A preliminary rezoning application has been submitted by Chard Development in order to add much needed rental apartment density to an existing apartment property in the Central Lonsdale area of North Vancouver.

1441 St. George’s Avenue is a rental apartment building at St. Georges and East 15th Street. The existing building is 14-storeys with a 2-storey commercial podium. The building contains 80 rental residential units and 52 commercial units.

The rezoning application is proposing to rezone the property to allow for the construction of a new rental tower on the West side of the site, including:

• a 23-storey rental tower
• 175 new rental units
• 10 studios, 111 one-bedrooms, 114 two-bedrooms, 20 three-bedrooms (combined)
• a total combined density of 6.29 FSR
• purchase of 85,156 SF of density at $115 per SF

The site is currently zoned Central Lonsdale Mixed Use ‘C-1B’, which allows for a density of 2.60 FSR. The site is designated Mixed Use Level 4B land use in the Official Community Plan (OCR), which allows for an FSR of up to 3.0 with the potential for a density bonus of an additional 1.0 FSR.

The architect for the project is MCM Partnership Architects.

The property sold in September 2016 for $37,500,000, or $310,000 per existing unit.

Westbank Corp. has filed their rezoning application for the 23,234 SF site at the Northwest corner of Broadway and Alma Street. The site at 3701-3743 West Broadway is currently zoned C-2 and is currently improved with an old strip retail property.

The rezoning proposal is for a 6-storey mixed-use project, which includes:

• 94 secured market rental units;
• 59 studios, 1 one-bedroom, 33 two-bedrooms, 1 three-bedroom
• 7,190 SF of retail space
• A total density of 3.15 FSR;
• A building height of 64 ft.; and
• 99 parking spaces.

This application is being considered under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy. The architect for this project is Henriquez Partners.

The site was acquired by Westbank in 2011 for $9,443,000 or $121 per buildable SF based upon the current rezoning application.

A rezoning application has been submitted for a site on Cambie at West 48th Avenue that includes a vacant lot that was left over after the Canada Line was completed. The plan for the two lot assembly is an interesting one and a slight departure for Cambie in that it proposes a 10-storey building that includes:

• 59 residential units;
• 12 one-bedrooms, 41 two bedrooms, 6 three-bedrooms
• 1,069 SF of retail at grade;
• a building height of 108 ft.;
• a total density of 3.87 FSR; and
• 44 underground vehicle parking spaces and 74 bicycle parking spaces.

The application is being considered under the Cambie Corridor Plan.

The architect is Hotson Architecture.

The two lots were assembled for a combined price of $11,800,000, or $198 per buildable SF.

Larco has submitted their development application to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop the second phase of the redeveloped Arbutus Village Shopping Centre property – a project plan originally conceived almost ten years ago.

The overall rezoning for the site was approved back in July 2011, with the first phase “Block A” having been approved in late 2015 and now under development to include 215 units and a new Safeway store. Each phase requires a separate development permit.

The plan for “Block B” calls for development of the Southeast corner of the 7-acre site, currently surface parking, with a 7-storey apartment building with retail at grade, including the following:

• 170 rental apartment units
• 37 studios, 24 one-bedrooms, 74 two-bedrooms & 35 three-bedrooms
• 29,400 SF of retail space (including relocated BMO and BC Liquor Store)
• two levels of underground parking accessed off of Yew Street

Construction of Block B is scheduled to complete in 2019.

The final phase of the project involves demolition and redevelopment of the existing shopping centre, with completion of the entire project targeted for 2022.

The architect for the project is Dialog.

A point of contention had been the site’s designation in Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) as industrial use. Its conversion to residential uses can only happen with Metro Vancouver’s approval to remove its industrial designation. The Board previously declined to amend the RGS designation for the site in 2014 – partially due to what they viewed as an incomplete development plan. Further community and stakeholder consultation coupled with the completion of the Evergreen Skytrain extension has created a renewed impetus to move forward with redevelopment.

• 3,397 residential units
• total density of 3,850,000 SF
• 3,260,000 SF of residential density (including 55,000 SF of rental)
• 99,000 SF of office space
• 103,000 SF of light industrial space
• 72,000 SF of retail
• total density of 2.82 FSR
• 11 towers ranging from 16 to 38-storeys in height
• a mix of  light industrial, commercial, office, private indoor amenity space, and possibly a congregate care facility and a hotel.
• Approximately 7.53 acres publicly dedicated as parks and open space
• Upon full build out – resident population 7,000 people and over 1,000 jobs

If the OCP amendment is approved by the City of Port Moody, and subsequent approval is obtained from Metro Vancouver, a more detailed rezoning application would then be submitted to the City.

Several developers have approached Flavelle to sell the site in the past. It remains to be seen whether Flavelle will proceed to develop the full site on their own, in partnership with a developer, or whether they will ultimately dispose of the site, which will be worth a considerable amount once the OCP amendment and Metro Vancouver approvals are obtained.

The project has a website with further information: http://www.flavelleoceanfront.ca/