Westbank is planning to rezone the Central Steam site at the Southeast corner of West Georgia and Beatty Street that Ian Gillespie acquired in 2013.The site is 73,958 SF in size and zoned DD and BCPED, neither of which allow residential, but the proposed rezoning is seeking residential in exchange for public benefit, at the discretion of the Director of Planning. In this case, the public benefit is proposed to be a reduction in the City’s GHG emissions.

Details of the proposed rezoning include:

• a 300,000-350,000 SF office building on Beatty
• a 300,000-400,000 SF rental apartment building
• 25,000 SF of retail on the lower side plaza next to Expo Blvd.
• Overall non-residential density is proposed to exceed the 7.0 FSR minimum
  commercial requirement.
• The existing Steam Plant (70,000 SF) will either be re-engineered and integrated
  into the development as a back-up function, or relocated off-site.
• In addition, a new low carbon heating plant will be built off-site in the False Creek Flats that will be linked to the distribution network and this will be a public benefit

An application for a unique 3-storey courtyard townhouse project has been made for a site at West 64th Avenue near Columbia Street in Marpole. The site is an assembly of two large and deep single family lots that were assembled in 2014. Recently rezoned to RM-9 under the Marpole Community Plan, the site is allowed to go to 4-storeys, though the applicant is proposing 24 3-storey townhouses with a courtyard and common underground parking.

The architect, Bryce Rositch of Rositch Hemphill Architects summarizes the application by saying: “We believe that this development, its smaller scale of buildings, ground orientation, predominant three storey height, the use of good materials including generous amounts of brick, outdoor patios on both sides of each townhouse plus additional balcony spaces at upper levels will be a model for future development in this area.”

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.