28-storey tower at 1555 Robson Street: POSTPONED – Development Permit Board (was to be 10-Dec-2018) (DP-2018-00589)

(Update 7-Dec: This item was advertised for the December 10 DPB meeting. But WEN has confirmed it was removed from the agenda at the last minute, and no new date has yet been decided.)

Another tower is up for its final development permit, part of the huge wave of land purchases and construction proposals made possible by the West End Community Plan (WECP) adopted by City Council in 2013. This meeting is open to the public and you may speak to the meeting if you register in advance.

Development Permit Board
“1555 Robson Street – DP-2018-00589”
[Scheduled for Dec 10, 2018, but cancelled and no new date set yet]  
Town Hall Meeting Room (1st Floor, City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue), Vancouver City Hall

DPB site: https://vancouver.ca/home-property-development/development-permit-board.aspx

Basic info:

• Applicant is IBI Group (architect) on behalf of VivaGrand Developments, the North American office of Xiangli, “a leading real estate firm with 22 years of experience and over 350,000 square feet of residential, mixed-use, and infrastructure development in China” (no other info publicly available).
• A 28-storey, mixed-use building with office and retail uses at ground level
• 177 residential units including 24 units of what the city defines loosely as “social housing” (with a separate entrance), the rest being strata condo
• A Floor Space Ratio of 9.63 (approximately 174,837 sq.ft.)
• Building height of approx. 300 ft.

Many West End residents and visitors will know this location on Robson Street near Cardero as the home of the popular Chocolate Mousse Kitchenware, which got media attention a year ago when owners Jane and Karen Tennant were forced out of business after 33 years here as a result of a 92% property tax increase, which we attribute largely to the WECP.

NOTE: WEN has confirmed that Chocolate Mousse is still open for business (December 2018) at 1553 Robson Street. Tel. (604) 682-8223, open to 9 pm every day except Sunday (6 pm).

The proposed tower replaces a two-storey commercial building from 1949. The tower, if built will be across the lane from a 43-storey tower at 1550 Alberni, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma and now under construction by Westbank, also enabled by the WECP, and set for completion in 2020.

Online “mystery” bloggers at City Duo attended the Urban Design Panel meeting on October 31, 2018. Their report lavishes praise on the design, but inadvertently exposes some of the ways the City and this advisory body deal with design and regulatory issues:

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November 20 marks FIFTH anniversary of the West End Community Plan: How has it been for you?

The West End Community Plan (WECP) went before City Council on November 20, 2013 and Council adopted it after 10 pm that night. Happy fifth birthday, WECP! Zoning amendments to accommodate the plan were adopted two months later, at a daytime Public Hearing on January 23. (City’s official web page for WECP.)

The WECP is based on seven broad “principles”:

1. Achieve a green, environmentally sustainable urban pattern.
2. Support a range of affordable housing options to meet the diverse needs of the community.
3. Foster a robust, resilient economy.
4. Enhance culture, heritage and creativity in the city.
5. Provide and support a range of sustainable transportation options.
6. Protect and enhance public open spaces, parks and green linkages.
7. Foster resilient, sustainable, safe and healthy communities.

While these principles are general and came with few quantitative targets, the plan makes specific mention of creating 7,500 new “homes,” and the words “affordable” or “affordability” appear 44 times in 139 pages. For example, “Deepening housing affordability and meeting the needs of a growing community are a priority,” says the summary statement, although nowhere is the definition of “deepening” provided. Another key feature of the plan is the Public Benefits Strategy, estimated at then to provide between $585 and $630 million in benefits to the community over 30 years, with the funds coming from development.

The full WECP document can be downloaded here (PDF, 139 pages):
https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/west-end-community-plan.pdf

Within months of Council’s adoption of the WECP, Business in Vancouver reported a “Real Estate Boom Projected For Vancouver’s West End.” (Our story here.) And that is exactly what we have seen.

Excerpt: “Vancouver’s West End is on the verge of a dramatic real estate revival sparked by density brought on by a recent community plan, according to a real estate industry report… ‘Nothing would have happened without the West End community plan,’ says James Lang, the market intelligence manager for Colliers International Realty. ‘That plan unlocked value and growth potential in the downtown core where land is so scarce.‘

Let’s look back before the plan’s adoption for a moment. Early in the public consultation process (2012 – 2013), West End residents were kept busy with periodic events, such as a story-telling evening, photo competition, road painting, the West End Mayor’s Advisory Committee (WEMAC, members hand-picked by two Council members, and with all meetings held at City Hall), and the “West End Champions Network” (created for the plan process but now defunct).

