Photo courtesy 604City on Flickr.

Reliance Properties has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop the Northeast corner of Bidwell and Davie with a 22-storey secured market rental building with commercial retail units at grade. The site is 12,970 SF and is zoned C5-A, therefore it does not require rezoning but is a conditional approval that requires the decision of the Development Permit Board. The West End Community Plan includes design guidelines that facilitated this proposal, which includes:

• 108 residential units (all secured market rental);
• total gross floor area of 102,927 SF, including 5,000 SF of commercial retail;
• Total density of 7.4 FSR
• 77 underground parking spaces on 4 levels
• Replacement of 12 existing rental units and older commercial space

More information on the development application can be found here.

A Kerrisdale retail building that was previously on the market for $4,980,000 has sold for $5,090,000. More commonly known to locals as the old Finn’s of Kerrisdale, the 5,081 SF building at 2159 West 41st Avenue sold for over $1,000 per SF to Yuan Fan International Group Inc. The property is zoned C-2 and is located in the heart of Kerrisdale’s 41st Ave retail stretch. This is not a record value for a Kerrisdale investment property; several buildings have traded for well over $1,000 per SF in the past few years.

A leasing brochure indicates that the new owner plans to renovate the building. Half of the retail has already been leased and the other unit is available for lease for $50.00 per SF.

A development application has been submitted for a land assembly in Mount Pleasant. The plan is for a new 3-storey condo building while preserving and restoring the existing 4-unit building at 547 East 16th Avenue that was built in 1912. The site is 15,117 SF, and is zoned RM-4. Details include:

• Density of 1.45 FSR
• Total of 21 units (17 new units and 4 in existing building)
• 21 underground parking spaces
• Total building height of 35.1 ft

A rare 50′ x 125′ RM-4 zoned single family lot in the South Granville area is being planned for a 4-storey, 5-unit condo building utilizing a courtyard rowhouse scheme. The owners (a numbered company) of the lot at 815 West 15th Avenue (near Willow Street) are seeking development permit approval for:

• Two buildings containing a total of 5 units
• a building height of 35.1 ft
• a density of 1.45 FSR (max under RM-4)
• 5 underground parking spaces

A description in the application: “The intent is to provide for ground-oriented housing with greater access to light and air, per dwelling unit, than would otherwise be provided for in a four-storey multi-family building. The inner courtyard offers additional privacy with the majority of windows oriented toward the inner 20′ wide courtyard. Many windows also face the street/lane. This massing and siting approach inherently requires a relaxation of setback requirements, which are intended to produce a “lozenge-shaped” apartment building.”

The lot was purchased in July 2014 for $2,480,000, or $273 per buildable SF.