2015 Main Street: a 25-storey rental building close to SkyTrain
Opponents: "We'd like to preserve our view"
TLDR: We have a terrible shortage of housing, with vacancy rates near zero. There's a proposal to build a 25-storey rental building in the Broadway Plan area, on Main St. at 4th Ave (about 500 m from the new Mount Pleasant SkyTrain station), with 210 rental apartments, 20% non-market. It'll be mass timber, like the Brock Commons building at UBC. The public hearing is Tuesday evening. So far the comments are mostly negative ("this building is WAY too tall"). If you'd like to counterbalance the opposition (or if you're also opposed!), it takes literally 60 seconds to submit a comment. It can be as simple as "I support this project." Just set the Subject to "2015 Main Street."
Latest update is that there's 313 comments in support, 23 opposed. The public hearing ran out of time before getting to the speakers list, so it’ll be recessed until January 30. YouTube video from the public hearing.
Update 2: The public hearing ran out of time before getting to the speakers list, so it’ll be recessed until January 30. YouTube video from the public hearing.
Update 3: Passed unanimously by council at the January 30 public hearing, with the waiver of the balcony requirement granted. YouTube video. Thanks again to everyone who wrote in a comment! The opposition website CityHallWatch took notice.
A sarcastic and funny comment (listed as “opposed”):
Such a tall 25 story building will have a major impact on the neighbourhood character. Vancouver's culture of homelessness and economic despair due to housing shortages is valuable and something we must seek to preserve.
Tall buildings are scary and will damage this culture. I oppose this building so that we can maintain the housing crisis in Vancouver, which is a crucial part of the city. In addition, the current process of asking random people whether or not a building can be built is highly effective and we should encourage it to continue.
People move where the jobs are. Because we have lots of jobs and not enough housing, with vacancy rates near zero, what happens is that prices and rents have to rise to unbearable levels to keep people out and to force people to give up and leave. Housing costs are completely decoupled from local incomes. To fix this, we need more housing. Every project helps: 200 more apartments means 200 fewer households competing with everyone else for the scarce supply of existing housing.
With the new Broadway subway being built, the city is planning to allow high-rises (rental or strata) near the new SkyTrain stations. All such projects are required to include 20% non-market housing, at 80% of average rents (about 40% below current asking rents).
There's a project planned at Main and 4th, about 500 metres (a six-minute walk) from the new Mount Pleasant station at Main and Broadway. City staff report. It'll be 25 storeys, providing 210 apartments. It'll be mass timber, like the Brock Commons building at UBC.
There's no older rental building on the site, so there's zero displacement.
It's easily accessible to downtown by transit or bike. There's no car parking included, but the developer added more parking to an adjacent project to compensate.
There's some technical issues with trying to provide a private balcony for every apartment (which for some reason is a mandatory requirement of the city's regulations!). So the project is requesting a waiver.
The neighbours aren't happy. Some opposing comments:
"I’m a resident in the neighborhood and feel the building is too tall and urban looking for Mt Pleasant. Please reconsider the density and height of this project. We’d like to preserve our view."
"This would block not only my view but that of my building's entire rooftop patio, which is beautiful and a real selling point for our properties."
"It would be the tallest building in the area and completely block the view for so many existing buildings in the area including my own view."
There's also complaints about the lack of parking, which is more understandable.
Agenda for Tuesday's public hearing.
I submitted a comment which was increasingly exasperated:
I support this rezoning. It'll provide 210 desperately needed rental apartments, 20% below-market, with zero displacement of existing renters, at a location that provides easy access to downtown by transit or bike.
Most of the comments in opposition appear to be based on the height of the building (25 storeys). This height is consistent with the Broadway Plan (it's in Mount Pleasant Centre Area G, which allows 25 storeys). Given that the Broadway Plan involved extensive public consultation and debate, and has now been approved, I don't understand why it makes sense to require a further rezoning.
There appear to be good reasons to waive the requirement for private balconies for a mass-timber building. Honestly, the regulatory requirement for balconies seems like micromanagement: people want balconies and are willing to pay for them, but why does the city need to mandate them? Why do city staff need to spend time enforcing this regulation and negotiating waivers? Multiplied across the many, many, many pages of Vancouver's regulations, accumulated over the years, the labour-intensive nature of the approval process is extremely expensive for the city and for city taxpayers.
More
City’s rezoning application page (“Shape Your City”)
Kenneth Chan, Daily Hive: 25-storey mass timber rental housing tower proposed for Main Street in Mount Pleasant (October 2022)
Thank you for letting us know this was being discussed. My comment has been added.
I'd love to see a bunch of new residents added to the neighborhood (even/especially without parking). They'll help my favorite businesses in the area stay open!