A development application has been submitted for an RM-7 zoned site on Duchess Street (at the corner of Cheyenne Ave) in the Norquay Village area of East Vancouver. The application proposes to consolidate two single family lots and develop two 4-storey townhouse residential buildings. The proposal includes:

• 12 townhouse units
• a density of 1.15 FSR (12,632 SF)
• total building height of 37.65 ft.
• at-grade lane parking (8 stalls)
• 30 bicycle spaces

The architect for the project is Eszter Csutkai.

Grosvenor has submitted a much anticipated rezoning application for a prominent “Grosvenor Pacific” site at the Northeast corner Hornby and Pacific; formerly the location of Umberto’s Il Giardino. Grosvenor had acquired the site in 2014 for $33.6MM along with the lot at Pacific & Howe.

The plan for the 15,000 SF site at 1380-1382 Hornby Street is for a 39-storey residential building and includes:

• 212 units
• a total density of 16.25 FSR
• a building height of 375 feet
• 238 underground parking spaces, and
• restoration and relocation of Leslie House, the existing Heritage ‘A’ building that is located on the site (to be relocated to Pacific St on the lane).

Council direction on Potential “Benefit Capacity” in Downtown allows consideration of a rezoning application for this site.

The project, which is being designed by ACDF Architecure in conjunction with IBI Group, describes some of the design elements of the tower, including:

• brushed stainless steel on the facade
• metallic soffit
• white stone cladding
• tinted glass & glass spandrel

The project joins other higher end condo towers at various stages of development, including Vancouver House, which is now under construction, and Reliance’s Burrard Place, the first phase of which is soon to begin construction.

Details have emerged regarding the rezoning of the Pearson Dogwood site at 500-650 West 57th Avenue, as the full rezoning application has now been released. Onni‘s proposed plan for the 25-acre site at Cambie and 57th is for a large-scale mixed-use development that will include:

• a total density of 2.8 FSR
• 3,097,262 SF of building area
• 2,170 total units
• 5 phases
• residential use consisting of: market units, rental units and affordable units
• building heights between 3 and 28-storeys
• replacement housing for George Pearson Centre
• a replacement facility for the Dogwood Lodge
• retail and commercial space
• a community health centre
• a YMCA facility with a 25-metre pool and a therapeutic pool
• a 69 space child care facility
• a 2.5 acre City park
• an urban farm
• a potential future transit station

The application describes the rezoning rationale: “The proposed site master plan embodies the principles of Complete Community planning, intertwining health, recreation, retail, and employment uses with housing diversity and affordability.

The master architect for the project is IBI Group.

The District of North Vancouver will review a report at council next week that seeks to update the District’s Community Amenity Policy, which has not been reviewed since 2010. The update was required due to increased development pressures and was brought forward partially at the encouragement of the development community. Coriolis Consulting assisted with the review of existing policy.

Here is an excerpt regarding the existing policy:

EXISTING POLICY:

The District of North Vancouver’s existing CAC policy includes two different approaches to
determine the appropriate value of a CAC, depending on the location of the rezoning:

• In the designated Town and Village Centres (growth centres), the value of the CAC is
  determined through a negotiated approach, equivalent to 75% of the estimated increase in the market value of the property due to the rezoning. The reference to 75% of the increase in property value is to ensure that the CAC does not exceed the
  amount that is financially viable for the development project.
• Outside the Centres, the CAC value is based on a target fixed rate per square foot of additional residential floorspace approved by the rezoning. Outside of centres, the CAC can be negotiated if the developer thinks the fixed rate is not appropriate or the rezoning exceeds the density identified in the OCP.

Below is an excerpt outlining the recommended changes to be implemented going forward:

“Recommended CAC Approach Outside Centres:

Staffs recommended approach to CACs outside of the Centres is:

1. Establish three separate fixed rate CAC categories outside the Centres with fixed rate
targets as follows:

(a) $6 per square foot (current rate $5) of increased permitted residential gross floor  area for any project with an FSR less than or equal to 0.8 FSR;
(b) $13 per square foot (current rate $5) of increased permitted residential gross floor area for any project with an FSR greater than 0.8 but less than or equal to 1.0 FSR
(c) $20 per square foot (current rate $15) of increased permitted residential gross floor area for any project with an FSR greater than 1.0

2. Negotiate the CAC for the rezoning of any properties that are currently improved with rental housing to take into account the specific details of any rental replacement requirement. The target for negotiations should be at most 75% of the increased value due to the rezoning .

3. Continue to allow negotiated CACs in the specific circumstances currently identified in the District’s policy, but change the target negotiated CAC to be a maximum of 75% of the increased value due to the rezoning, rather than “50% to 75%” of the increased value due to the rezoning as currently written.

Recommended CAC Approach Inside Centres:

Staff’s recommended approach to CACs in the Centres is:

1. Negotiate CACs for major, complex rezonings where it is difficult to determine an appropriate CAC rate in advance of a development application, including:

• Large sites that have significant land dedications and on-site infrastructure requirements.
• Sites which include existing rental housing that the District would like to see replaced as part of any redevelopment.
• Higher density mixed-use sites, such sites in the CRMU 2 and CRMU 3 OCP designations (i.e., mixed-use projects over 1.75 FSR).
• Highrise residential projects (over 6-storeys in the RES Level 6 designation).
• Sites identified for a significant on-site amenity.
• Sites currently zoned for industrial use.
• Applications that require an OCP amendment.

The target for negotiations should be a maximum of 75% of the increased property value due to the rezoning.

2. Establish new fixed rate area inside the five Centres with a fixed rate target of $20 per square foot (presently negotiated) of additional permitted residential floorspace. The fixed rate areas for inside centres may be found in Schedule 2 of the Draft CAC Policy attached to this report.”

Source: http://app.dnv.org/OpenDocument/Default.aspx?docNum=2796413

Scotiabank has sold their branch location at the Northwest corner of Dunbar and West 41st Avenue for $14,000,000, or $343 per buildable SF based on current redevelopment potential. The 16,320 SF, C-2 zoned property was put up for sale on the market in 2015. The buyer is Luxurious Property Ltd.