Vancouver City Council approves Indigenous housing tower on Commercial Drive

Vancouver City Council approves 18-storey Indigenous social housing tower on Commercial Drive

Artistic rendering of Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street, Vancouver. (Dialog/Aboriginal Land Trust/Lu'ma Native Housing Society)

The last rezoning application to be approved by Vancouver City Council in 2023 is a proposal to build an 18-storey social housing tower in the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood.

Last week, during City Council’s final public meeting of 2023, Aboriginal Land Trust and Lu’ma Native Housing Society received the green light to redevelop 1710-1730 East Pender Street into the “Place of Cedars” complex with 191 units of social housing for Indigenous individuals and families.

The site is located at the southeast corner of the intersection of Commercial Drive and East Pender Street, replacing older low-rise buildings with 39 units.

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It is anticipated that 6% of the units in the redevelopment will be rented at the shelter component of income assistance (monthly rent of $500 for a one-bedroom unit) and 30% of the units will be at rent geared to income (e.g. monthly rent of up to $1,450 for a one-bedroom unit based on a maximum annual income of $58,000).

The unit size mix is 117 one-bedroom units, 36 two-bedroom units, 27 three-bedroom units, and five four-bedroom units, along with six live/work units on the ground level fronting East Pender Street and an internal courtyard. The tower will be attached to base podiums of three storeys and six storeys.

1710-1730 East Pender Street Vancouver Place of Cedars

Location of Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Existing condition:

Location of Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street, Vancouver. (Dialog/Aboriginal Land Trust/Lu’ma Native Housing Society)

Indigenous residents living in Grandview-Woodland account for about 18% of Vancouver’s off-reserve urban Indigenous population, but Indigenous people disproportionately account for about 33% of the local homeless population and 2% of Metro Vancouver’s entire population.

“Indigenous peoples have faced significant challenges in accessing safe, affordable, and culturally appropriate housing. Many Indigenous individuals and families are forced to live in overcrowded and substandard conditions, which have detrimental effects on their health and well-being,” Barbara Lawson Swain, the director of housing operations for Lu’ma, during the public hearing, adding that the Indigenous-focused non-profit housing operator currently has an affordable housing waitlist fluctuating between 4,500 and 5,500 people.

“The lack of suitable housing options also contributes to the cycle of poverty and homelessness among Indigenous communities and more so with Indigenous peoples living in Canada’s urban areas.”

Future residents at the Place of Cedars will have extensive common amenity spaces, including the internal courtyard attached to an indoor space, and outdoor areas on the rooftops of all three buildings, with the tower rooftop providing both outdoor amenity areas and an indoor amenity space used as a First Nations longhouse.

Landscaping and outdoor amenity plan for Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street, Vancouver. (Dialog/Aboriginal Land Trust/Lu’ma Native Housing Society)

Artistic rendering of Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street, Vancouver. (Dialog/Aboriginal Land Trust/Lu’ma Native Housing Society)

About 2,800 sq ft of commercial space fronting Commercial Drive will serve Indigenous social enterprise and/or small-scale retail uses.

With the main tower reaching a height of slightly over 200 ft, this will be one of the tallest future buildings on the Commercial Drive corridor.

“I want to express my support for the project. When I hear people’s comments and concerns about the heights of buildings, my first reaction is to look at the street because for most of us, that’s the relationship to built form. This is going to really add to the environment at that street level, it’s going to be a beautiful building and something that will really complement this community,” said ABC councillor Mike Klassen.

ABC councillor Peter Meiszner added, “The design is beautiful and informed by Indigenous design principles, and the commercial space that will be on the ground level will help activate this northern part of Commercial Drive, where there is a little bit less retail now.”

Ground-level uses of Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street, Vancouver. (Dialog/Aboriginal Land Trust/Lu’ma Native Housing Society)

The location and form of Place of Cedars at 1710-1730 East Pender Street (red) and the potential future developments in the area along Commercial Drive and Hastings Street. (Dialog/Aboriginal Land Trust/Lu’ma Native Housing Society)

The total building floor area will reach 149,400 sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 5.58 times larger than the size of the 26,849 sq ft development site.

Two underground levels will contain 73 vehicle parking stalls and 338 secured bike parking spaces.

Major redevelopments are expected for the area, both to the north along East Hastings Street and just to the south.

About two blocks to the south, the City of Vancouver is proposing to redevelop its surface parking lot at 800 Commercial Drive — the failed Kettle Boffo project site — into a 15-storey social housing tower.

800 Commercial Drive Vancouver social housing

Artistic rendering of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

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