Cressey has submitted their formal rezoning application for the 81,450 SF site that they own at 250 East 15th Street in North Vancouver, just North of Lions Gate Hospital.

The site is currently improved with two older lowrise apartment buildings totaling 101 units.

Cressey has owned the buildings for several decades, and began community consultation for the project in early 2019.

The site contains two designations – one designation each for the south and
north portions of the site -within the Official Community Plan: Residential Level 5 (R5) to the north and Residential Level 6 (R6) to the south.

The formal rezoning application consists of three rental residential buildings -two 12-storey buildings adjacent to East 15th Street and one 6-storey building adjacent to East 16th Street, and the provision of a public park on the site’s north-eastern quadrant.

Details include:

• 281 market rental units, including 28 mid-market units;
• 34 studios, 148 one-bedrooms, 44 two-bedrooms & 57 three-bedrooms;
• a max building height of 121 ft.;
• a total density of 2.95 FSR;
• a 24,600 square foot park;
• 266 parking spaces in two underground levels.

The application describes the design rationale: “The principle design element of the project, aside from the provision of the public park, is the span between the two 12-storey buildings along 15th Street. The proposed span will host the majority of the shared amenity spaces for the complex, including a games room, a reception area, a large lounge, washrooms, and a bookable event space that could be used for hosting a party or a cooking class for the building. The spaces will be available to the tenants of all three buildings and the applicant has stated the importance of forming a community for tenants that will provide renters with a greater social experience than a traditional rental building. Significant glazing of these amenity spaces will support the activation and attractiveness of the streetscape on East 15th Street and will provide passive surveillance of the bus stop located directly in front of the proposed project. Other street frontages are activated through the inclusion of at-grade entrances to units, or where the grade does not support entrances, balconies and landscaping are utilized to ensure an attractive and activated interface between the public and private realms. A rooftop amenity space – only accessible to residents – is included on the 6-storey building and the connecting span that includes: community garden plots, planters for additional vegetation, a lounge area and outdoor dining/cooking area, as well as a greenhouse structure with a washroom. The easternmost 12-storey building includes a rooftop component only accessible to the tenants of the top units.”

The architect for the project is Bingham Hill Architects.

Jameson Development has submitted a new rezoning application for the site they own at 1649 East Broadway in East Vancouver.

A previous rezoning application was approved in May 2018 for a 10-storey condo/rental building (50/50) under the Grandview Woodland Community Plan. Two years later, Jameson has revised the project for extra height in exchange for a 100% rental project (20% below market).

The proposed amendment would allow for two additional storeys to accommodate a 12-storey mixed use development and includes:

• 114 rental units (increased from 85 units);
• 91 market rental units and 23 below-market rental units;
• 12 studios, 60 one-bedrooms, 36 two-bedrooms & 6 three-bedrooms;
• A building height of 120 ft., (increased from 109 ft).;
• A total density of 5.00 FSR (increased from 4.0 FSR);
• 70 underground parking spaces and 217 bicycle spaces.

This application is being considered under the Grandview-Woodland Community Plan and the Below-Market Rental Housing Policy for Rezonings.

The architect for the project is IBI Group.

The full rezoning application can be viewed here.

A development application has been submitted for the Northeast corner of Granville and Drake Streets in Downtown Vancouver. The corner has long been home to 7-Eleven.

The 50 foot (6,000 SF) corner lot was sold in February 2019 for $8,000,000. The zoning is DD.

The plan for redevelopment of the site is a 6-storey, mixed-use building that includes:

• 29 residential units;
• 24 one-bedrooms & 5 two-bedrooms;
• 1,300 SF of retail space;
• a total density of 3.50 FSR;
• a building height of 70 ft.;
• 3 at grade parking spaces having vehicular access from the rear lane.

The application describes the design rationale: “The proposal seeks to develop a single linear corner site to accommodate a stacked 6-storey building comprising of a single level of commercial use on the ground floor and five levels of residential units above. The building will be serviced by a single basement level housing bicycle parking, bulk-storage lockers, and service rooms.

As per the guidelines, there is zero building setback along the Granville and Drake Street sides, and a 15’ building setback along the lane edge. The main commercial space on the ground floor is located on the corner of Granville and Drake, allowing for continuous commercial continuity along Granville and a strong anchoring exposure to the corner of the street intersection. This commercial space is serviced by a Class B loading bay at the lane side, connected via a loading corridor that runs along the firewall edge of the building.

The residential entry is accessed off the quieter Drake Street side, providing clear visual identity away from the commercial corner. The five residential levels above house a total of 29 units consisting of junior one bedroom unit, regular one bedroom units, and larger two bedroom units. Each unit has access to a private balcony and a designated bulk-storage locker in the basement.”

The architect for the project is GBL Architects.