20-storey Kitsilano rental tower proposed near future Arbutus SkyTrain

20-storey Kitsilano rental housing tower proposed near SkyTrain's future Arbutus Station

Artistic rendering of 2175 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Gracorp Properties)

There is now a steady flow of formal rezoning applications to build new secured purpose-built rental housing towers within the Broadway Plan area of Vancouver.

The latest project reaching the municipal government’s formal public consultation step is Gracorp Properties’ proposal to redevelop 2175 West 7th Avenue — located just northwest of the future Arbutus Station and the supporting 99 B-Line bus exchange, about a four-minute walk from the future transit hub.

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Currently, this Kitsilano site is occupied by a 1970-built, three-storey building with 35 apartment units. The proposal is to turn this site into a 216-ft-tall, 20-storey tower with 100% residential rental uses.

2175 West 7th Avenue Vancouver rental housing gracorp properties

Site of 2175 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Gracorp Properties)

Site of 2175 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

There would be 182 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 147 market rental units and 35 below-market rental units, based on the calculation of setting aside 20% of the residential floor area for below-market rental housing.

The unit size mix is 49 studios, 69 one-bedroom units, 46 two-bedroom units, and 18 three-bedroom units, including five townhouse units. Shared common areas include a significant indoor and outdoor amenity space spanning the entire tower rooftop.

Three underground levels will provide 52 vehicle parking stalls and 321 secured bike parking spaces. To take advantage of the development’s very close proximity to the Arbutus Greenway, the project will incorporate bike amenity facilities on the ground level for added convenience.

Artistic rendering of 2175 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Gracorp Properties)

The proposal, designed by GBL Architects, calls for a total building floor area of 117,000 sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 6.5 times larger than the size of the 18,000 sq ft lot.

It is noted in the application that the proponents first submitted their pre-application rezoning enquiry on September 1, 2022 — the same day the Broadway Plan went into effect — but did not receive a letter of response from City planners until May 12, 2023. The formal rezoning application was then submitted on October 30, 2023.

With the submission of a formal rezoning application, this project has now secured its place as one of the two potential towers on the city block. The Broadway Plan carries prescriptions for how many towers can be built on a city block based on the location, with the area plan calling for a maximum of two towers on this particular city block.

Artistic rendering of 2175 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Gracorp Properties)

For the general vicinity within walking distance of Arbutus Station, this is the third tower-based project for the area after BC Housing’s controversial 13-storey supportive housing tower immediately north of the transit hub, and TransLink and PCI Developments’ joint partnership to build a 30-storey tower with secured purpose-built rental housing immediately south of the transit hub.

SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway Extension reaching Arbutus is expected to open in 2026, at which point this will also become the new eastern terminus of the truncated 99 B-Line bus route for the remaining journey to the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus — until the Millennium Line is further extended westward to reach UBC.

2086-2098 West 7th Avenue 2091 West 8th Avenue Vancouver Kitsilano Arbutus supportive housing 2023 design

2023 revised design of the Kitsilano supportive housing building at 2086-2098 West 7th and Avenue 2091 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture and Urban Design/BC Housing)

2096 West Broadway 2560 Arbutus Street Vancouver TransLink PCI rental tower Arbutus Station SkyTrain

Location of the potential secondary entrance into SkyTrain Arbutus Station; Artistic rendering of the rental tower at 2096 West Broadway and 2560 Arbutus Street next to the future SkyTrain Arbutus Station. (MCMP Architects/TransLink/PCI Developments)

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