Opening sooner than expected, the 'corpse flower' also know as Uncle Fester has bloomed!

Last Friday Bloedel Conservatory posted to Facebook that 'a hole' has formed in the spathe (modified leaf) that afternoon and it was expected that it was getting ready to unfurl very soon.

The hype to take a whiff of the horrid stench produced by the Titan arum - the world's largest flower - began on Tuesday. The bloom will be its most fragrant  today and will last up to 48 hours.

Why is everyone so excited! Well, it's not your average flower. It rarely ever blooms, but when it does it lets off a strench described as smelling like discarded diapers, hot garbage or even rotting fish.

It emits that smell to attract other members of natures mistfit crew such as carrion beetles and insects that feed on rotting flesh.

Bruce McDonald, the Superintendent for Bloedel Conservatory and Sunset Nursery said the response has been great and they are excited at being the first to this plant bloom in B.C. People are amazed at its size and unusual beauty.

Move over Manhattan, Vancouver's downtown office occupancy costs are rising faster than those in New York City's financial district and everywhere else in North America.

Downtown Vancouver's prime office occupancy costs increased by 16.0% this year, representing the largest price increase in North America, followed by Manhattan and downtown Toronto.

Depite the increase, Vancouver's prime office space remains much less costly than in Midtown Manhattan, where the top office spaces lease for US $183 per square foot, compared with US $47.95 per square foot (C$63) in Class A downtown Vancouver towers. In downtown Toronto, such top office space leases for US $56.27 (C$74) per square foot.

Although prices have escalated, downtown Vancouver is still not in the top most expensive cities globally and trails downtown Toronto.

Vancouver's rental rates are expected to continue to increase as demand shows little sign of retreat as there is no new supply expected until 2021.

Central Hong Kong remained the most expensive office market in the world, with overall prime occupancy cost of US $307 per square foot, follow by London's West End at US $235, Beijings Finance Street at US $201, Hong Kong Kowloon at US $190 and Beijing's Central Business District at US $189.

If you are looking for an unusual home that has a different kind of energy then this converted B.C. Electric substation could be for you.

For $3.75 million, the uniquie property is on a 2.35 acre lot in Abbotsford, sitting on a 30 acre greenbelt forest with a river flowing beside the house.

Although its price might seem high for the area, the 12,993 square foot interior living space, which is only $289 per square foot - may be a bargain for this kind of history.

Known as the 'Sumas Substation' or colloquially 'The Power House', the historic building at 39623 Old Yale Road was builit in 1906 by the B.C. Electric Corporation. The Power House, made of concrete, steel and brick, housed all the equipment for powering the Fraser Valley Line of Vancouver's vast interurban longer-haul commuter and cargo streetcar system, connecting Vancouver with Chilliwack and communities in between.

The substation was abandoned for many years, but was purchased several times in the past few decades and has been converted into a huge home. In recent years, it was extensively renovated in a high-end, industrial chic style, with exposed brick walls and steel beams, sliding metal barn doors, floor to ceiling loft style windows and acid stained concrete floors.

The home now has 8 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, 2 large lofts, 5 kitchens, expansive living and dining areas, a theatre, an elevator, a 1,000 bottle wine cellar and  4 large balconies.

And if making your mortgage payments might be challenging, think again. There are 2 separate rental apartments as well as a third legal rental suite with 2 bedrooms in the main home.

Any takers?

With less than a 1% vacancy rate and as Richmond continues to fine tune its housing policies, the city is considering a market rental policy, which is expected to be approved this week.

This new policy would ensure that not just low income or social housing units need to be protected but that the supply of rental units needs to increase. So while the city's previously approved affordable housing strategy responded to below market rental housing, this new policy would address housing that is rented out at market rates.

Approximately 82% of renter households (about 15,500 households) find accommodation in the secondary rental market, which includes condominiums, single family homes, secondary suites, coach houses and subsidized rental housing.

The new policy will include encouraging building owners to keep units in good repair and creating incentives for market rental housing developments such as density bonuses, decreased parking requirements and fast tracking permits.

Another key point was to ensure that there would be more family sized units created - units with 2 or more bedrooms, particularly because 40% of Richmond's renters are families with children.

The policy will also encourage housing units that rent at market rates for tenants, with no restrictions on income levels. and also seek to encourage developers and investors to build new market rental units.

Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws for all its locations within 2 years. The company has become the largest food and beverage company to do so as calls to cut waste globally grow louder. 

By 2020 Starbucks will be using straws made from biodegradable materials like paper and specially designed lids.

The strawless lids will begin to appear in Vancouver this fall, with rollouts with the rest of Canada to follow next year and a global rollout soon after.

In Canada, Mcdonald's say they plan to monitor the market tests to understand the impact the changes may have before making a decision, while A&W says it will eliminate all plastic straws from its restaurants by the end of this year.

While plastic straws have become one of the more high profile issues enivornmentally, they make up only about 4% of the plastic trash by number of pieces, and far less by weight. Straws add up to about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9 million tons of plastic waste that ends up in the water each year.