99 rental homes coming to West 4th Avenue corner in Kitsilano

99 rental homes coming to West 4th Avenue and Macdonald Street corner in Kitsilano

Artistic rendering of 2783 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. (Yamamoto Architecture/Third Space Properties)

The vacant northeast corner of the intersection of West 4th Avenue and Macdonald Street in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood will be developed into a mid-rise, mixed-use building.

The property at 2783 West 4th Avenue was a longtime Chevron gas station up until about five years ago when Chevron disposed of more than a half dozen of its locations in Vancouver to developers — for their redevelopment potential.

Spearheaded by Vancouver-based Third Space Properties and designed by Yamamoto Architecture, the newly submitted development permit application calls for a 72-ft-tall, six-storey building.

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Up until more than a year ago, such applications would have required a rezoning, but the previous Vancouver City Council’s policy changes have enabled up to six-storey secured rental buildings within C-2 commercial districts along major streets — rental housing uses in the upper levels and retail/restaurant uses on the ground level — to advance straight to the development permit application.

The C-2 policy changes have catalyzed numerous low- and mid-rise secured rental housing proposals over the past year. With the zoning changed, it removes the time-intensive and costly added step of pursuing a rezoning for rental housing projects prior to submitting a development permit application, which is based on the existing zoning allowances.

2783 West 4th Avenue Vancouver rental housing

Site of 2783 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Artistic rendering of 2783 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. (Yamamoto Architecture/Third Space Properties)

The application outlines the inclusion of 99 secured market rental homes, with a unit mix of 15 studio units, 43 one-bedroom units, and 41 two-bedroom units.

Residents will have access to amenities such as a co-working area on the ground level, a multi-functional room on the second level that opens up to an adjacent outdoor lounge area, and an expansive 7,500 sq ft outdoor lounge area on the building rooftop — complete with a children’s play area with weather protection, lounge areas, landscaping, and gardening opportunities.

Nearly 15,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses will cover the ground level, activating the building’s street frontages.

Artistic rendering of 2783 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. (Yamamoto Architecture/Third Space Properties)

“The building materials are meant to express the palette and character of the local beaches. Tan-coloured brick and brick patterns suggest the sand, and are used to define the foreground podium and six-storey street wall elements,” reads the architect’s design rationale.

“Horizontal beams refer to the logs scattered intentionally on the beaches, the legacy of Cornelia Oberlander to re-use the ‘debris’ of washed up logs as public furniture.”

Artistic rendering of 2783 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. (Yamamoto Architecture/Third Space Properties)

Two underground levels will contain 109 vehicle parking stalls and about 150 secured bike parking spaces.

The total building floor area is set at about 82,000 sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 3.7 times larger than the size of the 22,300 sq ft lot.

This is the latest future mixed-use building development in and around the intersection, including the Kitsilano Block condominium and grocery store project at the northwest corner, and the redevelopment of the former Topanga Cafe building, further to the west, with rental housing and retail/restaurant uses.

Artistic rendering of 2783 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. (Yamamoto Architecture/Third Space Properties)

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