Polygon Homes has applied to rezone the Mountain Court multifamily complex in North Vancouver for a new multi-phase strata and rental complex in four 5-storey buildings. Mountain Court is an aging apartment complex built in 1968 on a 4.13 acre site located just south of Lynn Valley Centre. This sits next to Polygon’s Canyon Springs project; currently under construction and expected to be completed in 2016.

The District of North Vancouver’s Official Community Plan allows a total density on this site of 2.5 FSR, and the more recent Lynn Valley Town Centre Flexible Planning Framework allows buildings up to 5-storeys.

The proposal includes:

• Phase one:
  • a 75-unit market rental building (1:1 unit replacement, this is the CAC for the development)
  • a 68-unit strata building
• Phase two:
  • two buildings totaling 178 units
• A total of 321 units (76% two and three bedrooms)
• A total of 372,072 SF
• A density of 1.82 FSR

It is anticipated that this will be built out over a five year period.

An application has been submitted by L & A Real Estate Investment to rezone a 20,080 SF site at 6318-6340 Cambie Street from RT-2 to CD-1 to allow an 8-storey mixed-use building and seven townhouses, including:

• 50 residential units;
• 14 One-Bedrooms, 25 Two-Bedrooms and 11 Three-Bedrooms
• commercial space at grade;
• a maximum building height of 95 ft.;
• a density of 3.25 FSR; and
• 61 underground parking spaces.

The requested density is the limit under the current Cambie Corridor Plan designation for this area (2.25-3.25). The architect for the project is Integra Architecture.

The project will sit across the street from two 8-storey projects already complete or near completion including: Forty Nine West, and Prelude (completed 2014).

With the news today that St. Paul’s will move to it’s new location, it has been indicated that Providence Health Care will use the sale or lease of the existing Burrard Street location to help contribute to its share of the $1.2 Billion False Creek Flats project.

So how much is the Burrard site worth?

First, an overview of the site:

• Site Area: 292,235 SF, or 6.7 acres
• Existing Zoning: DD – Downtown District (Sub Area G)
• Permitted Density: 6.0 FSR (office not to exceed 5.0 FSR), or 1,753,410 SF (under current zoning)
• Allowable Height: 300 ft (with discretionary increase to 450 ft)
• View Cones: View cone C1 (Laurel Landbridge to the Lions) bisects the site as depicted below and likely limits much of the site to at or near the 300 ft. limit (30-storeys for residential)
• Current Tax Assessment Value (Land Only): $465,004,000

Rezoning potential is unknown at this stage, but the current zoning would appear to support a residential/mixed-use development up to 1.75 Million SF. A preliminary valuation based on this cursory highest and best use analysis yields the following value:

292,235 SF x 6.0 FSR x $250 per buildable SF =

$438,000,000

Now, if the site were rezoned to say 10.0 FSR, with a Community Amenity Contribution or social housing component:

Based on rezoning to 10.0 FSR

292,235 x 10.0 FSR x ($250 per buildable SF less $75 per SF CAC) =

$511,000,000

A rezoning application has been submitted for a new 5-storey rental apartment building in Kits. The site, located at 3063-3091 West Broadway is 21,652 SF and is anticipated to be rezoned from C-2C to CD-1. Details include:

• 78 secured market rental units;
• commercial uses at grade;
• a proposed density of 3.33 FSR
• a building height of 58.4 ft. ; and
• 92 underground parking spaces.

This application is being considered under the Secured Market Rental Housing (Rental 100) Program.

Here is a list of rezoning applications headed for Burnaby City Council’s consideration on Monday:

1. 8850 University Crescent (SFU Univercity) – Highrise residential tower with mid-rise residential building
2. 5521-5525 Hastings Street – 4-storey mixed use building based on C2 and RM3 guidelines
3. Brentwood Mall Site Phase III – third highrise residential building by Shape Properties
4. 4453-4475 Hastings Street – 4-storey mixed use building  based on C8a guidelines and Heights Community Plan
5. 7911-7923 Edmonds Street – 4-storey mixed use buildings based on C9 guidelines and Sixth Street Community Plan
6. 4769 Hazel Street & 4758 Grange Street – This interesting proposal by Bentall Kennedy seeks to amend the existing CD zoning on a 2.4 acre highrise apartment site it owns in the Metrotown area. The proposal seeks to add additional apartment units on the site, depicted below.