90 non-market rental homes proposed next to TransLink's Phibbs Exchange

Jun 11 2020, 10:09 pm

An affordable housing redevelopment is proposed to replace a pair of single-family homes and several treed lots located immediately west of TransLink’s Phibbs Exchange bus loop, near the north end of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in North Vancouver District.

On behalf of Sanford Affordable Housing Society and Hollyburn Family Services Society, Terra Housing has submitted a development application to turn 267-271 Orwell Street into a new six-storey building with 90 units of below-market housing.

267-271 Orwell Street North Vancouver

Site of 267-271 Orwell Street, North Vancouver. (Google Maps)

267-271 Orwell Street North Vancouver

Site of 267-271 Orwell Street, North Vancouver. The actual site is not the closed park-and-ride, but the treed lot next to it and two single-family homes to the north. (Google Maps)

The property is owned by the municipal government, which will be leased to the non-profit housing provider, with development funding provided by BC Housing. This proposal is in response to the district’s 2016 selection of both non-profit operators to build and operate a non-market housing development on the property.

The unit mix is 52 one-bedroom units, 27 two-bedroom units, and 11 three-bedroom units.

With BC Housing’s support, 20% of the units will be rented at social assistance shelter rates ($375 per month for singles, $570 per month for couples and single-parent families, and $660 per month for two-parent families), 50% will be rent-geared-to-income for people with low-to-moderate incomes, and 30% will be rented at below-market rates to tenants with moderate incomes.

267-271 Orwell Street North Vancouver

Artistic rendering of 267-271 Orwell Street, North Vancouver. (Office of Mcfarlane Biggar Architects and Designers/Sanford Affordable Housing Society/Hollyburn Family Services Society/Terra Housing)

The tenant selection process will prioritize individuals who currently live on the North Shore or currently work on the North Shore, but are unable to find affordable housing in the area.

Office of Mcfarlane Biggar Architects and Designers is behind this woodframe building design for the project.

267-271 Orwell Street North Vancouver

Artistic rendering of 267-271 Orwell Street, North Vancouver. (Office of Mcfarlane Biggar Architects and Designers/Sanford Affordable Housing Society/Hollyburn Family Services Society/Terra Housing)

The redevelopment will contain 68 vehicle parking stalls and 100 bike parking spaces.

The total floor area is approximately 57,000 sq. ft., providing the building with a floor space ratio density of 2.65 times the size of its lot size of about 21,500 sqft.

The TransLink park-and-ride facility adjacent to the development site closed in Fall 2018, but it is unrelated to the project. The public transit authority is planning to rebuild the bus exchange with a more efficient design that increases capacity and passenger comfort.

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