Controversial 105 Keefer building proposal will not "tower" over Chinatown garden

May 17 2023, 10:21 pm

No, the proposal to build a 90-ft-tall, nine-storey, mixed-use building at 105 Keefer Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown district will not tower over the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

Contrary to an alarming artistic rendering by activists against the proposal, this mid-rise building, if constructed, will be barely seen from not only inside the Garden but also the Vancouver Park Board’s Sun Yat-Sen Park immediately to the east.

The wildly misleading artistic rendering — posted onto an activist’s blog and circulated on social media — of the “potential view” from inside the garden shows the upper seven floors of the building popping above the garden’s wall and park’s tree canopy. But such a “potential view” would have to be based on a redevelopment of the park and its shared pond behind the garden’s wall, as opposed to the real development site much further east at the northeast corner of the intersection of Columbia Street and Keefer Street.

Furthermore, the problematic illustration depicts the much wider Keefer Street frontage of the building, instead of the accurate Columbia Street frontage, which is substantially narrower.

A real view analysis by the project proponents from inside the green space shows only a small portion of the building’s uppermost two-storey volume will be spotted between the rooftop of the adjacent Chinese Cultural Centre and a tall tree from the perspective of the border between the Garden and Park. This means the real potential view of the tower is even negligible from perspectives within the green space that are closer to the development site.

Misleading view impact from the western edge of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden:

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The misleading activist-made rendering of the 105 Keefer Street proposal from the western edge of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. (SaveChinatownYVR | Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

Accurate view impact from the southwest corner of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden:

105 keefer street accurate view impact

Accurate depiction of potential view impacts of the 105 Keefer Street building proposal from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

Accurate view impact closer to the development site from the border of the Garden and Park:

105 keefer street accurate view impact

Accurate depiction of potential view impacts of the 105 Keefer Street building proposal from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

The renderings were only removed today, after the non-profit society that operates the garden sent Melody Ma, an activist and author of the “SaveChinatownYVR” blog, three letters warning of possible legal action for misusing the Garden’s name in a post, erroneously suggesting the garden is currently opposed to the proposal.

“That’s right, tourists and locals go to the Vancouver Chinese Garden to find an oasis and observe the moon. No one goes there to observe culturally-appropriative condo buildings like 105 Keefer. Let’s stand with the Vancouver Chinese Garden to say no to more condos impacting the garden,” reads the May 8 post with the misleading rendering, which has since been removed.

Representatives with the garden told Daily Hive Urbanized they have yet to make a formal position on the proposal.

105 keefer street accurate view impact

Accurate depiction of potential view impacts of the 105 Keefer Street building proposal from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. (Merrick Architecture/Beedie)

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

On Tuesday, Jordan Eng, the president of the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association, also told Daily Hive Urbanized his organization is still deliberating an official position, but he added that misinformation has been circulating surrounding this project.

“I must say it is unfortunate activists have created unnecessary division in the community with the publishing of confusing and misleading information,” said Eng. “There has been little consideration to dialogue with the legacy organizations that represent the neighbourhood and are directly affected by the proposed development.”

While 105 Keefer will be barely seen, if at all, to the east from inside the garden and park, the towers of International Village have long been highly visible above the garden wall to the west on the downtown side.

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View impacts of existing tall towers in/around International Village from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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Inside Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

This is all coming to a head, again, as the City of Vancouver’s Development Permit Board has been ordered by the Supreme Court of British Columbia to reconsider local developer Beedie’s development permit application. The court found that the November 2017 rejection decision by a majority of the Development Permit Board’s three-member panel was “substantively unreasonable.”

The Development Permit Board will reconsider the identical 2017 development permit application in a public meeting on May 29, 2023.

The proposal entails 111 condominium homes, including 38 studio units, 30 one-bedroom units, 34 two-bedroom units, and nine three-bedroom units.

The ground level will contain 10,400 sq ft of commercial space for as many as nine retail/restaurant units — activating the building’s street frontages. A passageway will be created through the ground level of the building to provide public and unique commercial space access. As well, a portion of the ground level will serve as a new Senior Living Centre.

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.

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

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)

105 keefer street vancouver beedie 2017 design

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

The proposal for 105 Keefer Street went through numerous design revisions over the span of about half a decade, before it hit a dead end in November 2017, which prompted Beedie to appeal the decision in court. Development permit applications are almost never rejected, as such proposals closely follow City policies and regulations — unlike rezonings.

An earlier iteration of the proposal required a rezoning application, as it proposed a taller building at 120 ft with 12 storeys, containing more public benefits including one floor dedicated to social housing — about 25 below-market units for low-to-moderate income seniors. But due to opposition over the height and uses, Vancouver City Council rejected this rezoning concept in June 2017 and punted the decision of the alternate current nine-storey concept — following existing City policies at the time — to the Development Permit Board. In the process, due to the reduced market residential density to support a greater degree of public benefits, the social housing component was axed.

“We continue to believe the 105 Keefer project will provide many benefits for Vancouver’s Chinatown, especially given the focus on revitalizing the neighbourhood since the Development Permit Board‘s decision in 2017,” Rob Fiorvento, the managing partner of Beedie, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

“105 Keefer will bring additional much-needed mixed-use housing to the area, which aligns the City of Vancouver’s efforts to make the historic community prosperous again. We are grateful for the opportunity to reapply to the Development Permit Board and remain committed to working with our neighbours and community partners on a safe and vibrant Chinatown.”

The controversy surrounding the 105 Keefer Street proposal influenced the Vision Vancouver-led City Council decision in July 2018 to rescind the 2011-enacted, area-wide densification policies that were intended to help revitalize Chinatown by attracting more residents and visitors to support the area’s businesses and attractions. The allowable taller heights and wider widths of new buildings were cut back by this decision to repeal the 2011 reforms.

Critics of the decision to cancel the 2011-enacted reforms suggest this has accelerated the decline of Chinatown. More recently, some academics and planners have also questioned whether the limitations of the Downtown Eastside Plan, enacted about a decade ago, have contributed to the area’s overall further decline.

The lot of 105 Keefer Street, currently used as a surface parking lot, has been vacant for more than two decades. A pile of gravel and dirt sits next to its corner closest to the intersection.

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

105 keefer street vancouver site

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

105 keefer street vancouver site

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

105 keefer street vancouver site

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

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