Larco has applied to the City of Vancouver to amend the rezoning for the Arbutus Village Shopping Centre site.

The overall rezoning for the 7-acre site was approved back in 2011, with the first two phases along Arbutus now having been fully approved and under construction. 

The new rezoning proposal would increase the overall residential floor area for the remaining phases on the Western portion of the site (Blocks C and D), including an increase in the number of market and social housing units. The application cites the housing crisis which has worsened considerably since 2011, as well as the re-imagining of the Arbutus Greenway and Arbutus Corridor. 20% of the units are required to be social housing.

The specific amendments that affect the remaining project (Blocks C and D) include:

• A 113,519 SF increase in total density;
• A total of 240 units;
• An increase in building height on Block C to 197 ft
• An increase in building height of Block D to 236 ft.
• 2,700 SF expansion of planned Neighbourhood House (approx. 10,000 SF)

Blocks C & D also includes about 10,000 SF of retail space, as well as an adult day care, and strata rec centre.  The rezoning application proposes no change to the amount of commercial space, and includes an expanded Neighbourhood House referenced above.

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.

Larco has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop the first phase of Arbutus Village. The plan calls for development of the Northeast corner (“Block A”) of the 7-acre site with one mixed-use building comprising office space, a below-grade self-storage facility, a grocery store, and residential rental apartments. The proposal includes the following:

• a mixed-use building comprising office space and a grocery store on the ground floor, and seven floors with 215 apartments units above;
• total floor area of 395,000 SF (including 120,000 SF below-grade self-storage facility and a 54,000 SF new Safeway grocery store);
• four levels of underground parking (374 spaces) and self-storage facility, accessed off of a proposed Yew Street extension.
• First step will be demolition of the Northeast portion of the existing mall, followed by new internal streets and eventual relocation of Safeway

The rezoning for the site was approved back in July 2011, but no further development approval activity has taken place since. The whole plan calls for 508 residential units. The development application effectively quiets any previous rumours that the site may have been for sale.

The Development Permit Board meeting is scheduled for this application on September 8, 2015. Subsequent phases of the project will require additional development permits.