NEW TOWER WILL ADD 200 UNITS FOR RENT
42-storey building planned to replace existing 66 units in West End, writes Evan Duggan.
The developers behind a new apartment tower in Vancouver’s West End plan to add more than 200 market rental units to the neighbourhood that’s facing one of the worst vacancy rates in the city.
Residents of the 66 rental apartments at Brockton House at 1640-1650 Alberni St. have been informed the 47-year-old, 14-storey apartment building owned by Hollyburn Properties will eventually be emptied for redevelopment.
A 385-foot-tall, 42-storey rental apartment tower will take its place.
“We’re finalizing our plans and we’re currently at 275 rental units, so that’s an increase of more than 200 rental units,” said David Sander, the director of Hollyburn Properties. “We’ll come in at a little under 40 per cent family-oriented, which means two-bedroom and three-bedroom suites,” he said in an interview last week.
He called the project, designed by Francl Architecture, “a worldclass apartment building with great amenities for residents.”
The building would include a gym, two common lounges, urban agriculture, an outdoor and indoor kids play area, as well as a rooftop lounge on the 42nd floor.
“The intention is that everyone in the building will be able to enjoy the best space in the building.”
Sander said they have completed pre-application work and the next step is to submit their rezoning application to the city, after which there will be a city-led public information meeting. “We’re a minimum of two years away from breaking ground,” he said.
The project comes amid a swirling debate over housing in Metro Vancouver, with startling low vacancy rates posing major challenges for families and singles. On Sept. 20, Vancouver city council heard from staff about how a proposed home vacancy tax could be levied and enforced on homeowners who refuse to let out their empty homes.
Vancouver’s rental vacancy rate is 0.6 per cent, according to the city. The vacancy rate in the West End is at 0.5 per cent.
Sander said the site is subject to the city’s zero rate of change policy, which requires the replacement of any rental housing that is demolished in the redevelopment.
He said the current residents at Brockton House will eventually have to relocate when it’s time to vacate the building. Residents have been told about the redevelopment, including door-knocking visits, printed notices and a resident meeting, he said. “We’re committed to keeping our residents informed throughout the process.”
Hollyburn is offering residents a relocation package that includes money for rent and moving expenses. Both amounts depend on the resident’s tenure, Sander said.
I think it’s great for the city and it’s great for the community. And hopefully we’ll see a lot more of those towers going up in the city.
“We understand it’s not nice to live in a building when this type of process is going on,” he said. “We’ll give residents a minimum, and I really want to stress, a minimum of two months’ notice when we’re going to need to empty the building.”
He said Hollyburn will provide three similarly priced options to the residents for alternative rental homes, two of which will be located in the West End. “We’ll provide assistance in finding alternative accommodation,” he said. “We are displacing our residents and we want to make sure they’re landing in a place that’s suitable to them and isn’t just a short-term fix.”
All residents will also have the first right of refusal to move back into the new building at a 20 per cent discount, he said. “We do anticipate that quite a few will do that, from our early discussions.”
The City of Vancouver wants at least 5,000 new rental units constructed by 2021.
Since 2009, 1,352 rental homes have been added to the city’s stock, said Kathleen Llewellyn-Thomas, Vancouver’s GM for community services. Another 2,363 units are under construction at roughly 30 sites, and another 2,031 units have been approved — a total of 5,746, according to numbers provided by Llewellyn-Thomas.
“The city is using all the tools we have available to address this need, including encouraging owners of empty homes to rent them out, incentivizing new rental housing through density bonus zoning, and partnering with senior levels of government to create affordable housing,” she said.
More developers are considering building purpose-built rental towers amid record-high lease rates, said Mark Goodman, principal of HQ Commercial and author of the Goodman Report.
“A lot of the development sites that are coming on the market are for rental. It would be great to see Hollyburn’s project become a reality,” said Goodman, who specializes in apartment buildings. “I think it’s great for the city and it’s great for the community. And hopefully we’ll see a lot more of those towers going up in the city.”
Meanwhile, the apartment building sales market has remained strong, but winds of change seem to be blowing, he said. The firm listed for sale a 10-suite apartment building last week in Kitsilano, and within two days 21 groups had signed up to tour the property, Goodman said.
But they’re also getting an “unprecedented” number of owners considering selling their buildings, he said. “A lot of our clients who would traditionally never consider selling are now entertaining it or putting their property on the market.”
Goodman said some who have been holding buildings for decades may now feel that prices have plateaued or are worried about more product coming to market.
Last week, Goodman assessed all apartment building sales in Greater Vancouver during the first eight months of the year. The number of transactions increased by 44 per cent over that period compared to the same period last year.
“Dollar volume was just over $1.3 billion in the first eight months — a staggering 93 per cent increase over the same period last year,” he said. “While demand is still there, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a levelling-off or perhaps a decline in certain pockets in Vancouver.”