128 rental homes proposed near Victory Square in downtown Vancouver

Artistic rendering of 314-328 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Atelier Pacific Architecture/Pacific Reach Properties)

A mid-block site spanning three lots just west of Victory Square in downtown Vancouver is being eyed for a mixed-use redevelopment with secured market rental housing.

Pacific Reach Properties and Atelier Pacific Architecture’s new rezoning application for 314-328 West Hastings Street calls for a new 105-ft-tall, 12-storey building containing a total of 128 market rental homes.

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The proposed unit size mix is 86 studios, 41 one-bedroom units, and one two-bedroom unit. Residential amenity spaces include an outdoor amenity area on the 12th storey rooftop.

On the ground level fronting West Hastings Street, three retail units will have a combined total of about 4,300 sq ft of commercial space.

314-328 West Hastings Street Vancouver Pacific Reach Properties

Artistic rendering of 314-328 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Atelier Pacific Architecture/Pacific Reach Properties)

The street frontage is accomplished by retaining the 1948-built, three-storey facade of 314 West Hastings Street, which was originally home to Tip Top Tailors, and currently completely vacant, as well as the 1904-built, two-storey facade of 330 West Hastings Street.

It is noted by the proponent that city staff requested the restoration of both buildings and their formal heritage designation, even though “this would put undue financial constraints” on the development.

Existing condition:

Site of 314-328 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Atelier Pacific Architecture/Pacific Reach Properties)

Proposed future condition incorporating heritage facades:

Artistic rendering of 314-328 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Atelier Pacific Architecture/Pacific Reach Properties)

The proponent then committed to pursuing the retention and restoration of the two buildings on the development site, but only if city staff granted additional building height and density to help offset the higher costs of such work.

But city staff subsequently requested to reduce the building height and incorporate a “sawtooth skyline” to align with the area’s heritage character and form. As a result, the usable floor area for the rental homes has been “pushed down” to occupy the second and third floors of 314 West Hastings Street, which were previously slated to be resident amenity and storage spaces (with no exterior windows and access to natural light). This was a necessary measure to maintain the city’s floor area ratio (FAR) density restrictions.

Potential residential floor area is further reduced by incorporating two internal courtyards on the west and east sides of the building to provide natural light to the secondary living spaces of units from levels three to 11.

Site of 314-328 West Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Atelier Pacific Architecture/Pacific Reach Properties)

No underground levels are proposed for the project. Instead, the project takes advantage of its sloped site by using a portion of the rear of the second level (behind the residential space) for eight vehicle parking stalls for the building’s businesses (no vehicle parking for residents), and a portion of the rear of the first level (behind the commercial space) for 272 secured bike parking spaces.

The proposed total floor area is 101,700 sq ft, establishing a FAR density of a floor area that is 8.16 times larger than the size of the 12,500 sq ft lot. This application falls under the considerations of the Victory Square precinct in the city’s Downtown Eastside Plan.

Simon Fraser University’s 2016-built Charles Chang Innovation Centre is located immediately to the east of the development site. The university’s business school’s social innovation lab and venture incubator are located on the lower levels, while 68 beds of student housing are located in the upper levels.

Pacific Reach Properties is particularly known for its ownership of Rosewood Hotel Georgia, Hilton Vancouver Downtown Hotel, and Hotel Belmont Downtown Vancouver.

Retrieved records show Pacific Reach Properties acquired 314-328 West Hastings Street in September 2019.

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