PortLiving has submitted a rezoning application for 1940 Main Street, a 17,424 SF site at the Northeast corner of Main Street and East 4th Avenue in Mount Pleasant.

The site, currently improved as “ABC Tireland”, is zoned IC-2 but can be rezoned per the Mount Pleasant Community Plan.

This is the second project for PortLiving on Main, with a 65-unit proposed project at Main and East 6th, called Main Street Arts.

The proposal, dubbed “Main Street Arts 2” consists of a 6-storey mixed-use building, including:

• 49 condo units;
  • 26 studios, 4 one-bedrooms, 13 two-bedrooms & 6 three-bedrooms;
• a 37-space childcare facility;
• 9,677 SF of ground floor retail;
• 12,178 SF of below grade retail space;
• a total density of 3.0 FSR;
• a building height of 72 ft.; and
• 112 underground parking spaces and 77 bicycle spaces.

The application describes the design rationale: “The project is a 6-storey mixed use building. The ground floor along the Main Street frontage proposes a series of retail spaces that reinforce a scale of walking and shopping with high-quality storefront, weather protection, and floorfloor heights that can accommodate a variety of uses over
time.

There is also lower retail space connected to ground floorwith stairs, floor openings, passenger elevator and skylights to create visual connections with pedestrians along Main St.

The ground floor is pulled back from the south-west corner of the site to create a partially covered public plaza with seating on a sunny corner. A public elevator which frames the plaza along East 4th Ave will provide access to belowgrade retail parking and childcare above.

East 4th Avenue is fronted by retail units and the residential entry lobby. The second to sixth floors are market housing including a significant number of family units. A group
Childcare facility is proposed on the second floor with access from below-grade parking and ground floor plaza via elevator directly off East 4th Ave.”

This rezoning application is being considered under the Mount Pleasant Community Plan and Implementation Strategy.

The architect for the project is Formosis Architecture (formerly Studio B Architects).

Atti Group has submitted an OCP amendment and rezoning application for a 4.3 acre site in Port Moody. The site was previously given third reading in 2012 pending geotechnical, stormwater and environmental reports for development permit approval. Subsequently, the site was sold in 2018.

The site is located at the southwest corner of Buller Street and Henry Street. It is bounded by Coquitlam to the south, unopened City of Port Moody road right-of-way to the east, undeveloped medium-density townhouse residential (RM4) lots across Henry Street to the north, and older Multi family to the west.

The site itself is vacant and primarily covered with second growth forest at a steep grade of 25-35%. 

The proposal is a unique U-shaped, terraced 11-storey terraced residential development, including:

• 145 condo units;
• A total density of 1.33 FAR;
• a 1.2 acre park dedication;
• $870,000 CAC;
• 268 parking spaces on three levels of underground parking.

With the grade of the site, the building is up to 6-storeys in height above grade at any given point.

A video rendering of the project can be viewed here:

The architect for the project is Ankenman Marchand.

A rezoning application has been submitted for 1290 Hornby Street, a 14,995 SF site at the Northeast corner of Hornby Street and Drake Street in Downtown Vancouver. The site is currently zoned DD which allows a density of 5.5 FSR in this subarea, though the rezoning application seeks to more than double that density.

The proposal calls for a 35-storey mixed residential tower, and includes:

• 159 condo units;
  • 100 1-bedrooms, 43 two-bedrooms and 16 3-bedrooms;
• a total density of 10.28 FSR;
• a building height of 349 ft.;
• 10,531 SF of cultural amenity space on the ground, mezzanine and second levels to be owned by the City of Vancouver;
• 6 levels of underground parking with a total of 105 parking spaces and 345 bike stalls.

The application describes the design rationale: “The proposed project seeks to maximize density and height on the site, to the extent that an appropriate response to the surrounding context and the City will accept. The corner site on the northeast corner of Hornby and Drake Streets is small at 14,955 sf, and surrounded by taller and larger projects. To the east is 41 storey ‘Tate’, nearing completion, and across Drake Street to the south is 31 storey ‘Salt’. Burrard Place to the west across Hornby is under construction and when complete will be a dominant neighbourhood landmark at 53 storeys. The north property line is shared with ‘Pure’, a 15 storey mixed use project that sits only 25 feet from the common property line.

Given the close proximity to other buildings, it was understood at the outset of the project that any redevelopment in tower form would have to be tall, elegant and slender, and demonstrate a character that would make it ‘stand out in a crowd’. The project was seen as an opportunity to demonstrate that redevelopment of small sites is not only feasible, but can enhance the built environment through unique and original architecture.

The challenge to achieve feasibility has been much more difficult than anticipated, primarily due to two significant encumbrances on the property that were not fully anticipated at the outset. To achieve the City mandated 80 foot separation between towers, a setback on the north side of the property had to be increased from the typical 40 feet to 55 feet, due to the atypical proximity of ‘Pure’ to the common property
line. This condition meant that the tower floor plate of the proposal could not be much greater than 5,000 sf, which limits efficiency and the number of suites per level. It also forced a 2 versus 3 elevator solution, to keep the core as small as possible.”

This rezoning application is being considered under the Downtown Potential Benefit Capacity Policy.

The architect for the project is Merrick Architecture.