General Vancouver Updates

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

What's kinda funny is that 3245 Fraser St the Level 1 plan and the exterior 4-storeys are I think 95% identical to the previous condo version.

With the peat... how deep would that been an issue? I would assume at least 3 levels of parkade here due to the small site and amount of parking for bikes (30' deep) then footings might be 40' deep. I know nothing about peat but I'd imagine 40" deep is a non-issue.

it really depends on how deep the peat is. in some areas, it is fairly shallow. i have seen it stop at only a hand full of metres deep, though in others it is quite deep. on one of my projects we did some bore holes, found both ground water & peat down at 12m... that's where we stopped the bore hole.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Vancouver City Council to consider expediting new affordable housing buildings up to 12 storeys

Almost exactly 19 months ago, the previous makeup of Vancouver City Council rejected OneCity Vancouver councillor Christine Boyle’s motion to expedite the review process for new affordable housing buildings up to 12 storeys...

... Under her forthcoming motion, new affordable housing building proposals — such as social housing, below-market rental housing, and co-op housing — up to 12 storeys would not need to seek rezoning and undergo a public hearing with City Council and can instead go straight to the development permit application reviewed by City staff...

Link

Fingers crossed?

[mcj]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Fingers crossed?

This is going to be a test of exactly how YIMBY ABC Vancouver truly is. They all voted against this last time around, they will again methinks.

[chowhou]

Originally Posted by mcj

This is going to be a test of exactly how YIMBY ABC Vancouver truly is. They all voted against this last time around, they will again methinks.

Zero chance of this getting through. I'm not convinced ABC is NIMBY, but I don't think they're YIMBY on only expediting "social housing, below-market rental housing, and co-op housing" as Boyle's proposal aims to do.

Change it to include market housing and I wouldn't be surprised if you would get ABC more on board (and Boyle with cold feet).

[mcj]

Originally Posted by chowhou

Change it to include market housing and I wouldn't be surprised if you would get ABC more on board (and Boyle with cold feet).

Market housing & only applied east of Cambie and this would be a slam dunk!

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by mcj

Market housing & only applied east of Cambie and this would be a slam dunk!

It would totally defeat the point of Councillor Boyle's motion though. If market housing could be developed up to 12 storeys without a rezoning, the existing buildings would shoot up in value with a massive windfall to the owners, and the social housing, below-market rental housing, and co-op housing couldn't compete with the land value attached to market housing, and wouldn't get built.

[logan5]

Vancouver City Council to consider expediting new affordable housing buildings up to 12 storeys

Almost exactly 19 months ago, the previous makeup of Vancouver City Council rejected OneCity Vancouver councillor Christine Boyle’s motion to expedite the review process for new affordable housing buildings up to 12 storeys...

... Under her forthcoming motion, new affordable housing building proposals — such as social housing, below-market rental housing, and co-op housing — up to 12 storeys would not need to seek rezoning and undergo a public hearing with City Council and can instead go straight to the development permit application reviewed by City staff...

The wording doesn't say 100% social housing or below market housing, so would this include projects that include only a percentage of below market housing? Maybe there's an article where this is specified, but the DH article is a bit vague.

[Changing City]

Here's an extraordinary new industrial building, 100 ft high, 7 storeys, for E Georgia opposite Woodland Park for Bocci. More details on the Changing City blog

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by logan5

The wording doesn't say 100% social housing or below market housing, so would this include projects that include only a percentage of below market housing? Maybe there's an article where this is specified, but the DH article is a bit vague.

If it's the same as the 2021 motion, only 30% of units would have to lease to households with income below Housing Income Limits set out by the Province. But it could only be owned and operated on a not-for-profit basis by non-profit housing societies, co-op, or government agencies. 100% non-market housing couldn't be built without significant additional financial support - even DTES projects almost always rely on a mix of market and non-market tenants.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Changing City

If it's the same as the 2021 motion, only 30% of units would have to lease to households with income below Housing Income Limits set out by the Province. But it could only be owned and operated on a not-for-profit basis by non-profit housing societies, co-op, or government agencies. 100% non-market housing couldn't be built without significant additional financial support - even DTES projects almost always rely on a mix of market and non-market tenants.

Hmm. I wonder if this policy would serve any useful purpose inside of the Broadway Plan, or maybe help along the DTES Plan. In the future, new planning policies could be tailor made for this. Just trying to think of where this might be useful.

[Migrant_Coconut]

It could help basically anywhere that's about to be upzoned. One of the major criticisms of high density here is that it's unaffordable; this is a solution.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Here's an extraordinary new industrial building, 100 ft high, 7 storeys, for E Georgia opposite Woodland Park for Bocci. More details on the Changing City blog

I guess their Railtown space will be up for redevelopment soon considering what's happening with all their neighbours.

EDIT: Bocci's new HQ architect is also doing the design of that new building next door in Railtown (Mallen Gowing Berzins Architecture). And Maker Exchange across the street.

