Broadway Corridor Updates
 

Since the Broadway Corridor is going to start seeing a lot of action, it's own thread seems warranted.

Rezoning application for 130 West Broadway.

https://images.dailyhive.com/2023021...ers-2023-f.jpg

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https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/130-...owers-proposal

Perfect idea for a thread. Thanks.

Love the amount of units and density, but is that a redesign? I remember these buildings looking a lot more striking than what's proposed now.

This is the 2018 design.

https://images.dailyhive.com/2018081...ancouver-1.jpg Image from MBDA

Those are the ones. Thanks.

Man, what a downgrade.

Perfect timing to start a thread.

I took the below pics yesterday evening, and there are definitely signs of activity at the Broadway and Birch tower site. It might finally be under construction?? If someone can swing by during operating hours, they can confirm if things are actually happening.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d69b7c04_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...50bd17c1_c.jpg

If Broadway & Birch has their hoarding up and an excavator I'd assume they've started their BP to excavate. Unless they think paying extra for a second site mobilization.

It could be them just getting rid of the 0.3 metre topsoil which has to be disposed of separately and in a more costly fashion, just like if it was contaminated. They'll likely start in any case full excavation before June 15, unless they like wasting a few hundred thousand dollars.

Really love the progress of the 130 W Broadway design. Much improved. Can't wait to see it succeed or get revised, as it stands.

Missed opportunity. The City allowed taller towers a little too late. With this economic climate, high mortgage borrowing rates and way more expensive construction costs, the only things affordable are the bland products. Expect more of such towers in the coming years.

I think they dodged a bullet not building what would most likely be this year.

2023, Feb 16

Granville St

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...6b0c9806_h.jpgUntitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Not following what you are saying at all.... please elaborate.

Building costs went to the moon 2020 to mid-2022 and have plateaued. So if they purchased inked trades at the height they'd be in a pickle. Things have cooled off quite a bit since April 2022 and if things maintain and Reliance goes fairly smooth with permits they should have a better position on trades and materials. Obviously prices go up year over year, but yikes we put a few on hold during the pandemic because materials were pretty much being shipped from Mars

Reliance's latest design is what 80% of all residential towers here will look like due mainly to energy sustainability requirements.

I'm not aware on the boundaries of Broadway corridor development (it is possible this is not the best thread for this one..), but this one is at 3701 W Broadway and Alma St. It is a 14-storey rental tower in West Point Grey.
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/3701...uncil-approved
It is a pretty tall building for that area

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4d0d915d_h.jpgUntitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...61109608_h.jpgUntitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

It's beyond the current Broadway Corridor Plan, but is one of the City's Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program projects. It has 153 secured market rental units, 20 per cent of which will be targeted at moderate income households. Although it has a distinct Henriquez vibe, it's designed by Leckie Studio, who have generally done houses and interiors up to now, (and also the UBC Arts Student Centre).

https://www.urbanyvr.com/wp-content/...nderings-2.jpg
[UrbanYVR]

Broadway Corridor boundary area...

East boundary - Clark Drive

South Boundary- 16th Ave,

West boundary - Vine St,

North boundary - W. 1st Ave/W. 6th Ave/W. 2nd Ave/Great Northern Way.

The north boundary includes the industrial area around and underneath the Granville Street Bridge ramps, where the boundary transitions from W. 1st Ave to W. 6th Ave.

Thanks Logan5, this betters fits general Vancouver thread.

No problem. I should have laid out the boundaries in the original post.

Map of the area with zoning, it's from the draft but it's the same as the approved version:

https://www.apartmentblocks.ca/aptb-...ay-page-18.jpg

a drilling rig is on site at Broadway & Birch and excavation seems to be commencing!

and just to be sure I talked with an orange vested guy on site and he confirmed its a go!

Is the Broadway Plan fully approved? I saw development application boards up at the north-west corner of Arbutus and 15th for the 2 properties there. The applications are for duplexes but according to that map the area should be zoned for mid or high-rise.

Almost all are pre-enquiries and you wont see signs except for I think 2 projects so far that went straight to rezoning and are on the City website.

Hopefully they can clear the backlog at city hall this year and we'll start to see some more interesting projects.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanc...backlog-delays

Welcome to the forum. The Plan has been adopted, and indicates what developers are allowed to submit applications for, but it doesn't mean that's what will be developed. There's a misunderstanding that the Broadway Plan will mean everything will develop as high a density as possible, but that often requires site consolidation and a rezoning, so you need a developer with deep pockets and patience.

Some developments will be submitted that follow the existing zoning, like the duplex applications on West 15th (there was one of those, with a laneway infill, at 2466 W15th approved in 2022 for example).

A five storey building has just been submitted at 245 E 11th for example, a couple of blocks from the station, on a site where a high-rise is allowed.

https://changingcitybook.files.wordp...1th-render.jpg
[Shape Your City]

If you bought the property before the Broadway Plan, then you might go with lesser density, but even then, most will opt to go with the more profitable higher density, especially when you paid a lesser price. The higher density is a huge bonus.

Outside of that…

If a property sits in an area zoned for say FSR 6.5 tower form, then that property is going to be priced for that density. You wouldn’t buy that piece of property at that price, then build a smaller, lesser density building after paying a premium price.

I would say that more than most properties zoned high density will end up high density.