Just weeks before the plan went to Council for approval and after many months of community input and comment, residents who attended staff presentations were treated (but only for a matter of seconds) with their first and only chance to view a sophisticated 3D video model of the future West End, bristling with tall new towers that had not previously been indicated as part of the public consultation process. It included bands of development going up to 60 storeys in height along the Alberni Street, Burrard Street, and Thurlow Street corridors. Given the departure of this type of development from the themes shared with residents to that point, some might conclude that members of the development and real estate industry had been involved in a separate, parallel process with the City to discuss the development potential for certain areas and sites in the West End.

Now back to 2018. In the five years since November 2013, there has indeed been a wave of development and change: many demolitions and evictions of renters from older and more affordable rental buildings, tax increases and retail business closures; developer-funded buy-outs and displacement of strata condo owners to make way for tower developments; and lots of new tower construction, with big towers, primarily along the corridors along Davie, Robson, Alberni, and Thurlow Streets. Most of the new towers have been luxury condos, but some have been rental apartments – with luxury rents anticipated.

How has the West End Community Plan worked out for you?

Berkeley Tower tenants (1770 Davie) appeal for urgent action to prevent renoviction: Oct 29 (Mon) deadline for public input

Berkeley Tower at 1770 Davie. Credit: Tenants’ group

The West End Community Plan was adopted in November 2013, five years ago.

It set off a gold rush for developers, enabling them to build towers up twenty, thirty, forty and more than fifty storeys along the main corridors of the West End – Robson, Alberni, Thurlow, and Davie.

During Community Plan consultation, the City and elected officials told West Enders that increased density will “deepen” housing affordability. Among the planning objectives, “livability” and “neighbourliness” also featured prominently. Despite that, there have been many demovictions and renovictions. As far as we know, the City is not keeping score, but the count of renters displaced could already be in the high hundreds or more.

Now the tenants of the iconic green and yellow Berkeley Tower (1170 Davie, at foot of Davie near Denman), are appealing to the community for urgent support to help them fight renoviction and displacement by Reliance Properties Ltd. Some of them have lived there forty years. It is a close community of neighbours.

Below is a bit more background and links to their website. The main point is that they are asking people to take immediate action by writing to the City of Vancouver. The “official” deadline for public input is Monday, October 29. Public input will be considered by the Development Permit Board, and a decision will be made in the coming weeks or months.

Suggested actions:

1. Oppose this application by writing a letter to the project facilitator at the City of Vancouver.
2. Share this information with others and encourage action. The more people who oppose, the stronger the chance the application will not be approved.

Writing an email is easy and can take as little as five minutes. All the steps and talking points are laid out here:
https://berkeleytower.wixsite.com/tenants/blank-page

More info (including links to media coverage):

https://berkeleytower.wixsite.com/tenants

https://www.facebook.com/BerkeleyTowerTenants

Park Board All Candidates Meeting: 29-Sept-2018 (Saturday): West End Community Centre

The West End Community Centre Association (WECCA) will be hosting this meeting:

Vancouver Park Board All Candidates’ Meeting
Saturday, September 29, 2018
2:30 to 4 pm

Ask the important questions, learn who will be responsive to the issues that affect you and issues that impact your community.

West End Mayoral Forum for 2018 civic election: 9-Oct-2018 (Tues) at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church

The next Vancouver civic election is October 20, 2018. This also happens to be five years since City Council adopted the West End Community Plan. A good time for taking stock and communicating with election candidates.

Several groups are organizing a West End Mayoral Forum. (Some voices are also calling for a forum of other candidates too, but we have no word on such a plan yet for City Council, School Board, or Park Board. Stay tuned.) The information below on the Mayoral Forum is adapted from the event’s dedicated Facebook page.

