as for the parking lot, most like 4-5 floors above a retail first floor, the community plans outlines main street between 2nd and 7th to have 4-6 floors max, so only the lower floors will be effected. the owner of the lot will need to get it by zoning to get any extra height and from what ive heard from some counselors, they are sticking to the community plan. can't blame then since it is only a couple years old.
here's the link.
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/planning/cpp/mountpleasant/index.htm
they also suggested to turn the alley way into a mostly pedestrian street with shops and/or work live spaces all the way to 2nd. those units along the alley might be pretty cool in the near future.
Threaded Mode