Amacon‘s formal rezoning application has been submitted to the City of Vancouver for a 24,289 SF land assembly at Robson between Cambie and Beatty that includes the Catholic Charities Men’s Hostel and the commercial building at 118 Robson Street (home to the bar/restaurant now known as ‘Back Forty’).
The plan calls for rezoning from DD to CD-1 to redevelop the site with a 29-storey mixed-use development and 6-storey podium, including:
- Retention and restoration of the existing Northern Electric Building facade;
- Hotel, commercial and residential uses, including 131 residential units;
- 42 one-bedroom units, 71 two-bedrooms and 18 three-bedrooms;
- Five levels of underground parking
- A total density of 10.08 FSR; and
- A building height of 290 ft.
The application describes the design rationale:
“The existing peripheral structure and complete envelope of the building will be preserved
and restored to strict heritage conservation guidelines outlined in the conservation plan. The interior of the building, which has little heritage value left, will be replaced with new construction: hotel rooms on the second and third floors; and hotel restaurant and hotel coffee shop on the ground floor, along Robson Street.”
New shelter space will be provided for the existing Catholic Charities shelter, as part of the agreement between the developer and Catholic Charities. This rezoning application is being considered under the Rezoning Policy for the Central Business District (CBD) and CBD Shoulder.
The architect for the project is GBL Architecture.
Under the site’s existing C-2C zoning, the application is “conditional” so it may be permitted; however, it requires the decision of the Director of Planning.