West End Mayoral Forum
Tuesday, October 9
7 to 9 pm
St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church
1022 Nelson Street, Vancouver

CANDIDATES: Ken Sim, Kennedy Stewart, Hector Bremner, Shauna Sylvester

Organizers: West End Families in Action (WEFA), WE Arts WEArts.ca, Denman & West Neighbours (DAWN), West End Seniors’ Network, Gordon Neighbourhood House, Metro Vancouver Alliance, Young Ideas, and St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church.

AIM
To provide a forum where candidates can explain their positions and hear the concerns of local residents via questions to be provided by stakeholders. Among the themes of concern within the West End about which candidates will have an opportunity to share their ideas are:

1. livability and quality of life;
2. residential affordability and homelessness; and
3. viability of independent local businesses.

FORMAT
Candidates will answer questions provided by stakeholders, and a moderator (Richard F Zussman, Global) will ensure that answers and exchanges among candidates are concise and on target so as to make best use of the 7:00-9:00 pm time frame for the event.

West End Seniors Community Planning Table to feature Rental Housing Task Force Consultation. Keynote by MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert: June 29, 2018 (Fri)

The West End Seniors’ Community Planning Table provides a forum for seniors, community groups, service providers and stakeholders to connect together, share information and take action on issues important to local Seniors. They meet regularly, and often the topics are of interest and relevant to not only seniors but to the entire community.

The Friday June 29 meeting is focused on housing, and features a keynote presentation by MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, who is chair of the Rental Housing Task Force.

West End Seniors Community Planning Table Meeting

When:    Friday June 29,  10:00 am – 12:00 pm,
Where:  St Andrews Wesley Church – 1018 Nelson Street,

 

The meeting starts with Community Program Updates from Organizations (~30 min)
● St Andrews Wesley Program Updates
● Central Presbyterian Updates
● Mole Hill Housing Society Updates and Hydro Substation
● Gordon Neighbourhood House & Seniors Advisory Committee Updates
● Battered Women Support Services Program Updates
● West End Coal Harbour Community Policing Updates
● QMUNITY program Updates
● Others

And after a 15 minute break, the keynote begins with MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert. This is an important opportunity to have your voice heard during the consultation period (ending soon) to discuss rental tenancy issues.

The Rental Housing Task Force wants to better understand what further changes may be needed to modernize B.C.’s tenancy laws.

• Identifying options to improve security and fairness for both renters and rental housing providers, while addressing the challenges of affordability;
• A review of the existing laws and how they apply to different housing situations;
• A review of innovative approaches in other jurisdictions.

An underground electrical substation at Lord Roberts School Annex: Back on the table, consultations in May

The “SEED” proposal from 2017

The Vancouver School Board is once again looking at a proposal from BC Hydro

Below is text from a joint VSB-BC Hydro announcement on the new initiative, plus fresh media coverage. A fresh proposal has been made for BC Hydro to acquire the rights to build a new substation underground at the Lord Roberts Elementary School Annex property in the West End.

In 2017, BC Hydro abandoned the effort to build two substations, one in Yaletown and one near Lord Roberts Annex, saying the City of Vancouver was demanding too much money. The City said BC Hydro was trying to rush the decision. Less discussed at the time was the fact decision-making at the school board was being done at the time by one sole person, Dianne Turner, the official trustee who was politically appointed by the B.C. Liberal government after it had fired the entire school board. The optics of a political appointee approving a major proposal by a Crown corporation may have been a cause for some concern. (A new school board went in with a byelection in September 2017, and incidentally, Dianne Turner’s term ended in April 2018.)

Now the proposal back and the public has a chance to look at the pros and cons. Consultations will begin in May, and a decision is expected in June, well before the municipal elections on October 20.

Joint announcement by VSB and BC Hydro, April 2018

BC Hydro and VSB revisit proposal to use Lord Roberts Annex land for new substation

BC Hydro has approached VSB to revisit their proposal to build a new underground substation at the Lord Roberts Annex property in the West End.  

If approved, BC Hydro would acquire the rights to build a new substation underground at the Lord Roberts Annex property at a fair market price. This would provide VSB with funding to build a new Coal Harbour School sooner than expected and would allow for construction of a new elementary school at the Lord Roberts Annex site after the substation is complete. This would help address VSB enrolment pressure in the downtown area at the end of the next decade. 

Happy New Year 2018 from West End Neighbours!

 

Happy New Year!

Vancouver City Council adopted the current West End Community Plan in November 2013, so in 2018 we will mark the milestone of five years since the plan was adopted. The WECP has triggered some dramatic changes in the community, including  pace of demolition and construction that has even surprised our city planners.

The City does not have a systematic process for tracking, evaluating, and reporting on implementation of the WECP and delivery of promised benefits. During the coming year, West End Neighbours will report on proposals and decisions affecting the neighbourhood, put together information on the ongoing changes, and provide residents with information and suggestions on how to get local voices heard at City Hall.

WEN started reporting on issues back in 2010, so this site is a good archive of things over the past eight years. We will do our best to keep the stories coming. We welcome input, information and tips, suggestions for stories, and donations to cover our costs.

Many West End topics in Council Nov 28 (Tues): Housing Strategy, Gabriola Mansion, Social Housing at 1488 Robson, Naming of West End Lanes, Coast Plaza Hotel, Rental Buildings

The Regular Meeting of Vancouver City Council will cover several topics that relate to the West End. For now we just list them here, with links to relevant documents. The meeting starts at 9:30 am. The agenda, documents, instructions on how to write or speak to City Council are at this link. Please visit the official agenda for the full, up to date list.

http://council.vancouver.ca/20171128/regu20171128ag.htm

Here is a selection of topics especially relevant to the West End.

**********

1. Housing Vancouver Strategy (2018 – 2027) and 3-Year Action Plan (2018 – 2020)

Gil Kelley, General Manager, Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability, will present on the Policy Report dated November 15, 2017.

• Report 
• Appendix A – Housing Vancouver Strategy 
• Appendix B – Housing Vancouver 3 Year Action Plan 2018-2020 
• Appendix C – Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program 
• Appendix D – Public and Stakeholder Engagement and Key Milestones 

**********

1. TEXT AMENDMENT: 1523 Davie Street (Gabriola Mansion)

On November 14, 2017, Vancouver City Council heard from speakers at a Public Hearing on the above-noted application and, following the close of the receipt of public comments, referred discussion and decision to the Regular Council meeting on November 28, 2017, as Unfinished Business.

The following previously distributed documents refer:

• Policy Report dated October 3, 2017, entitled “CD-1 Text Amendment: 1523 Davie Street (Gabriola Mansion)”; 
• Summary and Recommendation 
• Minutes 2 of this agenda package.

**********

4. CAC Policy Update: Simplifying CACs on New Rental Housing and Commercial Development

• Report 

**********

5. Acquisition of Social Housing at 1488 Robson Street

• Report 

**********

1. Naming of West End Lanes and New Temporary City Hall Plaza

• Report 

**********

1. Approval of Form of Development – 1030 Denman Street (Coast Plaza Hotel)

• Motion 

**********

5. Retaining Older Purpose Built Rental Accommodation

• Motion 

**********

 

Gabriola Mansion (1523 Davie) goes to Public Hearing tonight (Nov 14) for 16+4 market rentals, no height increase

Gabriola Mansion at 1523 Davie Street in Vancouver’s West End, in 1903, two years after completion (Vancouver Archives)

A rezoning application for an icon of the West End, the Gabriola Mansion at 1523 Davie Street, goes to Public Hearing on Tuesday, November 14, 2017. It is item #2 on the agenda for the meeting, which starts at 6 pm.

Official information on the application:
http://rezoning.vancouver.ca/applications/1523davie/index.htm

Basic details of the application:

To amend the text of CD-1 (248) (Comprehensive Development) District for 1523 Davie Street (Gabriola Mansion) for:

• the preservation and restoration of significant heritage elements of the Gabriola Mansion;
• the conversion of the mansion into 16 market rental units;
• four new infill market rental townhouses to be developed in the northeast corner of the property;
• an increase in floor space ratio (FSR) from 0.35 to 0.89; and
• no increase in height from the existing CD-1 (248).

Public Hearing agenda and documents, including correspondence:
http://council.vancouver.ca/20171114/phea20171114ag.htm

MEDIA:

Vancouver council to decide on new uses for two old mansions: Casa Mia to become a care facility, while the Gabriola Mansion slated for rental units (by Justin McElroy, CBC, 9-Nov-2017)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/casa-mia-gabriola-mansion-vancouver-1.4393937