Downtown Eastside streetscape looking toward downtown Vancouver, with the Balmoral Hotel block in frame before demolition.

This photograph looks west from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside toward the downtown skyline, layering older low-rise blocks in the foreground with modern residential towers in the distance. The right side is dominated by a weathered painted “HOTEL” sign on a brick wall belonging to Balmoral Hotel, a visual marker of the area’s historic hotel and rooming-house fabric. In the mid-ground, recent mid-rise housing and mixed-use buildings step toward the downtown core, while BC Place’s distinctive roof structure appears among the highrises in the background.

The Balmoral Hotel property, located at 159 East Hastings Street, is a 1911-era building that was shut down by the City of Vancouver in 2017 after years of enforcement and legal action. The City later proceeded with the demolition, which was completed in 2024.