Three Kitsilano rental building sites are being rezoned to towers. Q&A consultation live for 1855 W 2nd & 2226 W 8th (until June 25) and 2267-2275 W 7th (until July 2).

By digitalmonkblog on June 23, 2024

Mature rental building at 1855 West 2nd Avenue is undergoing rezoning

There are three separate rezoning applications in Kitsilano that currently have ongoing consultation sessions. The Q&A Sessions for 2226 West 8th Avenue and 2415-2421 Yew Street and 1855 West 2nd Avenue (between Burrard and Cypress) are open until June 25, 2024. The Q&A for 2267-2275 West 7th Avenue (between Yew and Vine) will end on July 2, 2024. All three rezoning applications propose towers with a high density (6.8 FSR or above) compared to the surroundings and have been enabled by the Broadway Plan that was passed two years ago. Their proposed heights are 20, 23, and 22 storeys, respectively. Each of these sites contains a mature rental building and any redevelopment would entail the displacement of tenants, possibly in the hundreds of people in total.

Mature rental building at 2226 West 8th Avenue is undergoing rezoning

The 1855 West 2nd Avenue rezoning application proposes a 20-storey rental building with 171 units (20% below market), commercial uses at grade and would have a Floor Space Ratio of 6.8. A total of 61 residential parking spaces and four commercial spaces would be included on three levels of underground parking. The top two floors of the building are stepped back from the laneway side, so that the building won't shade Seaforth Peace Park on the spring or fall equinox as required under the Broadway Plan (albeit there will be shadow impacts in the shoulder season; the provided shadow diagrams are incorrect for direction of the shadow for the equinoxes and summer solstice). The applicant is JTA Development Consultations (Principal James Tod, https://www.jtadevco.com/) while the design firm is MA+HG Architects. JTA has submitted 11 tower rezoning applications in the Broadway Plan area. JTA is a "frequent flier" with 11 project we are tracking in the Broadway Plan area, and standing out as having a strategy of targeting existing rental buildings to demolish and build towers. There have been unconfirmed reports that some units in this building (1855 West 2nd Avenue) are being kept empty, off the rental market, as tenants leave, and that some of the units might actually currently be used for Short Term Rentals (as a way of partially emptying the building in order to reduce the number of number of tenants requiring relocation). If that's true it would be an egregious violation of Vancouver bylaws. Concerned citizens may wish to contact City officials and have them look into this (see "When to report a short-term rental" on the City website).

Compare elevations: 1855 W 2nd Avenue (left), 2226 W 8th and 2415-2421 Yew St. (middle) and 2267-2275 7th Avenue (right). A larger site and higher FSR is shown in the form of a more massive tower (middle) for 2226 West 8th Avenue (click to enlarge)

At 2226 W8th Avenue a 23-storey tower with a building height of 72.9m (239 ft.) is being proposed on the site of an existing rental building. 224 rental units would be included with 20% below market and just 90 residential parking spaces. There are two heritage homes on the Yew Street side of the lot assembly that would be preserved which is reflected in a higher density (7.15 FSR). This proposal is being put forward by Francl Architecture and Townline (Eighth and Yew Lp.) (Townline's president is Rick Ilich, https://www.townline.com/). According to our analysis, Francl Architecture provided correct shadow studies with the application (in contrast to the shadow studies for the two other rezoning applications covered in this post -- at 1855 W 2nd Avenue and 2267 W 7th Avenue). It appears that this project will create an orphan lot encircling a house on the corner, in violation of Broadway Plan policies.

Three shadow studies for 10am on the Fall Equinox. Compare the direction of the shadows. One shadow study is unlike the others. 1855 W 2nd Ave (left), 2267 W7th Ave (middle), 2226 W8th Ave (right). Francl Architecture's shadow study for 2226 W8th Avenue is correct (on the right).

The 22-storey tower proposal at 2267-2275 West 7th Avenue looks very similar to another nearby rezoning application at 1665-1685 West 11th Avenue. The designers are Acton Ostry Architects in both cases while Palmar Consulting Ltd. is the client. This company appears to have no website, but Mark Pallai of Palmar Properties was listed as a guest invited by mayor Ken Sim for his inauguration on 7-Nov-2022. The same person is the principle behind another Broadway Plan rezoning - 1665-1685 W 11th Avenue - where a 22-storey tower is proposed. A total of 190 rental units are proposed, with 20% below market. Additional density is sought (6.8 FSR) with the inclusion of a private 25-space daycare. A total building height of 75.5m (248 ft.) is requested. There are only 42 parkings spaces included in the design. The applicant's shadow diagrams are incorrect (see comparison above). There is a clustering of rezoning applications around this site in Kitsilano; for further details please see our interactive map of Broadway Plan rezonings and development sites.