The City of North Vancouver council will be considering a policy report outlining a formalized density bonus and community benefits policy that was expected after the adoption of the new Official Community Plan back in April.

If endorsed by Council, the new policy will apply to all rezoning applications that seek an increase in bonusable density within the OCP guidelines. The bonus system breaks down into two categories:

1. Category ‘A’ Bonus. An increase in density up to the OCP Schedule ‘A’ density, or effectively the baseline density for rezoning or sites that are already pre-zoned. The amenity contribution is $20.00 per SF of increased gross floor area above existing zoning.
2. Category ‘B’ Bonus. An increase in density that exceeds the OCP Schedule ‘A’ density, up to a maximum bonus amount set out in the OCP. This type of bonus would only be for rezoning of higher density. Within the Category ‘B’, there are four paths to providing the requisite benefits, as follows:
   1. Amenity Contributions (CACs) – $140 per SF of increased density in the Lonsdale area; $110 per SF outside this area. City reserves right to negotiate a different rate in unique circumstances.
   2. Secured Rental Housing – Bonuses will be permitted for properties where the new project is secured as 100% market rental; however, mixed rental and condo development will now not be permitted on existing rental apartment sites.
   3. Employment Generating Use – Bonuses for commercial uses above 1.0 FSR will not be charged a contribution.
   4. Heritage Conservation – Bonuses may be offered outside of this policy in unique circumstances.

For those not familiar, here is a depiction of the above Bonus categories:

As reported on this site, a prime piece of real estate was sold in Metrotown a couple of weeks ago, and now a proposal for the site by Belford Properties is seeking City of Burnaby Council approval to move to public hearing. The site is currently zoned RM-3 and improved with two walk-up apartment buildings. The proposal is to rezone the site for high-density development utilizing the RM-5s designation. Details include:

• Two highrise towers (41-storeys on Beresford and 26-storeys to the South)
• Low-rise townhouse, retail, childcare and strata office components
• 479 residential units
• Total density of 6.36 FAR (5.0 FAR residential, 1.36 FAR commercial/institutional)
• 731 parking stalls

The City of Vancouver will present their third annual Housing and Homelessness Strategy Report Card to council next week. The purpose of the annual report is to track progress of the City’s various initiatives under the Housing and Homelessness Strategy 2012-2021.

The report is an excellent source of some key housing indicators compiled from CMHC and REBGV, of which several are summarized here:

• the City of Vancouver had 4,648 dwellings commence construction in 2014 (approximately 25% single family and 75% multi-family units). This rate is close to the 5-year annual average of 4,824.
• Vacancy rates continued to decrease between 2013 and 2014, both in the city of
  Vancouver (from 1.0% to 0.5%) and regionally (from 1.7% to 1.0%) reflecting
  ongoing population growth and demand for housing
• Between March 2014 and March 2015, the benchmark  price for a single family

  house increased by 14% on the eastside and 12% on the westside, while the

  benchmark price for condos fell by 1% on the eastside and increased by 5% on

  the westside.
• 409 units of interim supportive housing were created in 2014 (395 Kingsway, 3475 E. Hastings, 1335 Howe and 1060 Howe)
• 439 units of permanent supportive housing were created (1134 Burrard, 111 Princess, 2465 Fraser and 951 Boundary)
• 3,783 secured market rental units have been approved during 2012-2014 (only 407 were actually completed in 2014)

An older 2-storey downtown building has sold in a $9,880,000 deal to Reliance Properties. Beatty Place, located at 837 Beatty Street between Robson and Smithe Streets, is a somewhat non-descript 15,000 SF building that most locals would know from the ticket broker on the bottom floor, or more recently the Bar Method, which is located on the second floor. The building is located on a 6,990 SF site. The building was sold by TPMG Capital.

There is no word yet on any renovation or redevelopment plans for the building. The zoning for the property is DD-C3, which permits a density of 5.0 FSR. Non-residential uses must not be less than 2.0 FSR.

The acquisition is just three blocks South of Reliance’s award-winning redevelopment of 564 Beatty Street, which saw redevelopment for office space above an older brick and beam heritage building.

Here’s an update on a project that has flown under the radar. It’s an 18-storey residential tower on the site of what used to be the Legg Residence, a heritage mansion that was demolished in order to protect a tulip tree on the site. The project was originally approved in 2011 but only started construction in late 2014.

Photo by Tom_Kelsch