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)

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

1484 Martin Street Brochure

One of Metrotown’s premier development sites has sold. The site, located at Silver Avenue and Beresford, is comprised of two lots totaling 84,027 SF in size and is currently improved with two walkup apartment buildings. The site is currently zoned RS-3, but is designated for rezoning to Burnaby’s high-density residential zoning RM-5″S”.

The site at 6380-6420 Silver had been listed for sale earlier this year and was acquired by Belford Properties, who have sites in Burnaby and South Vancouver.

The potential rezoning allows over 420,000 SF of buildable area and will likely allow one or more large towers. The adjacent sites along Beresford have both recently been developed by Intracorp as tall towers – to the East is Metroplace, a 46-storey tower with 342 units completed in 2014. To the West is Silver, a 38-storey tower with 290 units nearing completion.