Multi-use proposal draws mixed reviews
Masonic Centre could change to add apartments, restaurant, banquet hall
The proposal to replace the fourstorey Masonic Centre on West 8th between Granville and Hemlock streets, a windowless concrete bunker that holds offices and a banquet hall, has received mixed reviews from local residents.
A rezoning hearing will be held Tuesday for the proposed redevelopment of the Masonic Centre. The proposal includes a request to change the zoning of the site from C3A commercial to CD, or comprehensive development, a zoning designation that allows for more development flexibility on a particular site.
The proposed development will include a 159-unit residential rental building on 8th Avenue that features 108 units of market rentals, with the rest being affordable housing offered in partnership with B.C. Housing. The development will also include a new fourstorey building on 7th Avenue, as well as a restaurant and a banquet hall.
Five local residents have written with complaints about the proposal. The current building holds a banquet hall, and it’s this hall that is of concern to some locals who cite the late-night music, noise and smoking associated with the banquet hall.
Other neighbours are concerned about the proposed height of 53 metres. (Most buildings in the neighbourhood are five storeys or less.)
At least one local resident has written to the city to suggest that subsidized renters might be better situated in other communities.
Fourteen residents have written to voice their support for the redevelopment.
Daniel Oleksiuk of Abundant Housing Vancouver, a grassroots community group that advocates for housing in the city, is urging people to attend the hearing Tuesday to voice their support for the proposal.
“We are supporting the rezoning,” said Oleksiuk. “We have a housing shortage in Vancouver. This is transit-adjacent, in a walkable neighbourhood, close to False Creek and routes that connect to downtown and there is no housing on site now.”
The Masonic society’s development would be a densification of an existing property, and doesn’t require the loss of already existing affordable-housing units.
“This is new rental housing, and it’s what we need,” said Oleksiuk. “It’s urgently needed rental housing, and it’s not displacing anyone.”
While Oleksiuk said there are many neighbourhoods in Vancouver that could benefit from zoning changes, this development is particularly beneficial due to its centrality and access to transit.