Unfortunately most of these will be rental and there is a rate-of-change policy in place, so you likely won't see too much expect for lots that don't have existing rental on them already.

The Broadway Plan allows a developer to rezone to higher density, but until a site is rezoned it can only be developed to the zoned density. While there will probably be speculative valuations that anticipate rezoning, it's not a given. And of course, plenty of projects have been built to existing zoning recently, which makes them unlikely to redevelop to higher densities, even if the plan allows it. For example, MingLian's 'Duet' is just starting construction at 3.3 FSR on the corner of Spruce.

Could you explain the rate-of-change policy? I'm unaware.

Oh I forgot about the tower limit per block rule. Maybe Mr. Swagger will change that.

1st there is a # of towers per block rule, as Logan mentioned (typically 2 and some areas are now 3 per block after an amendment (block includes area on both sides of a lane))

2nd is the rate-of-change policy akin to Grandview-Woodland Plan area. I've yet to get confirmation from Staff for our applications whether it's a cap / # of active rezonings at a time to avoid mass evictions, or whether it's area-based (no 2 active rezonings at a time within "X" kilometers of one another etc)

https://udi.bc.ca/municipal-news-van...licy%20Session

I assume this is open to anyone, but having just found it, I won't be able to attend it on such short notice.

Going to council at the end of the month

Broadway Plan Pace of Change & Other Policy Updates
 

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https://twitter.com/City_Duo/status/...341777920?s=20

I get the feeling that it's less about displacing renters and more about calming paranoid homeowners - the relocation clause all but guarantees that developers pick apart the commercial zoning first (which does have tenants, but only a few per property).

"pace of change" = constrained supply = higher prices

But of course governments will vilify evil developers for the reason prices are high.

Yeah I really don't get this. We're in a housing crisis. Shouldn't the fact that there's been a huge buy in from the development industry show that the Broadway plan is a huge success? And instead they're trying to slow it down?

They’re trying to not have a large amount of rental housing lost all at once during construction.

Again though, one'd think the tenant relocation clause would have developers start on the commercial buildings first and leave the rentals for 4-6 years later.

I'd be alright with 15. Towers of that size will take around 2 tears to build so there would (theoretically) be around 30 towers going up at any given time in the apartment zones, plus all the activity around the stations. There are going to be a lot of units being built per year.

I would be interested to know how many out of that 100 are in the RS areas. It's surprising that half of them are in the apartment zone, compared to the station and shoulder areas where there is much higher density allotted.

Overall, the pace of change is going to be drastic.

From the transit tread:

Translink and PCI partnership on developing the east side of Arbutus between Broadway and 10th. Translink owns the dry cleaners site at 2096 W Broadway and PCI owns 2560 Arbutus.

-30 storey tower
-200 residential units w/ 40 being below market
-Retail on street level
-Community space for Ohel Ya’akov Community Kollel

https://buzzer.translink.ca/2023/03/...pment-project/

Habitat - 2520 Guelph

I really like the angled wood panels surrounding the exterior doorways

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...15813002_h.jpg



550 East Broadway

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...76d5d397_b.jpg
Photos by me.

Nice updates, thanks. Does anybody know if 550 E Broadway was built under any of the rental building programs? Looks like small units and no parking.

I think it's just built to zoning, but the developer chose to do rental, rather than strata. The design changed with a different architect, but it remained rental.

It was originally proposed with 43 parking spaces on three levels, and with a 3rd CRU below ground on the P1 level. P2&3 access would have been with a vehicle lift from P1 which would have a traditional ramp to the lane.
https://web.archive.org/web/20171019...dway/index.htm


As build it looks like just one level of parking; from the building website it sounds like bike + dedicated car share only, no vehicle parking. https://rent550eb.ca/the-building/

My photo, Sept 2021. 2525 Carolina on the right has two levels.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...06c5a654_c.jpg

And this seems unusual: "Gair Williamson Architects - Schematic Design and Original Development Permit; Michael Green Architecture - all other Architectural services." So they switched architects and changed the design to CLT for the upper floors without having to get a new Development Permit, and the new design and reduction in parking was treated as a minor amendment, rather than requiring a new Development Application.

New renderings of TransLink's proposed 30-storey rental housing tower at SkyTrain's future Arbutus Station:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/2096...-translink-pci

https://images.dailyhive.com/2023051...al-tower-7.jpg

https://images.dailyhive.com/2023051...-Station-4.jpg

https://images.dailyhive.com/2023051...-Station-5.jpg

https://images.dailyhive.com/2023051...-Station-1.jpg

https://images.dailyhive.com/2023051...al-tower-5.jpg

Looks amazing. Secondary station entrance. Activated Arbutus Greenway. Retail and public spaces. Translink doing things right.

Solid all around.

Not sure if this is new or not

794 E Broadway

https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/...ast-broadway-s

2511 Spruce

[IMG]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1edea537_b.jpg

Must cost a lot to change the previous shorter version to the current taller tower. All the charges will definitely go into the overall cost.

Eg. 1296 West Broadway (Previously Denny's Restaurant)
Previous:
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/1296...dway-vancouver
Current:
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/2538...wer-bc-housing

Still glad the tower is a lot taller now though, but love the previous brick cladding and overall design better. Should've stuck with this scheme.