That's one ugly building they designed (in Mt Pleasant). The new Bocci design seems like a pretty huge step up from what they have in their portfolio.

https://beltlinebuilding.com/

Ah this stinker was developed by Rendition Developments which is also in on Maker Exchange.

[phesto]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

https://beltlinebuilding.com/

Ah this stinker was developed by Rendition Developments which is also in on Maker Exchange.

I still chuckle at the decision to name this project after a neighbourhood in Calgary. Does it have cachet for potential strata office buyers?

[officedweller]

I like that Beltline building better than the Bocci building.
I guess you can only get a radical design like the Bocci building if its purpose built for one occupant.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I like that Beltline building better than the Bocci building.

I guess you can only get a radical design like the Bocci building if its purpose built for one occupant.

MGBArchitects have designed a number of industrial/office buildings in Mount Pleasant for Rendition, starting with a fairly simple and conventional pair of boxes on 6th Avenue, and then gradually adding variation like the Beltline, and the current project on W 5th which isn't complete yet.

The Bocci building is in an entirely different category, and on Changing City blog we noted that we suspect it's more the product of Omer Arbel, the designer at Bocci. This current project shows a similar interest in materials, and this is the first iteration of the building. I don't think the image with the DP gives any real sense of what it will be like. They seem to fly below the radar in Vancouver, but is genuinely a world class design and manufacturing business.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I like that Beltline building better than the Bocci building.
I guess you can only get a radical design like the Bocci building if its purpose built for one occupant.

General rule of thumb: richer occupant, cooler building.

[BaddieB]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Here's an extraordinary new industrial building, 100 ft high, 7 storeys, for E Georgia opposite Woodland Park for Bocci. More details on the Changing City blog

Ugly. Burn it.

The fact that they covered up half the rendering with a tree is just too good

[skisk8er00]

-

[skisk8er00]

Originally Posted by BaddieB

Ugly. Burn it.

The fact that they covered up half the rendering with a tree is just too good

Originally Posted by Changing City

Here's an extraordinary new industrial building, 100 ft high, 7 storeys, for E Georgia opposite Woodland Park for Bocci. More details on the Changing City blog

I am interested but still unsure about it...

" a 5-storey headquarters building for the design and manufacturing company Bocci, abutting a park situated between residential and industrial neighbourhoods in the city of Vancouver, Canada.

The project makes use of a technique of pouring concrete over formwork composed of haphazardly stacked hay bales wrapped in loose fabric. The hay / fabric formwork describes vaulted internal spaces and transitions to exterior balconies. The entire façade surface of the building is cut using a diamond rope saw to reveal complex window openings. Interior volumes and window forms directly result from the unpredictable impressions left by the hydro-static pressure of concrete applied to the compressed hay and fabric.

The building consists of two blocks of program. At grade, exhibition spaces, restaurant and bicycle parking connect with the neighborhood and activate the edge of the park. Spaces above include interconnected glass atelier, studio, office, warehouse, production facility, prototyping area, and archive. The entire roofscape is a garden, with courtyards perforating into the middle of the floor plan."

https://omerarbel.com/projects/86-3/

[Jimbo604]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

this has been a discussion for a couple of years now as EV usage grows many levels of government are trying to sort out what to do.

some recent stories on it from Nevada to Scotland all dealing with the same issue of gas tax revenue losses.

https://www.rtoinsider.com/articles/31121-nev-panel-recommends-road-usage-charge-zevs

https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/...-finds-electric-vehicle-fees-inadequate/

https://www.scottishdailyexpress.co.uk/news/scottish-news/electric-car-owners-hit-road-28472652

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-n...replace-gas-tax-with-tolls-for-motorists

I find these kind of stories alarmist like the whole gas tax thing is going to collapse "next year" or something.

The issue is the BC registered vehicle fleet size is huge at ~2.67 million (source: ICBC *) but the number of new vehicles sold ~190k per year in BC is not so big (source: StatsCan). And of that less than 20% of that ~190k are EV's.

For 2021 data shows 2,673,127 registered vehicles in BC of which 58,973 were electric. 2022 stats aren't out yet but I've seen a 80,000 figure. So as a percentage of the total fleet size EV's went from ~2.2% to ~3%.

The percentage of new vehicles being EV is increasing but it will still take many years to refresh the fleet with EV's. We might not even be at 10% of the fleet being EV in 5 years.

I heartily support EV's, but four out of five cars sold in BC are still gas powered. So more must be done. Much more.

It seems likely to me that the government will simply continue what they must have been doing over the last few years when EV's grew from 0% to 3% of the fleet. And that is increasing the gas tax to make up the difference that this low-single digit % of the fleet made. Obviously they can't continue doing that forever, however, it shouldn't be a problem continuing to follow this strategy and kicking the "what do we do with the tax" can down the road for the next five years or even longer.

* ICBC has some great open data sets on their website about registered cars in BC. You can drill down by vehicle year, make, fuel type, municipality, calendar year, etc. All sorts of filters. Link: ICBC Open Data web page