Downtown Vancouver Updates II

[jollyburger]

Assume this is the current restriction on drive throughs?

“

Restaurants are allowed pretty much throughout the city,” said John Greer, Vancouver’s assistant director of development services. “But for drive-thru service in conjunction with a restaurant, there are very few areas of the city where you can do it.”

Greer said arterial roads such as Fraser Street, Main Street, Marine Way and Broadway would likely be the best spots for new drive-thru restaurants but permission would be based on conditions such as having enough space to prevent vehicle lineups on city streets.

https://biv.com/article/2015/12/driv...nd-zoning-snag

[logan5]

So multi tower. Hope that means the parking lot to the north gets developed as well. That area still has that bleak industrial vibe still going on.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Assume this is the current restriction on drive throughs?

“

https://biv.com/article/2015/12/driv...nd-zoning-snag

Kind of, but when the Zoning and Development By-Law was cleaned up and clarified, the Restaurant drive-through definition was removed. There's still a conditional use of 'Restaurant - Drive-In' which is defined as 'The use of premises for the sale of prepared food to the public where parking is provided and customers are encouraged to eat in their motor vehicles on the site, but does not include drive-through service.'

So I don't think there's now a way to actually approve a drive-through location without creating a new definition in the Use Class list. The City Engineer was pushing strongly to remove the use, as where drive-throughs still exist there are consistent traffic issues that arise from sometimes having line-ups blocking sidewalks and extending back into traffic. It isn't necessarily a reflection of massive demand, but also that the restaurant can have either staffing or equipment issues that slow the line, causing a back-up.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by logan5

So multi tower. Hope that means the parking lot to the north gets developed as well. That area still has that bleak industrial vibe still going on.

That's a City-owned lot. Past Councils have wanted non-market housing as part of any residential development. The City Planners in the past hoped for office space too, although that dynamic may have changed. It lowered the land value, copmpared to mostly residential (with some retail).

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

i wonder if this new ABC council will be more accepting of new drive-thru's. its possible it could remain in a new development. i do hope it does, i find drive-thru's handy for quick things.

I can't imagine any Council being pro Drive-Thrus in the dense core.

[WarrenC12]

That McDonald's currently causes annoying backups on Quebec with the current drive through setup.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by gaviscon

It is downtown, basically. Also, downtown is expanding

South side of Terminal here is Mount Pleasant, Downtown Vancouver is a neighbourhood with defined borders.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by csbvan

I can't imagine any Council being pro Drive-Thrus in the dense core.

this is in a dense core? the area is pretty un-dense. the majority is still mostly low level industrial/warehousing. and almost all the land around here is CoV owned.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

That McDonald's currently causes annoying backups on Quebec with the current drive through setup.

There's room on Quebec to line up on the street and still let both lanes of traffic through. I go to that drive through a couple times a month, so I hope they keep it. McDonalds is the best restaurant in Vancouver!

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by logan5

There's room on Quebec to line up on the street and still let both lanes of traffic through. I go to that drive through a couple times a month, so I hope they keep it. McDonalds is the best restaurant in Vancouver!

Dear God, please tell me that was sarcasm.

[jollyburger]

The guidelines from drive-in and drive-through restaurants that got amended in 2022

https://guidelines.vancouver.ca/guid...gh-service.pdf

[csbvan]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

this is in a dense core? the area is pretty un-dense. the majority is still mostly low level industrial/warehousing. and almost all the land around here is CoV owned.

Yes this is in the Metro Core. Yes, eastern Olympic Village along Quebec and Main Street is very dense. This McDonalds literally sits in the shadow of the 22 storey mixed-use Central building, to the south of that is a dense street wall of condos....

[Jimbo604]

Originally Posted by giallo

I managed to make my way to the Keefer site.

credit: me

123 Keefer which is the lot right beside the existing structure. 105 Keefer is just to the west. 105 looks like it is being used for construction staging/storage. All digging was at 123 and nothing at 105, at least when I was there.

[VancouverOfTheFuture]

Originally Posted by csbvan

Yes this is in the Metro Core. Yes, eastern Olympic Village along Quebec and Main Street is very dense. This McDonalds literally sits in the shadow of the 22 storey mixed-use Central building, to the south of that is a dense street wall of condos....

its also next to 2 empty parking lots, and across the street from nothing but low level industrial, auto shops, and a rail yard. there is literally nothing to the east of it going north or south.

calling this a "metro core" is a big stretch. at most you could say its at the fringe edge of moderate density - industrial/rail yard.

[jollyburger]

I guess Qwid still had it residential for a time?

Keefer House
Location: Keefer House, Keefer Street
Client: Qwid Capital
Approximately 50,000sqft of mixed-use building
60 units of residential
4,000 sqft Commercial
Construction commences Q3 2022
Estimated Value – $15m

https://www.togala.ca/projects-1

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

... calling this a "metro core" is a big stretch. at most you could say its at the fringe edge of moderate density - industrial/rail yard.

The metro core is everything between Arbutus, 16th and Clark. Strathcona, Broadway, GNW and the north end of Shaughnessy are also part of the core - they just don't look like it yet.

[osirisboy]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

The metro core is everything between Arbutus, 16th and Clark. Strathcona, Broadway, GNW and the north end of Shaughnessy are also part of the core - they just don't look like it yet.

Personally, it’s all relative. I think of it as part of “downtown” (I don’t use the term metro core) as much as I would call Granville island and Stanley park part of downtown.

And just because an area has industrial sites and surface parking lots doesn’t mean it can’t be “downtown”.

[logan5]

Yeah look at downtown Houston. A city 3 times the size of Vancouver.

[Vancouver_Highrise]

Sorry folks didn’t realize my post would cause such controversy

[Vantage]

Originally Posted by Vancouver_Highrise

Drive thru McDonald’s on main st sold.

Good news! Crazy to think that the development to the south of it is nearly 10 years old.