A 42,000 SF, C-Class office building on Hornby Street has sold to Bene Development for $25,500,000, or approximately $625 per SF. The building is currently occupied by Copeman Healthcare, among other tenants. The building sits on a 12,000 SF site.
Two current applications continue a recent trend of redevelopment of older I-1 zoned properties in the Mt. Pleasant area, referred to more recently by some as “Mt. Pixel” because of the many tech companies that are locating in the area. The I-1 zone was amended by the City in 2013 to be more flexible in allowing office uses up to 3.0 FSR in density, and this has spurred several land sales; primarily to developers, either for speculative development or build-to-suits. The pace of recent development applications points to the demand for general office use in an area that was traditionally limited to light-industrial uses.
The two projects are outlined below:
This proposal for this site at the Southeast corner of East 5th and Ontario envisions restoring the facade of the existing one-storey industrial building on site, and adding a new 6-storey retail and office building with parking on the first and second floor (due to site slope). Details include:
- manufacturing and retail uses on the main floor
- office space on the 3rd to 6th floors
- total density of 54,389 SF (3.0 FSR)
- 46,537 SF of office space
- a building height of 80 ft.
- 70 parking stalls on the main and 2nd floor
Existing Site Condition
The architect for this project is Christopher Bozyk.
An application has also been filed by Chard Development for a site at 34 West 7th, which was purchased for $8,150,000 earlier this year. Preliminary plans call for a 4-storey building with clothing manufacturing uses on the ground floor and office uses on the 2nd to 4th floors, and two levels of underground parking. The total density is not known at this time, but the site would allow for up to 54,350 SF (3.0 FSR).
The architect for this project is Proscenium Architecture.
Westbank has applied to the City of Vancouver to rezone a site in the Joyce-Collingwood area to allow a 29-storey condo tower. Details include:
- 3,530 SF of commercial space at grade
- 191,000 SF of residential space
- 236 apartment units
- A density of 14.33 FSR
The City describes the rationale for the proposed rezoning:
“This site falls within the area of the ongoing Joyce-Collingwood Station Precinct Review. The review is anticipated to provide new policy advice to consider rezoning applications in a focused area around the Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain Station. The outcomes of the Station Precinct Review will be brought forward for consideration by City Council prior to the Council’s consideration of this application.”
