Here’s a view of the first phase of King George Station in Surrey. This phase of the project by PCI Group is the new help headquarters for Coast Capital Saving Credit Union.

Photo by 604 City, Flickr

Serracan Properties have submitted a rezoning enquiry for a site at 725 SE Marine Drive, at the corner of Fraser and Southeast Marine Drive. Currently occupied by a 6-storey, 100-room Super 8 Motel, and formerly known at the Blue Boy Motor Hotel since it was originally built in 1963; the 1.77 acre site is currently zoned CD-1.

As the existing CD zoning only allows hotel and retail uses, Serracan is now seeking a rezoning to allow a mix of uses, including residential. The site falls under the Sunset Community Vision, which allows site-specific rezoning only after preliminary planning work and community consultation is completed. Serracan, in conjunction with planning consultancy Brook Pooni, have already been consulting with the surrounding neighbourhood since 2013 and appear to have positive feedback from the community.

City council need to confirm that they will consider a rezoning application for the site before it goes to the application process.

Early concepts for the site include:

• Commercial, community uses and residential
• Towers ranging from 15 to 26 storeys
• A neighbourhood food store
• Public benefits including: childcare, community facilities, affordable housing
• Negotiated community amenity contribution (as opposed to fixed rate)

Site today

The Cambie Corridor Plan has been approved for almost four years now and a great deal has taken place within the plan area from 16th to Marine Drive. The end result of five years of planning and development activity is only beginning to be seen with a handful of buildings sprouting up. Up and down the Corridor, numerous land assemblies have occurred, with dozens of rezoning applications at various stages of the process. Eleven sites have now had rezoning enacted; meaning they have been officially approved by the City.

Approximately 28% of the 439 lots in the plan area have now been sold to 42 different developers, and despite a growing list of projects at various stages of construction and approvals, demand from developers continues unabated, particularly for prime locations such as those near Queen Elizabeth Park and Langara Golf Course. The result has been an increase in land values of almost 20% since the Cambie Corridor Plan was adopted by Vancouver City Council in May 2011.

The following chart depicts all of the site/land assembly sales that have taken place within the plan area since 2009.

* based on approved density, or plan maximum where no application exists yet.

So why are values going up despite an increase in the number of projects coming down the pipeline? Two underlying factors appear to be primary valuation drivers for Cambie land sales, particularly over the past 18 months.

First, a handful of projects have now gone into the marketing phase and have achieved very strong sales in terms of both pricing and sales velocity. In desirable areas of the corridor, woodframe product in selling in the $650-$700 per SF range, and concrete product is selling in the $775-$825 per SF range. Clearly there is a market for new condo product anywhere on the Westside of Vancouver, and Cambie’s accessibility and proximity to transit, parks and schools appeals to many buyers. Developers such as Mosaic Homes and Intergulf have been able to capitalize on this demand.

Secondly, the Cambie Corridor Plan facilitates a relatively straightforward rezoning process that is difficult to find elsewhere in the City. Opportunities for densification in other areas of Vancouver are now almost entirely limited to commercial strips such as Broadway with existing zoning for mixed-use multifamily. With public pushback to other planning efforts in such areas as Grandview-Woodlands where public consultation is being prolonged at the behest of vocal community organizations, developers are forced to concentrate their efforts to the path of least resistance. The Marpole Community Plan was also approved in 2014, though is far less ambitious than Cambie, partially as a result of public opposition, and will result in far fewer rezoning applications and developments.

With a dearth in supply of new sites for development elsewhere in the City of Vancouver, Cambie Street land values will likely continue its steady upward march so long as attendant condo demand continues to be strong.