Chinatown Updates Discussion

[logan5]

Be interesting to see what the future of Chinatown will be once the Vancouver ODP is finalized. The DTES LAP is still in effect, but it will be repealed and the DTES Lap has to conform with the Vancouver ODP by June 2030.

Given how the City views Hastings as a rapid transit corridor, and Hastings and Main as a likely station area, there could be some major changes to what is allowed in Chinatown.

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by logan5

Be interesting to see what the future of Chinatown will be once the Vancouver ODP is finalized. The DTES LAP is still in effect, but it will be repealed and the DTES Lap has to conform with the Vancouver ODP by June 2030.

Given how the City views Hastings as a rapid transit corridor, and Hastings and Main as a likely station area, there could be some major changes to what is allowed in Chinatown.

ODP classifies it as:

"Downtown Heritage Areas – Lands intended to maintain their historic character and scale while allowing compatible new developments. Generally allows buildings with a mix of employment activities and retail or other active uses at grade. Only certain types of residential uses are permitted, often in conjunction with specified non-residential uses."

[logan5]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

ODP classifies it as:

"Downtown Heritage Areas – Lands intended to maintain their historic character and scale while allowing compatible new developments. Generally allows buildings with a mix of employment activities and retail or other active uses at grade. Only certain types of residential uses are permitted, often in conjunction with specified non-residential uses."

What page is that? Anyways, I would expect that non heritage sites like 105 Keefer would be granted more height and density as we move along towards adopting the Vancouver ODP.

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by logan5

What page is that? Anyways, I would expect that non heritage sites like 105 Keefer would be granted more height and density as we move along towards adopting the Vancouver ODP.

Draft ODP just has the current plans in it and doesn't provide anything new.

If and when a new area plan is developed it will be incorporated into the ODP. Right now "heritage" is an area designation to limit heights, not that the building as actual heritage value / designation.

[jollyburger]

Beedie's project finally got passed.

Protesters say it is a lose-lose situation as they do not see any gains if this project is passed.

“We lose as the community; the city loses because they are basically kowtowing to a developer. For what? For something that’s not going to actually benefit them,” Mark Lee told 1130 NewsRadio.

“Also, the developer is probably going to lose because it’s a poor financial decision to try to push this through.”

Lee works in Chinatown. He says the project could increase gentrification of the neighbourhood and erode public trust in the permit process.

“Increase in rents for surrounding buildings. We’d see an increase in rents for small businesses like the one that I work for because of the fact that we’ve got this brand-new shiny building,” Lee said.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2025/1...ompts-protest/

[GenWhy?]

"“We haven’t really seen much progress. It’s kind of like we’re really beating this dead horse and it’s starting to it’s starting to smell.”"

Well he ain't entirely wrong.

[PBlonde]

What a bunch of idiots. 9 storeys is far from being significant. Would they prefer it remain a vacant lot from here on out?

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by PBlonde

What a bunch of idiots. 9 storeys is far from being significant. Would they prefer it remain a vacant lot from here on out?

Vacant lot to them means "no gentrification". And that Beedie loses, they win

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by PBlonde

What a bunch of idiots. 9 storeys is far from being significant. Would they prefer it remain a vacant lot from here on out?

Anything that doesn't benefit them personally is abhorrent to them.

[djmk]

The problem is that Chinatown is slowly become not a chinatown anymore. The Chinese community still has many cultural amenities there; however, the shops and the new residents are becoming not Chinese. Gentrification is happening while there is definitely a need to house lower income earners of chinese decent. So, why not here?

Meanwhile, down the street, Hogans Alley is been granted lots of money to build housing for their community.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by djmk

The problem is that Chinatown is slowly become not a chinatown anymore. The Chinese community still has many cultural amenities there; however, the shops and the new residents are becoming not Chinese. Gentrification is happening while there is definitely a need to house lower income earners of chinese decent. So, why not here?

Meanwhile, down the street, Hogans Alley is been granted lots of money to build housing for their community.

Bonnis put the Main & Union site up for sale. Beedie went to court to be allowed to build condos. Maybe, if they offered the site for sale, it could become non-market housing too.

