Three rental housing and office towers proposed at future Emily Carr SkyTrain

Three rental housing and office towers up to 35 storeys proposed at future Emily Carr SkyTrain station

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties)

The single largest transit-oriented development proposal directly spurred by the Broadway Subway and the City of Vancouver’s Broadway Plan to date is located at SkyTrain’s future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station.

Three mixed-use, high-rise towers are now proposed to be built immediately adjacent to Emily Carr University of Art and Design and the future Millennium Line subway station, which will see its station entrance pavilion building situated at the northeast corner of the intersection of Great Northern Way and Thornton Street.

Not only will this project frame the subway station, but it will be fully integrated with the transit hub with an immense public realm enhancement.

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This proposal at 485 Great Northern Way is being spearheaded by PCI Developments and Low Tide Properties as the latest addition to their South Flatz portfolio of primarily office space properties in the area along Great Northern Way.

Designed by the Vancouver office of architectural firm Perkins&Will, the proposal calls for a total of three towers sitting on a base podium, including two 35-storey secured purpose-built rental housing towers immediately north of the station entrance building and a 20-storey office tower immediately to the east.

GNW Emily Carr Station 485 Great Northern Way Vancouver PCI Low Tide

Site of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, next to SkyTrain’s future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. (Google Maps)

Site of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, next to SkyTrain’s future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. (Perkins&Will/PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties)

Preliminary conceptual layout of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, integrated with SkyTrain’s future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. (Perkins&Will/PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties)

Both rental housing towers will contain a combined total of about 500 secured purpose-built rental housing units, with 20% of the units set at below-market rents and the remaining 80% at market rents. Residents will have access to major shared amenity spaces, including indoor and outdoor spaces spanning the tower rooftops of both residential buildings.

The office tower will carry approximately 315,000 sq ft of office space.

All three towers also provide a combined total of 93,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses on the ground and levels, with the majority of such uses situated in the base podium of the rental housing towers — where there will be a large indoor “market hall” for flexible uses, including market, fitness, gallery, lounge, events, popups, and other activations.

On the lower rooftop of the base podium of the rental housing towers, as an added public benefit, the project will provide a childcare facility with capacity for up to 93 kids.

Existing condition:

Site of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, next to SkyTrain’s future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties)

The proponents are also envisioning making modifications to the subway station entrance pavilion building. The provincial government’s design for the subway station enables a future building to be cantilevered on top of the entrance building, but the proponents are instead looking to create a terraced landscaped amphitheatre that gradually descends from a publicly accessible space on the rooftop of the entrance building to a large, event-friendly public plaza.

This amphitheatre forms a big part of the 53,000 sq ft of open and plaza spaces provided by the development.

“This project has been coordinated closely with the province due to close integration with the new Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station, which is being constructed on the site as part of the future Broadway Line. Organized around the future station, the project proposes an important new primary public open space for the benefit of the surrounding bourgeoning community,” reads the project description.

It is noted that the proponents would like to complete the station overbuild with the terraced amphitheatre as soon as possible, “as it will complement and improve the station, and benefit transit users.”

Preliminary conceptual layout of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, integrated with SkyTrain’s future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. (Perkins&Will/PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties)

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties)

The aim is to begin the phased construction process in 2025, based on a formal rezoning application in February and the proposal entering public hearing with Vancouver City Council sometime in 2025. The Millennium Line extension reaching Arbutus is scheduled to begin service in 2026, including the opening of the new Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station.

This project aligns with the prescriptions of the Broadway Plan, which permits buildings up to 35 storeys tall within the “MCDD” sub-area surrounding the subway station on the north side of Great Northern Way.

If approved, the development will generate a total building floor area of about 833,000 sq ft, including 390,000 sq ft for the rental housing uses.

Only 350 vehicle parking stalls within underground levels will be provided for all uses in the complex, which aligns with the provincial government’s transit-oriented development legislation’s prescription that eliminates minimum vehicle parking standards within the designated transit-oriented development areas.

There will also be nearly 1,700 bike parking spaces, which takes advantage of the site’s location on the east-west Central Valley Greenway cycling path.

Existing condition:

Site of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver, next to SkyTrain’s future Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of 485 Great Northern Way, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/PCI Developments/Low Tide Properties)

Currently, the development site is being used as the tunnel boring staging area for the subway. Thornton Street and the original Central Valley Greenway segment through the area will be re-established after the subway station reaches completion.

This project represents PCI Developments and Low Tide Properties’ introduction of residential uses to their South Flatz portfolio, which up until now has focused on office and creative industrial spaces.

Immediately to the east of the transit hub, the 2017-built, 10-storey South Flatz building at 565 Great Northern Way spans 170,000 sq ft of office space and is home to major tenants such as Samsung, Blackbird Interactive, and Finning International.

Other existing South Flatz properties include the 2000-built, 164,000 sq ft former QLT building at 887 Great Northern Way and the 2014-built, 120,000 sq ft former MEC headquarters at 1077 Great Northern Way, which was acquired by the PCI Developments and Low Tide Properties in 2021.

Both developers are also currently in the planning stages of building a new 236,000 sq ft office and laboratory building at 1628 Station Street as a new-build expansion of their South Flatz portfolio.

PCI Developments’ is responsible for some of Metro Vancouver’s most successful transit-oriented developments situated immediately next to or fully integrated with SkyTrain stations, including Marine Gateway (Marine Drive Station), King George Hub (King George Station), and Crossroads (Broadway-City Hall Station). Currently, the developer is in the process of constructing a 39-storey, mixed-use tower with rental housing, office, and retail uses, which will include an integrated entrance into the future South Granville Station on the Millennium Line extension.

The provincial government’s design concept for Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station, including the potential future transit-oriented development concept: