The Planning Policy Statement for Langara Gardens has been released for consideration by Vancouver City Council. The 20.8 acre site was acquired by Peterson Group in 2009. Peterson later partnered with Concert Properties in 2015, after which a formal planning effort to redevelop the site with City of Vancouver planning got underway, with open houses and town hall meetings over the next two years.

Langara Gardens is located west of Cambie Street between 54th and 57th Avenues and was initially developed as a rental apartment property, with three towers and later a fourth tower in the 1980s. The site is currently improved with 605 apartment units and some retail space and is built to a fairly low density equivalent to a single family zoning (approx. 0.78 FSR). A large majority of the site is currently built as lowrise townhouses which is the focus of the redevelopment effort. The existing rental towers will be maintained.

The site at Pearson Dogwood, directly south, is proposed for the same density and will get underway with rezoning of the first phase shortly.

The vision for the property has included retention of the four existing apartment highrises while adding new residential buildings and various new services and amenities. “Langara Gardens will continue to be primarily residential, with a mix of housing opportunities for a variety of households, ages and income levels. A key element of the planning program is to maintain or replace the 605 existing rental housing units on a one-for-one basis.”

Details of the policy statement which will guide future rezoning applications for the site include:

• a maximum overall site density of 2.80 FSR (on gross site area);
• a total of 2,540,000 SF of development (about 2,100 units total);
• 11 towers (including existing four towers to be retained);
• All 605 existing rental units retained or replaced;
• Building heights from 3 to 28-storeys;
• 20% of net new floor area as affordable housing (approx. 430 units);
• Redesign and upgrade of existing retail space (approx. 25,000 SF);
• A new 69-space childcare facility;
• A new 1-acre City-owned park;
• A financial contribution towards a potential future station at 57th Ave;
• A community amenity contribution(s) to be determined/negotiated.

Park and Open Space Concept

Building Heights

The next step will be a site specific rezoning that will include further details such as exact units counts and building layout and design.

Full details on the planning policy statement can be viewed here: http://council.vancouver.ca/20180313/documents/p1.pdf 

We are pleased to announce the completion of sale of Pacific Professional Centre, 3680 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, B.C. The 34,000 SF office building is located on a 14,000 SF C-2C zoned corner site. Nearly fully leased, the Property presents an optimal mix of potential income growth, coupled with future redevelopment potential under the City’s Rental 100 rezoning policy for rental apartments.

Another rezoning application has been filed under the increasingly well-known Affordable Housing Choices Interim Policy. This one is for a seven-lot, full block land assembly on the East side of Renfrew Street, between East Georgia Street and Adanac Street. The full land assembly totals 25,816 SF.

The proposal is for a five-storey mixed-use building, consisting of:

• • 77 rental apartment units;
  • 56 one-bedrooms, 9 two-bedrooms & 12 3-bedrooms;
  • 7,868 SF of retail space along Renfrew;
  • a total density of 2.96 FSR;
  • a five-storey building height of 58 ft.; and
  • 81 underground parking spaces over two levels.

The application describes the design rationale: “Our concept proposes typical setbacks for Mixed-Use buildings in the City of Vancouver, with approporiate stepping from the lane in consideration of existing dwellings. The commercial uses are setback 2’0” from Renfrew Street, and the townhouses are setback 7-0” from Georgia Street. We designed a 12’-0” setback from the lane to the townhouses comprised entirely of landscaped terraces which will significantly improve the current condition of the lane.

At the third and fourth storeys, the building maintains a 25’-0” setback from the lane, which increases to 40’0” at L5-6. Above L4, we have setback the residential uses 2.5m from the property line, and created street facing patios for residents.

On Level 5, a common rooftop patio amenity has been proposed for residents of the building. We have taken steps to address privacy and overlook issues at the shared amenity, while providing a welcoming and pleasant space for residents. The rooftop is partially occupied with urban agriculture, taking advantage of the solar exposure to provide a practical and sustainable amenity for residents.”

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

The site sold in June 2017 for $15,970,000, or $209 per buildable SF based on the application.

The architect for the project is GBL Architects.

The latest on a long list of Kingsway Rental 100 rezoning applications comes for a site at the corner of Kingsway and East 15th Avenue, just West of Fraser Street.

610-644 Kingsway is an assembly of several older lowrise commercial buildings on the South side of the street, zoned C-2C. The curved site totals 13,830 SF. 

Details include:

• 53 secured market rental units;
• 9 studios, 19 one-bedrooms, 19 two-bedrooms & 6 three-bedrooms;
• 7,151 SF of ground floor retail;
• a total density of 3.75 FSR;
• a building height of 69 ft.; and
• 2 levels of underground parking.

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

The architect for the project is Studio One Architecture.

The full rezoning application can be viewed here: http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/610kingsway/index.htm

The City of Coquitlam, YMCA and Concert Properties have entered into a partnership to exchange lands and rezone two sites in the Burquitlam-Lougheed Neighbourhood Plan area to permit redevelopment on both sites. 

The two sites include:

• Burquitlam Park – a 3.96 acre site on Smith Avenue, adjacent Bosa’s Uptown Development
• Whitgift Gardens – a 5.45 acre site on Cottonwood Avenue, directly North of Bosa’s Lougheed Heights development, and West of Cottonwood Park

The sites are located in the Burquitlam-Lougheed Neighbourhood Plan “Core” and “Shoulder” areas respectively. The proposal involves a property exchange between
the City (at Burquitlam Park) and Concert (Whitgift Gardens – an existing older rental residential complex).The exchange involves 2.15 acres of park land from Burquitlam Park to the Whitgift Gardens site to facilitate the expansion of Cottonwood Park and in return, the same area of developable land, with its associated density, is moved from the Whitgift Gardens site to the Burquitlam Park site.

The two components of the proposal include:

Burquitlam Park Site

• A 50-storey condo tower and 30-storey rental tower;
• 275 rental units;
• 435 condo units;
• a new 60,000 SF 3-storey YMCA recreation facility;
• a new community police station;
• total density of 6.30 FAR;
• 930 parking stalls;
• New 1.5 acre Burquitlam Park.

Whitgift Gardens Site 

• Six highrise residential towers from 24 to 48-storeys in height;
• Two rental towers of 37-storeys;
• Four condo towers of 24, 25, 43 & 48-storeys;
• 654 rental units;
• 1,187 condo units;
• 132 seniors market rental units;
• 20-40 below market rental units;
• standalone amenity building;
• total density of 5.50 FAR;
• 2,350 parking stalls;
• Extension of Emerson Street and new East-West road.

The proposed market rental units represent a roughly 3:1 replacement ratio of the
existing rental units at Whitgift Gardens. The total value of all the public benefits including bonus density funds and CAC’s is $120 Million.

The architects for the project are Raymond Letkeman Architects and Endall Elliott.