The proposed rental buildings are allowed under the Broadway plan
Vancouver city council’s Broadway plan is taking shape in a small section of Kitsilano, where seven residential towers — each more than 20 storeys tall — are set to be built.
The Broadway Plan was approved in 2022 and applies to the area between Clark Drive and Vine Street from east to west, and from First Avenue to 16th Avenue from north to south. Its goal is to increase the population of the area by permitting much larger buildings than previously allowed.
Under the plan, many non-arterial blocks with three- or four-storey limits for residential buildings can now have up to two 20-storey residential buildings, as long as the owner agrees to rent out the suites rather than sell them.
In Kitsilano, five examples sit within a three-block radius between Vine and Arbutus streets and 6th and 8th Avenue on the 2100 and 2200 blocks. Another tower is planned six blocks away at 1960 West 7th Avenue, with another on the 2100-block of West 1st Avenue.
The seven proposed towers range in height from 64 metres to 76 metres and each offers mostly market rental units, with around 20 per cent of floor space allocated for below-market rentals. In total, they will have 1,354 rental suites of different sizes and around 270 below-market rentals.
All the proposals presented to council were recommended by staff and require zoning to be changed from RM-4 to CD-1, triggering a public hearing.
On Oct. 8, Vancouver city council was asked by staff to permit the 20-storey residential tower at 2175 West 7th Ave. The 76-metre, 182-unit rental tower would replace a three storey, 35-unit walk-up.
According to the city’s department of planning, urban design and sustainability, which recommended the plan, the project will be made up of 147 units of market rentals (including 40 bachelor suites and nine three-bedroom units) and 35 below-market rental units.
Its report cites Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data showing the average rent for a three-bedroom unit in a newer building on Vancouver’s west side is $4,434 a month, while a bachelor will cost $1,902 a month. A below-market three-bedroom rental rate in the complex would cost $2,395 a month, as long as the renter can prove they earn less than $95,808. Below-market rentals are considered available for people on a moderate income.
The site at 2175 West 7th Ave., with its existing building, has an assessed value of $14.5 million, but was sold in June 2022 for $26 million.
The developer, Gracorp Properties LP, through Kitsilano West Development Holdings Ltd, is also developing the 1960 West 7th Ave. site. That property was purchased in October 2022 for $23 million.
“The neighbourhood is undergoing significant change, with a new Broadway Subway Arbutus Station two blocks to the south from the subject site (2175 West 7th Ave.) scheduled to open in 2027,” wrote planner Susanne Rühle.
Once the project has gone through the public hearing, the developer will have to pay the city $1.73 million, plus $231,000 for artwork.
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