New 35-storey tower includes second entrance for South Granville SkyTrain

New 35-storey rental housing tower includes second entrance for the future South Granville SkyTrain station

Concept for 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver, at SkyTrain South Granville Station. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Gracorp Properties)

This is the tallest high-rise tower proposal to date fronting West Broadway under the prescriptions and stipulations of the City of Vancouver’s Broadway Plan.

A new rezoning application by Gracorp Properties — a division of construction and engineering firm Graham Construction — calls for the redevelopment of 1470 West Broadway, which is currently occupied by a 1980-built, three-storey office and retail building with Jordans Interiors & Flooring as its most prominent tenant. This is a mid-block property located near the southeast corner of the intersection of Granville Street and West Broadway.

Rising up from this site would be a 391-ft-tall, 35-storey tower with secured purpose-built rental housing and ground-level retail/restaurant uses.

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But what makes this project particularly standout is its major public benefit inclusion of a second street level entrance into the subway station of the new South Granville Station of SkyTrain Millennium Line’s Broadway Extension.

This secondary entrance is in addition to the future main subway entrance immediately to the north across the street. Its main entrance would be fully integrated into PCI Developments’ 39-storey mixed-use tower at 1477 West Broadway, which is currently under construction and reached its full height this past spring. The PCI Developments project is anticipated to be completed by Summer 2025, and the new subway station is expected to open in Fall 2027, when the Millennium Line extension as a whole reaches completion.

1470 West Broadway Vancouver SkyTrain South Granville Station Gracorp Properties

Site of 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver, at SkyTrain South Granville Station. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Gracorp Properties)

Site of 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver, at SkyTrain South Granville Station. (Google Maps)

Before and after; concept for 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver, at SkyTrain South Granville Station. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Gracorp Properties)

Ground-level uses of retail/restaurant space and SkyTrain South Granville Station’s second entrance; concept for 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver, at SkyTrain South Granville Station. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Gracorp Properties)

Gracorp Properties is proposing a second subway station entrance on the east side of its new building, with artistic renderings and diagrams showing a small covered plaza for the entrance. The proposal sets aside enough space within the ground level and P1 and P2 underground levels — designated under a TransLink right-of-way — to accommodate one escalator and one staircase.

Under the City’s Broadway Plan, it is specifically noted that the redevelopment of the site at 1470 West Broadway is “strongly encouraged” to include a secondary station entrance, equipped with at least one up escalator and one elevator to enhance the overall vertical circulation capacity of the entrance.

The provincial government’s separate drawings for South Granville Station indicates the underground station structure is directly beneath the West Broadway roadway, and its mezzanine level spanning the width of the roadway is relatively shallow — reaching the same depth of Gracorp Properties’ tower’s underground parking.

South Granville Station on the SkyTrain Millennium Line Broadway Extension (Broadway Subway), integrated with PCI Developments’ project at 1477 West Broadway. (Government of BC)

Mezzanine level; South Granville Station on the SkyTrain Millennium Line Broadway Extension (Broadway Subway). (Government of BC)

1477 west broadway vancouver south granville station tower pci developments

Main entrance into the subway station; Artistic rendering of the tower concept above the future South Granville Station at 1477 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/PCI Developments)

As for the project’s primary uses, Gracorp Properties is proposing to build 300 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 241 market rental units and 59 below-market rental units, based on the Broadway Plan’s requirement of setting aside at least 20% of the residential rental units for below-market rate rental housing.

The unit size mix is 43 studios, 148 one-bedroom units, 75 two-bedroom units, and 34 three-bedroom units. Residents would have access to shared indoor and outdoor amenity spaces on both the fifth and 35th tower rooftop levels. This building would have fully-electric heating and hot water systems without the use of natural gas, and air conditioning for summertime comfort would be provided for 100% of the 300 rental homes.

Other than the subway station entrance, the ground level would also carry 2,550 sq ft of retail/restaurant space to activate the building’s West Broadway frontage.

“Contributing to the emerging transformation of Broadway Corridor’s public realm and character is at the heart of the intent of this application. This development seeks to reinforce the pedestrian-friendly and unique character of South Granville Village, while providing rental housing directly connected to rapid transit,” reads the application.

“The proposal is meant to attract diverse income groups with its suite of thoughtfully curated amenities that will be shared between market and affordable units.”

Existing condition:

Site of 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Concept for 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver, at SkyTrain South Granville Station. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Gracorp Properties)

As for the tower’s architectural design, it is inspired by the nearby prominent art deco buildings within the South Granville area, including the 1929-built Dick Building (McDonald’s and Blenz Coffee) immediately to the west and the 1930-built Stanley Theatre further to the south.

“The Art Deco theme of the proposed building is exemplified by a vertical massing, material and colour palettes reminiscent of the early 20th Century, tied together with a contemporary, punched expression for a clean, timeless feel,” reads the design rationale by Vancouver-based architectural firm Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership, which also designed the PCI Developments’ tower across the street.

“The highly visible South Elevation also features a recognizable tower crown which both reinforces an iconic Art Deco element and carefully integrates the building’s rooftop amenity, mechanical room and elevator overrun with the rest of the tower. The architectural expression has both a functional quality which minimizes unnecessary articulation to maximize energy performance, but also an aesthetic quality that has an understated and clean form in keeping with the project theme.”

Existing condition:

Site of 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Concept for 1470 West Broadway, Vancouver, at SkyTrain South Granville Station. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Gracorp Properties)

The tower would contain only 87 vehicle parking stalls within its four undergrounds, which represents a greatly reduced number due to the building’s rental housing uses — as fewer vehicle parking stalls are typically provided for rental housing compared to strata market condominiums — and the lack of any minimum vehicle parking requirements for the provincially legislated Transit-Oriented Area site.

Additionally, there would also be 487 secured bike parking spaces within a portion of the P1 underground level and the second above ground level. Unconventionally, in order to fully meet the municipal government’s minimum bike parking requirements, the entire second level above ground would be dedicated to both significant bike parking and resident storage spaces.

The total building floor area would reach 203,000 sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio (FAR) density of a floor area that is 13 times larger than the size of the 15,633 sq ft lot.

This slightly exceeds the Broadway Plan’s density provisions of 12.25 FAR for the site, but the building height remains below the 40-storey limit. Additionally, the proposed project includes less commercial space than mandated by the Broadway Plan, which specifies that the first three levels must be allocated for retail, restaurant, office, or other job-related uses.

Further to the west along the future subway route, TransLink and PCI Developments’ joint partnership to build a 30-storey, mixed-use rental tower at 2096 West Broadway (2560 Arbutus Street) also reserves space for a potential secondary street entrance into Arbutus Station.

1477 West Broadway Vancouver South Granville Station towers construction april 18 2024

Construction progress on PCI Developments’ South Granville Station tower at 1477 West Broadway, Vancouver, as of April 18, 2024. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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