I am pleased to announce the sale of 3183 Edgemont Boulevard, North Vancouver, B.C. This 1,500 SF freestanding streetfront retail building has been part of Edgemont Village for over sixty years and is leased to local tenants. The property sold for $2,050,000.
A development application has been filed for a site at 928 Commercial Drive, mid-block just South of Venables Street. The plan for the 33 x 121 ft site is to build a new infill building including:
- a 5-storey, mixed use building
- retail on first floor and residential above (2nd to 5th floors)
- 12 rental aparment units
- 3 parking spaces having vehicular access from the lane.
Under the site’s existing C-2C1 zoning, the application is “conditional” so it may be permitted; however, it requires the decision of the Director of Planning.
The architect, Matthew Cheng, explains the design rationale:
“The existing building on the subject property is a single family building built in 1904. In order to improve the neighborhood in Grandview-Woodland community and provide more affordable residential units, a brand new 5-storey mix-use building is proposed to replace the existing single detached dwelling. The new building with rental units will not only improve the 900 block Commercial Drive streetscape but also ease the tough rental market in the “Drive area”.
The proposed new building is designed as a wood frame building with a concrete ground / second level. Residential units are location on level three to five. There are 2 compacted unit types provided, studio and one-bedroom, in order to introduce more affordable rental option for the demographic in the neighborhood., Bicycle room, coin laundry room and other residential services are location on the ground and second level. Elevator is provided so that residents and handicap people can access to every level easily.”
A rezoning application has been made for a 29,102 SF site at 3868 Rupert Street (at East 22nd St) for rezoning to allow rental apartments. The site is currently improved with a grocery store – Chong Lee Market and some retail units along with surface parking.
The proposal calls for rezoning from C-1 to CD-1 to permit the development of 6-storey mixed-use building that includes:
- 112 secured market rental units;
- 78 one-bedrooms, 30 two-bedrooms and 4 three-bedrooms
- 10,856 SF retail uses in six CRUs on the ground floor
- a total density 3.60 FSR
- a building height of six storeys ; and
- 158 underground parking spaces.
The application is being considered under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy.
The architect, GBL, describes the application:
“This project will take into account these neighbourhood factors by providing appropriate up to date commercial premises for the existing tenants and providing good quality affordable rental accommodation for the locale. The Renfrew Collingwood area has great community facilities and a number of schools close by. With this in mind, over a quarter of the units will be 2 and 3 bedrooms for families.
We are proposing that the site is rezoned for a six storey building which accommodates one floor of commercial, five floors of market rental units above over two levels of underground parking. The project will follow the Rental 100 City Policy. The area of the project is 104,667 SF, yielding an F.S.R. of 3.60. The project proposes six commercial retail units with specific size requirements ranging from circa. 670 SF up to 11,760S SF. Commercial entrances are located on Rupert Street. The Residential Lobby is positioned to the south side of the site at 23rd Avenue allowing for an uninterrupted commercial frontage. The project proposes 112 Rental Units on Levels 2-6 with over a quarter designated as 2+ bedroom family units. The average sizes meet the Rental 100 requirements with 1 beds at 570SF, 2 beds at 730SF and 3 beds at 937SF. We recognize there are good community facilities and schools in the area and our Client wants to provide a range of accommodation types which will appeal to a varied market of future tenants.”
An interesting proposal has surfaced for a 33-foot lot on Commercial Drive at the corner of Napier Street. The site, which is improved with a 2-storey heritage commercial building built in 1908, is now being planned for heritage preservation with an infill apartment building at the rear lane.
Details of the proposal include:
- retaining the existing 2-storey Heritage B building (now occupied by Moja Coffee)
- a new 5-storey infill residential building with 8 rental apartment units at the rear of this site;
- a maximum height of 48.5 feet;
- a density of 2.70 FSR (10,108 SF);
- one-car share parking space having vehicular access from the lane;
- removal of one street tree on Napier Street.
Under the site’s existing C-2C1 zoning, the application is conditional and requires the approval of the planning department. For this project, relaxations would be required on building height and some setbacks. The application references incentives under the Rental 100 program.
View from Napier St – existing heritage building on the right
View from rear lane
The architect for the project is Cornerstone Architecture.
The property was listed for sale in 2013 and sold for $1,690,000, which equates to approx. $125 per buildable SF when the existing building is taken to account.
Bonnis Properties has acquired 929 Granville Street in deal for $38,250,000. The property, officially named the Wilson Block, but more widely recognized as the “Tom Lee Music” Building on the Granville Strip is a 5-storey heritage building originally built in 1927.
The 41,000 SF building sits on a 14,985 SF site just South of the prime retail area of Granville and Robson. It is on the heritage register as a “C”.
The building was taken over by Tom Lee in 1989 and the interior substantially redesigned for the music store and head office for the company.
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