GBL Architects has submitted an application to rezone a City of Vancouver owned property at 508 Helmcken Street (Southwest corner).  The rezoning would change the designation from DD to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) District. The proposal is for a 36 storey mixed use building with 344 market residential strata units (including 5, 2-level townhouses at grade), 110 market rental units and a private school. The proposed building is 320 ft high with a floor area of 365,334 sq ft and a density of 17.4 FSR.

The current building, Jubilee House, is a non-profit facility containing 87 seniors housing units.

The Monterey Apartments at West 10th Avenue and Hemlock Street in the South Granville area has sold. The 17-unit heritage ‘C’ class building had been listed for sale in 2012 with an asking price of $4,800,000. It sold in January for $4,497,000, equating to a 3.6% cap rate and a price per unit of $265,000. The building was built in 1925. The buyer was Premier Pacific Properties.

After more than 50 Vancouverites signed up to speak at a public hearing Tuesday night, city council planned to push back its vote by two weeks on a controversial plan to rezone a prime piece of waterfront real estate in the city’s West End.

Many of the planned speakers were locals asking city hall either to reject the plan or force affordable housing into a Beach Towers rezoning application that proposes the development of 133 units available at above-market rental prices.

“We want a third of these units to have a starting rent that’s targeted to the median income in our community,” said Christine Ackermann of the West End Residents Association. “I think it’s our job to push city hall for more affordability and I think they can get it.”

The rezoning hearing for the Beach Towers STIR project (click here to view rezoning application documents) is happening now. 

Click here to watch the proposal live.

As reported in the Financial Post today, Best Buy Canada will be closing 15 stores nationwide, following the lead of it’s counterparts in the US in an effort to reduce costs and focus on outlets with a smaller footprint.

Best Buy…”, which is closing stores in the British Columbia, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and Ontario markets, will open a substantial, but unspecified number of its smaller Future Shop web stores and new Best Buy Mobile locations over the next three years across the country.”

The two Metro Vancouver locations affected are as follows:

• Queensborough Landing in New Westminster
• Morgan Crossing in South Surrey