West End site on Pacific Street listed for 300 ft tall tower redevelopment potential

Possible redevelopment potential for 1065 Pacific Street, Vancouver. (Goodman Commercial)

A high-profile property on Pacific Street in downtown Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood is newly listed for its redevelopment potential.

Goodman Commercial is marketing the property at 1065 Pacific Street, near the northeast corner with the intersection with Thurlow Street. Currently, the 13,000 sq ft lot is occupied by a 1963-built, three-storey building with 30 apartment units.

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The asking price is $18.95 million, based on the city’s West End Community Plan’s (WECP) allowances for Area G of the Burrard Street Corridor.

The property’s latest assessment pegs it at a value of about $19.6 million, with $45,000 for the structure and the remainder for the land.

Site of 1065 Pacific Street, Vancouver. (Goodman Commercial)

Site of 1065 Pacific Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Under the WECP, the site can support a residential tower height of up to 300 ft, with mountain view cone height restrictions not a factor for this particular location. As well, Area G restricts floor plate sizes above the podium levels to no more than 5,500 sq ft to maximize views and sunlight on sidewalks.

There is also a time limit on unique housing tenure flexibility for this property. In late 2020, Vancouver City Council approved a temporary flexibility policy allowing developers and property owners in two multi-block areas along Thurlow Street within the Burrard Street Corridor to build developments with 100% secured rental housing, with a below-market rental housing component. This is an alternative to building towers with condominium use and an inclusionary social housing component, as stipulated in the WECP.

This flexibility was granted at the time under the advice of city staff, as a growing number of rezoning applications in these two areas had stalled due to the poor economics of condominium projects from depressed market conditions, and the already-committed high land acquisition costs. In addition to the low revenue that can be expected from social housing, a project that incorporated condominium uses would also have to provide significant levels of community amenity contributions (CACs) to the city. But CACs are not required for rental housing, which of course provides a higher revenue opportunity compared to social housing. The temporary flexibility for applications proposing rental housing expires at the end of 2022.

Location of 1065 Pacific Street within the City of Vancouver’s West End Community Plan. (Goodman Commercial/City of Vancouver)

Possible redevelopment potential for 1065 Pacific Street, Vancouver. (Goodman Commercial)

Several previously stalled condominium tower proposals in the two areas have already been revised as rental housing projects, such as Bosa Properties’ sites immediately to the north on the east side of the intersection of Harwood Street and Thurlow Street — 1065 Harwood Street and 1332 Thurlow Street, and 1066-1078 Harwood Street. Bosa’s revised rezoning application calls for a pair of 316-ft-tall, 34-storey towers with 575 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 113 below-market rental homes.

Further north along Thurlow Street, a forthcoming revised rezoning application will scrap Bosa’s previous plans to redevelop 1070 Barclay Street into twin Jenga-like towers, designed by German architectural firm Buro Ole Scheeren, with condominiums and social housing. Under the temporary flexibility, a new design will propose 100% rentals.

1065-1066-1078 Harwood Street 1332 Thurlow Street Vancouver Bosa4Rent

Artistic rendering of the rental-only concept for 1065 Harwood Street and 1332 Thurlow Street (north site) and 1078 Harwood Street (south site), looking north from the intersection of Beach Avenue and Thurlow Street. (Henriquez Partners Architects/Bosa4Rent Homes)

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