105 Keefer project in Chinatown sees approval after reconsideration

105 Keefer housing project in Vancouver's Chinatown sees approval after reconsideration

Artistic rendering of the proposed mixed-use building at 105 Keefer Street, Vancouver. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

After being ordered by the Supreme Court of British Columbia to reconsider the development permit application for building a new mixed-use building in Chinatown, the City of Vancouver’s Development Permit Board ultimately gave the project a green light today in its revote.

The decision over the controversial and divisive project was unanimous, with all three members of the panel composed of City staff — chief planner Teresa O’Donnell, chief engineer Lon LaClaire, and general manager of development buildings and licensing Andrea Law — voting in favour, with conditions.

This follows two meeting dates over the past month to hear from over one hundred public speakers, with the vast majority voicing their opposition. Several rallies by opponents were also held at the development site of 105 Keefer Street and outside City Hall.

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The lot, sitting vacant as surface vehicle parking for decades, is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Keefer and Columbia streets — immediately north of the Chinatown Plaza (parkade), and east of the Chinese Cultural Centre and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

Existing condition of 105 Keefer Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Artistic rendering of the 105 Keefer Street building from the intersection of Columbia and Keefer streets. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

As ordered by the court in late 2022, this was a reconsideration of the exact same application that was previously rejected by the DPB in November 2017, which triggered local developer Beedie’s court action. The reconsideration of the proposal also grandfathers the previous policies for building development in Chinatown that were in place until July 2018.

Designed by Merrick Architecture, this will be a 90 ft tall, nine-storey building with 111 condominium homes in the upper levels, including 38 studio units, 30 one-bedroom units, 34 two-bedroom units, and nine three-bedroom units.

There will also be 10,400 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses on the ground level to activate the building’s street frontages, including the Keefer Street frontage with Chinatown Memorial Square. A portion of the ground level will also serve as a new cultural amenity space.

Three underground levels will contain 84 vehicle parking stalls and 159 secured bike parking spaces. The total floor area will reach 119,000 sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 6.5 times larger than the footprint of the vacant lot.

105 keefer street vancouver beedie 2017 design

Keefer Street frontage perspective; artistic rendering of the proposed mixed-use building at 105 Keefer Street, Vancouver. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

Columbia Street frontage perspective; artistic rendering of the proposed mixed-use building at 105 Keefer Street, Vancouver. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

Keefer Street frontage perspective; artistic rendering of the proposed mixed-use building at 105 Keefer Street, Vancouver. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

Opponents expressed concerns over their perception that the project carried an excessive height and that it was mismatched with the fabric of Chinatown and an inappropriate location, given its immediate adjacency to the Chinatown Memorial Monument. Some expressed concerns that it would “tower” over the monument.

Others against the proposal also asserted the project should be social housing for seniors instead of condominiums, suggesting that the developer build non-market housing or reach a deal with the municipal government to sell the land, including the possibility of a land swap.

“The board has no authority to require a senior housing project. It has no authority to require a social housing project or even below-market rental. The board does not have legal authority to deny this project based on those elements, neither does the project have the authority to require the property owner to sell their property to the City of Vancouver or to swap their property with another property owned by the City,” said O’Donnell emphatically.

But O’Donnell noted the DPB has the discretionary power to ensure the exterior design of the building delivers an appropriate contextual fit with the neighbourhood, the surrounding buildings, and the plaza.

The conditions put in place by the DPB in exchange for approval include improvements to the design of the facade to better align with Chinatown’s narrow facade and heritage character, reducing the visual impact of the elevator core overruns at the top of the building such as introducing additional screening, improving how the building serves as a backdrop for the monument, considering a rounded-shape corner for the building at the intersection as one of the ways to make it a more welcoming marker in the area, and redesigning the corner commercial retail/restaurant unit to make it more prominent.

“The project must provide safe and welcoming environment, and add a high level of pedestrian interest on the ground level. Given the prominence of the site in relationship to the memorial, Sun-Yat Sen Garden, and the Chinese Cultural Centre, the building must have a strong urban design relationship to these culturally significant places,” said O’Donnell.

“I believe the project as currently shown does not fully meet this test, but I don’t think these concerns are deal killers, and I do think they can be successfully remedied by the architectural team with guidance from this board and our conditions, and from staff.”

Existing condition of 105 Keefer Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Site of the proposed mixed-use building at 105 Keefer Street, Vancouver. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

The effort to design a proposal and seek approval to develop the vacant site at 105 Keefer Street has now been in the works for more than a decade, with the developer creating about half a dozen versions of the project for consideration prior to the November 2017 rejection.

This includes a large 120 ft tall, 12-storey proposal that necessitated a rezoning application approval from Vancouver City Council. However, the Vision Vancouver-led City Council rejected the rezoning path in June 2017 and punted the decision to the DPB for considering the proponent’s alternative downsized concept. The 12-storey proposal also included a level of social housing with about 25 units for seniors, but it was removed when the project was downsized to its current form.

In contrast, the November 2017 rejection was carried out in a 2-1 vote, with then-chief planner Gil Kelley and then-chief engineer Jerry Dobrovolny in opposition. The only vote in support came from Paul Mochrie, who was then the assistant city manager and is now the city manager.

“I don’t support the rationale that just because it was refused, it should therefore be refused again,” said Law.

“I feel strongly that approving this development will address many concerns through the conditions, and addressing the cultural fit in the neighbourhood is the right decision. This development will bring much-needed mixed uses and housing in the area, creating a vibrant activation for a property that has remained vacant for too many years.”

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