Excerpt: Asked how so many homes for high-income earners counted as social housing, Dan Garrison, Vancouver’s assistant director of housing policy, explained in a recent interview how it works: a building counts as “social housing” if it is owned and operated by a government or non-profit society and at least 30 per cent of the units...Read More

URBAN DESIGN PANEL MINUTES February 20, 2019 Minutes: udpminutes02202019 (pdf) The Urban Design Panel find the 601 Beach Crescent social housing units facing the bridge are not liveable. The buildings should be more aligned with the east side, there would be more sun and liveability of the social housing sites. The Panel recommends Design development...Read More

Attend the Urban Design Panel. The meeting was scheduled for February 20 at 3 pm at City Hall. Excerpt:  Local and international architects have been invited to take part in a special review for a proposed Vancouver high-rise. The Urban Design Panel has set a meeting on Tuesday (February 20) to evaluate the design of...Read More

Excerpt:  Mark Nov. 26 on your calendar if you want to inspect plans for a 54-storey high rise envisioned for 601 Beach Crescent at the north end of Granville Bridge across from Westbank’s 49-storey Vancouver House ‘twisty tower’ that’s nearing completion. An open house for the Beach Crescent rezoning application is planned on that date. Pinnacle International...Read More

Excerpt: A rezoning application, along with a fresh set of renderings, has been filed with the City of Vancouver for what would be the city’s fourth-tallest tower. Pinnacle International wants to build a 54-storey luxury high-rise at the north end of Granville Bridge, opposite the under-construction Vancouver House. Together the redevelopment of the Granville loop lands is...Read More

The city has become increasingly reliant on developer cash, and deals are secretly made. What’s this all added up to? Rezoning approvals should be motivated by how a project serves a changing city, from population growth to new employment opportunities, and the collection of CACs is a response to accommodating that change. Rezonings should not...Read More

The City of Vancouver has received an application from GBL Architects Ltd. to rezone the site to a new Comprehensive Development (CD-1) District to permit the development of a 54-storey mixed-use building which includes: 303 market residential units and 152 social housing units; a floor space ratio (FSR) of 7.23; 2,094 sq. m (22,543 sq....Read More

Excerpt:  The appraisal, conducted for city hall by CWPC Property Consultants, contemplated a 425-foot or 42-storey tower, totalling 390,937 square feet or a 500-foot or 50-storey tower with 567,000 square feet. If the property is not developed in the first five years, city hall has the option to buy it back for the purchase price....Read More

Excerpt: While the Canadian Recreational Water Quality Guidelines recommend a level of less than 200 E.coli bacteria per 100 mL of water for swimming, East False Creek’s level is at 1,304 E.coli per 100 mL – more than six times the maximum acceptable amount. These readings are based on Vancouver Coastal Health’s latest test conducted on July...Read More

Excerpt:  Today, there are only 542 affordable units in False Creek North, according to the city, far fewer than the 20 per cent target of approximately 1,500. In fact, rental and non-market housing units together make up only nine per cent of the housing stock in False Creek North, much lower than the overall city average of...Read More