[logan5]

Yeah, these people are full of bs. For decades Chinatown went downhill, as it was abandoned for greener pastures in Richmond. Now when somebody wants to build there, they start to protest. Maintain the ghetto!!

[Migrant_Coconut]

They want the "old" Chinatown back. That's not going to happen, ever.

[djmk]

Originally Posted by logan5

Yeah, these people are full of bs. For decades Chinatown went downhill, as it was abandoned for greener pastures in Richmond. Now when somebody wants to build there, they start to protest. Maintain the ghetto!!

maybe its being abandoned because we have allowed the dtes to fester. meanwhile, this skyscraper community championed some very beautiful buildings for the rich in this city which have been a complete disaster to live in (ie butterfly)

all over this Metro region there are massive fights to keep social housing out of communities and neighborhoods even though its desperately needed. i find it very interesting that the one neighborhood thats asking for social housing is being called bs.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by djmk

maybe its being abandoned because we have allowed the dtes to fester. meanwhile, this skyscraper community championed some very beautiful buildings for the rich in this city which have been a complete disaster to live in (ie butterfly)

all over this Metro region there are massive fights to keep social housing out of communities and neighborhoods even though its desperately needed. i find it very interesting that the one neighborhood thats asking for social housing is being called bs.

That isn't exactly what the group protesting are calling for - they want social housing on a site owned by a private developer where the local plan for the area allows the building to be a strata building. When it was proposed as a slightly bigger building, as a rezoning, with a proportion of the units as social housing, they opposed that too.

It's not as if there's no new social housing near to the location. The Chinatown Foundation recently developed 58 W Hastings, with one of the biggest non-market projects in the city. And there's 52 E Hastings under construction only two blocks away.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by djmk

maybe its being abandoned because we have allowed the dtes to fester. meanwhile, this skyscraper community championed some very beautiful buildings for the rich in this city which have been a complete disaster to live in (ie butterfly)

all over this Metro region there are massive fights to keep social housing out of communities and neighborhoods even though its desperately needed. i find it very interesting that the one neighborhood thats asking for social housing is being called bs.

Well a lot of social housing gets built on the back of that kind of housing. Just because there's some activists doesn't mean they speak for an entire neighbourhood.

[LeftCoaster]

A lot of the activists were actually DTES activists, not even fighting for Chinatown but fighting against any gentrification in the area at all.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

They can't find any office/school tenants for the old VFS campus in Chinatown so they're converting it into hotel rooms.



https://www.cbre.ca/properties/offic...olumbia-canada

Prospero's building

https://www.prospero.ca/properties/v...hool-building/

That's a positive step in he right direction, but Chinatown needs far more. Like the Oppenheimer area of the DTES, Chinatown land use policy needs a revision.

I would propose allowing much higher density and height on sites with no historic or architectural value. For example, at the intersection of Main and Pender, 3 major residential towers could be built, with the potential for up to 1800 units, given the right allowances. That alone would bring a lot of new restaurants and bars and other businesses to Pender Street.

Saving Chinatown is a much higher priority than height restrictions.

[csbvan]

Between this conversion, the ongoing conversion of 610 Main Street to 30 hotel rooms, and the new Keefer House, this a big shift in land use in Chinatown (some 140 new hotel rooms). If we get some of the Gastown hotel projects moving forward, we will hopefully finally be seeing the change over of our two most historically important neighbourhoods into vibrant tourist destinations.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by logan5

That's a positive step in he right direction, but Chinatown needs far more. Like the Oppenheimer area of the DTES, Chinatown land use policy needs a revision.

I would propose allowing much higher density and height on sites with no historic or architectural value. For example, at the intersection of Main and Pender, 3 major residential towers could be built, with the potential for up to 1800 units, given the right allowances. That alone would bring a lot of new restaurants and bars and other businesses to Pender Street.

Saving Chinatown is a much higher priority than height restrictions.

Even with loosening height restrictions there's almost zero chance there will be anything allowed taller than those Main/Keefer projects in the core of Chinatown.

If you are going to build density (30 storeys or something) I think the Chinatown Plaza parkade, Tinseltown, BC Hydro substation. Maybe something in the surface parkade next to the BC Electric railway depot building.