Market Spotlight: Oakridge Transit Centre
The long anticipated rezoning of the 14-acre Oakridge Transit Centre site at 949 West 41st Avenue and 5469-5507 Willow Street is nearing the final stages, with a referral to public hearing next week. The master planned project has required a number of minor revisions along the way.
The rezoning application for the site represents the culmination of a 6-year planning and sale process which included:
- Oakridge Transit Centre and Adjacent Sites Policy Statement (2014-2015)
- Sale of site by Translink to Modern Green Development for $440 Million (paid between 2017-2022) (2016)
- Formal rezoning application (July 2019)
- Revised (current) rezoning application (May 2020)
The finalized details of the overall development plan include the following:
- 17 buildings up to 26 storeys in height;
- 1,630 total residential units, including:
- 1,120 condos;
- 330 social housing units;
- 180 market and below market rental units;
- 24,000 SF of retail space;
- 2.36 FSR gross density;
- a 69-space childcare;
- a 2-acre public park;
- new dedicated streets & lanes linking with existing road network;
- total DCLs of $31,246,346 (social housing units exempted)
- public art budget of $2,357,465 ($1.98 /sq ft)
- a total CAC of $80,711,050 – cash & in-kind including:
- turn-delivery of social housing component ($65,911,050)
- childcare facility ($8,000,000)
- public park ($5,000,000)
- $1,800,000 cash allocated to transportation improvements.
Overall site plan:
The OTC is anticipated to be developed in four phases over a timeline of 10-12 years. The phasing will begin in the southwest corner of the site with the secured rental housing and then move east and northward towards 38th Avenue as shown below:
The total CAC amount of $80 Million is equivalent to $77 per sq ft. of market residential and commercial space (excluding the social and rental housing components).
The total purchase price of $440 Million equates to:
- $300 per buildable SF on the gross overall density
- $372 per buildable SF on the condo/rental/retail density (excluding social housing & childcare space)
The architect for the project is James KM Cheng.