Cascadia Green Development has submitted a rezoning application to the City of North Vancouver for a site at the southeast corner of Lonsdale Avenue and East 26th Street, north of the Trans Canada Highway,
The site at 2540-2590 is currently improved with two older apartment buildings that contain a combined 25 units.
The OCP designates the subject site as Residential Level 5 (R5). Residential Level 5 seeks to provide quality multi-family housing with a mix of unit sizes, with a focus on creating attractive and active streets. R5 permits a maximum density of 2.6 FSR, inclusive of a 1.0 FSR bonus, and a maximum height of 6-storeys.
The rezoning proposal is for a 5-storey building and includes:
PCI Group has submitted their rezoning application for 3609-3687 Arbutus Street, a 33,000 SF site that they acquired earlier this year. The site is located on the West side of Arbutus between West 20th and West 21st Ave.
The five-lot, full block assembly is currently zoned RS-1 but is proposed to allow for the development of two 6-storey residential buildings including:
74 underground parking stalls and 227 bicycle spaces.
The proposal describes the design rationale: “The proposed site is approximately 264 feet long and slopes over 2m down from the south to the north along Arbutus Street, and over 1.5m down towards the west at the lane. In response, and as per the City’s advice, the project has been split into two buildings, with the north building lower than the south building. The offsetting of the buildings follows the slope of the site, reduces the height, and minimizes grade changes between the sidewalk and the ground oriented units facing the street. In addition, a courtyard space has been created between the buildings with amenity rooms located on each side.
The buildings provide further massing relief by stepping back at Levels 5 and 6 to create a four storey emphasis and to mitigate shadow impact on adjacent properties. This also provides generous terrace space for the units on Level 5. The rooftops have amenity terraces complete with planting, children’s play spaces, urban agriculture, BBQ and seating spaces. At the street and the lane, masonry portals are used to define balconies and anchor the building with elements that align with the scale of the neighbourhood.”
The 18,000 SF site is located at 148-154 James Road, just East of Moody Middle School. The 2019 proposal was for a 6-storey rental and condo building with 64 conventionally sized units and a density of 3.14 FAR.
The modified application would keep the 6-storey building form, but would include the following:
114 units (92 strata, 22 rental);
66 studios, 43 one-bedroom units & 5 two-bedroom units;
Average units sizes of 359 SF for studios, 472 SF for one-bedrooms;
a reduced total density of 3.0 FAR;
68 parking stalls.
In a unique model, the project would contain “a total of 22 rental units (for a period of ten years) and 92 strata units. Of these units, 11 rental units and 11 strata units would be reserved for lower income earners who earn less than $51,000 per year.
The 11 strata units would have a restriction on resale for two years. There would be no restrictions placed on the remaining 11 rental units. Although a total of 11 rental and 11 strata units would be reserved for persons earning less than $51,000 per year, it is unknown at this time whether the rental rates or purchase prices would be reduced to an amount that would be considered as below-market or affordable housing. As a reference, the BC Housing 2019 Housing Income Limits (HILs) rates would suggest a monthly rent of $1,288 for a one-bedroom or studio unit, but likely does not take into consideration the smaller micro dwelling style units, as proposed with this project.“
In addition, a pre-release of the units would be available for and marketed specifically to:
persons earning less than $51,000;
persons aged 65 years and older;
persons with mobility challenges;
families where two generations are seeking to reside in separate units in the same building; and
persons who qualify for BC Housing’s Shelter Aid For Elderly Renters (SAFER) program.
92 underground parking stalls and 193 bike spaces.
The application describes the design rationale: “The C-2 guidelines have informed building stepbacks along Kingsway and rear-yard setbacks towards the lane. The intersection of Kingsway and Prince Albert Street is oblique, creating a flat iron condition. At this prominent corner, we are proposing a six story element that folds away from the Kingsway frontage, providing a visual landmark as well as space for a landscaped, publicly accessible plaza. The grade of the site slopes steeply down from Kingsway south along Prince Albert Street. This grade change allows us to insert two-level townhouses fronting the lane without raising the building height relative to Kingsway. The five, three-bedroom, two-level townhouses along the lane provide valuable ground-oriented rental units suitable for families. These townhouses help to create a transition to the single-family homes to the south while providing animation and passive surveillance along the lane.“
A development application has been submitted to the City of Vancouver for permission to restore and retain the front façade of a fire damaged heritage “C” Building at 748 East Broadway, between Fraser and Prince Albert Streets.
First Capital REIT --> Choice Properties REIT and Kingsett Capital are teaming up to acquire the Canadian real estate company in a deal valued at over $9 billion, including assumed debt. Choice Properties will acquire roughly five billion dollars worth of shopping centres, while
