The City of Vancouver will consider a recommendation to makes changes to the West End Rezoning Policy regarding social housing requirements.

The report indicates the following recommended changes in Areas 1 & 2 of the West End Plan (depicted below):

• Reducing the inclusionary social housing requirements 25% of the residential floor area to 20% or one-for-one replacement of the existing rental housing, whichever is greater
• Introducing a cash-in-lieu option that reflects the costs for the City to deliver such social housing offsite, including land and construction, which will be determined on a case-by case basis through the rezoning process.

The reduction to the inclusionary social housing requirement is recommended as an interim measure for two years until December 31, 2026, or until adoption of a new Inclusionary Zoning By-law that would supersede this rezoning policy.

Three projects have been approved for rezoning with the 25% social housing but have not yet started construction. These projects would require a new application to be granted the reduction.

The full report can be viewed here: https://council.vancouver.ca/20240924/documents/r1.pdf

Coromandel Properties and Peterson Group have submitted two concurrent rezoning applications for sites in the Oakridge area. The rezonings contemplate two condo towers on Manson Street, and the required 30% social housing requirement to be placed on a nearby site at Ash Street and West 37th.

These applications represent the first transfer of social housing density between sites in the Cambie Corridor Plan. To date, no proposals have been made in the Oakridge Municipal Centre area with a blend of condo and social housing.

Manson Street Site

The proposal on Manson Street is for an assembly of 5 single family lots at 5392-5472 Manson St. The proposal is to allow for the development of two 18-storey condo buildings over four levels of underground parking. The proposal includes:

• 248 condo units;
  • 76 one-bedrooms, 146 two-bedrooms & 26 three-bedrooms;
• A total density of 5.6 FSR;
• A building height of 197 ft.; and
• 266 vehicle parking spaces and 567 bicycle parking spaces.

The architect for this project is IBI Group.

Ash Street Site

The proposal for the site at Ash and West 37th Avenue anticipates rezoning a 3-lot single family assembly to allow for the development of the social housing component to be transferred from the Manson site above. The rezoning at 5250-5270 Ash St and 595 W 37th Ave calls for a 6-storey building that includes:

• 77 social housing units;
• a total density of 2.97 FSR;
• A building height of 75 ft.; and
• 31 vehicle parking spaces and 162 bicycle parking spaces.

The architect for the Ash Street project is NSDA Architects.

Both applications are being considered under the Cambie Corridor Plan.

VivaGrand Developments has applied to the City of Vancouver for permission to develop 1555 Robson Street, a site at the corner of Robson and Cardero Streets in Downtown Vancouver. The 132 x 131 ft site is located in the West End Community Plan which rezoned the property to C-6, which conditionally allows for a market residential highrise if social housing and commercial space is included.

The site sits directly south of 1550 Alberni, a 43-storey condo tower by Westbank currently under construction.

The proposal is for a 28-storey tower that includes:

• 177 residential units including 24 units of social housing;
• Retail on the ground floor;
• Office space on floors 2-3;
• Social housing on floors 2-7;
• Condos on floors 8-28;
• A total density of 9.63 FSR:
• A building height of approximately 300 ft.

Vivagrand acquired the site in October 2017 for $79,500,000 or $455 per buildable SF based on the gross floor area in the application.

The architect for the project is IBI Group.

The full development application can be viewed here: https://development.vancouver.ca/1555robson/index.htm

A rezoning application has been submitted for a 25,265 SF site at 1102-1138 East Georgia Street in East Vancouver, which is currently improved with four older lowrise industrial buildings. The site is currently zoned I-2 Industrial, but the area falls within the Downtown Eastside Community Plan, allowing a mix of uses, including residential. Allowable density in the neighbourhood has been identified for up to 2.50 FSR for mixed-use proposals in the I-2 zone through a rezoning.

The proposal is for a 4-storey mixed-use family-oriented development, including:

• • 37 residential units (20% are social housing);
  • 2 studios, 4 one-bedrooms, 1 two-bedroom & 30 three-bedrooms;
  • a total density of 2.50 FSR; and
  • 16,145 of creative/production/retail space on the ground floor.

The application describes the design rationale: “The proposed development massing steps down from the western edge of the site at the intersection of Glen and East Georgia towards the adjacent RT-3 zoned homes to the east, providing an appropriate transition in scale in the context of the neighbourhood. The massing is in keeping with the eclectic mixed-use community of Kiwassa East and through this form enhances the diversity of housing and commercial opportunities.”

The housing partner for the project is ANHART Foundation.

This application is being considered under the Downtown Eastside Community Plan.

The architect for the project is Ekistics Architecture.

A partnership between Strand Development and Intracorp has submitted an application to rezone a site located at 1055 Harwood Street, between Thurlow and Burrard in the West End area of Downtown Vancouver.

The proposal is for a 32-storey residential building with:

• 82 market residential units;
• 68 two-bedrooms, 8 three-bedrooms and 6 four-bedrooms;
• 44 social housing units;
• a density of 10.35 FSR;
• four levels of underground parking with 156 vehicle parking stalls;
• 158 bicycle parking spaces; and
• a building height of 300 ft.

The RM-5A zoned site was redesignated under the West End Community Plan, adopted in 2014. Currently occupied by a lowrise coop, the site was acquired in August 2016 for $40.5 Million.

The application describes the design rationale: