The long anticipated rezoning of the 14-acre Oakridge Transit Centre site at 949 West 41st Avenue and 5469-5507 Willow Street is nearing the final stages, with a referral to public hearing next week. The master planned project has required a number of minor revisions along the way.

The rezoning application for the site represents the culmination of a 6-year planning and sale process which included:

• Oakridge Transit Centre and Adjacent Sites Policy Statement (2014-2015)
• Sale of site by Translink to Modern Green Development for $440 Million (paid between 2017-2022) (2016)
• Formal rezoning application (July 2019)
• Revised (current) rezoning application (May 2020)

The finalized details of the overall development plan include the following:

• 17 buildings up to 26 storeys in height;
• 1,630 total residential units, including:
  • 1,120 condos;
  • 330 social housing units;
  • 180 market and below market rental units;
• 24,000 SF of retail space;
• 2.36 FSR gross density;
• a 69-space childcare;
• a 2-acre public park;
• new dedicated streets & lanes linking with existing road network;
• total DCLs of $31,246,346 (social housing units exempted)
• public art budget of $2,357,465 ($1.98 /sq ft)
• a total CAC of $80,711,050 – cash & in-kind including:
  • turn-delivery of social housing component ($65,911,050)
  • childcare facility ($8,000,000)
  • public park ($5,000,000)
  • $1,800,000 cash allocated to transportation improvements.

Overall site plan:

The OTC is anticipated to be developed in four phases over a timeline of 10-12 years. The phasing will begin in the southwest corner of the site with the secured rental housing and then move east and northward towards 38th Avenue as shown below:

The total CAC amount of $80 Million is equivalent to $77 per sq ft. of market residential and commercial space (excluding the social and rental housing components).

The total purchase price of $440 Million equates to:

• $300 per buildable SF on the gross overall density
• $372 per buildable SF on the condo/rental/retail density (excluding social housing & childcare space)

The architect for the project is James KM Cheng.

A development application has been submitted for the full city block site at the Southwest corner of East 1st Avenue and Clark Drive in East Vancouver.

The proposed project is a speculative mixed use industrial and office project preliminarily called “1st & Clark”. The 5-storey building will be a horseshoe shape and include units for smaller downtown wholesale and light industrial users.

Details of the project include:

• wholesale uses on the main to second floor;
• general offices on the third to fifth floors;
• 197,948 SF of gross floor area;
• a total density of 3.0 FSR;
• a building height of 72 ft.; and
• 220 underground parking spaces on one underground level.

Under the site’s existing I-2 zoning, the application is “conditional” so it may be permitted; however, it requires the decision of the Director of Planning.

The architect for the project is TKA+D Architecture + Design Inc. 

A rezoning application has been submitted by Sightline Properties for a four lot land assembly at the Northeast corner of West 41st and Collingwood Street, just East of Dunbar and immediately East of the IGA.

The combined site at 3449-3479 W 41st Ave and 5664 Collingwood Street is 28,683 SF in size. The lots are currently single family and zoned RS-5.

The proposal is to allow for the development of a 6-storey market rental building that includes:

• 114 secured market rental units;
• 58 studios, 17 one-bedrooms, 28 two-bedrooms & 11 three-bedrooms;
• A total density of 2.71 FSR;
• A building height of 72 ft.;
• 90 vehicle parking spaces and 216 bicycle parking spaces on two levels of underground parking.

The application is being considered under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy.

The architect for the project is Ciccozzi Architecture.

A rezoning application has been submitted for 5168, 5180 and 5192 Sidley Street, a 24,000 SF three lot land assembly in the Royal Oak area of Burnaby.

The properties are currently zoned R5 Residential, and are proposed for
rezoning based upon the RM2 guidelines. Two of the three lots are owned by the City of Burnaby and their purchase is a prerequisite of the rezoning.

Details of the proposal, entitled ‘Ava Living’ include:

• 22 two-bedrooms stacked townhouses;
• a total density of 0.9 FAR;
• 40 underground parking spaces on one level.

The architect for the project is Wilson Chang Architect.

Matt Saunders and I are pleased to announce the sale of 708 – 796 Renfrew Street in East Vancouver.

The site comprises a full city block and with 73 units is one of the largest rental projects approved to date under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy. It was put under contract prior to the pandemic and Matt and David were able to successfully navigate an extremely challenging environment to achieve a firm deal in May 2020.

For further details on this sale and project, please contact us.