Rental homes, brewery, and office proposed near future Vancouver SkyTrain station

Artistic rendering of 315-319 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver. (Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design/Wave Developments)

This is a relatively minor 100-ft-tall, nine-storey redevelopment within very close proximity to a future SkyTrain station in the False Creek Flats, but it stacks an impressively wide range of mixed uses.

A development application has been submitted by Wave Developments for the site at 315 East 2nd Avenue — the northeast corner of the intersection of East 2nd Avenue and Scotia Street, just one block west of the site of Great Northern Way Station for the Millennium Line Broadway Extension.

See also:

Currently, the site is occupied by two-storey light industrial buildings constructed in the 1960s and 1970s.

Site of 315-319 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver. (Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design/Wave Developments)

As the site slopes down northwards, the second level’s south side provides frontage on East 2nd Avenue, while the first level’s north side creates frontage on the laneway.

There is an inward angling along East 2nd Avenue that creates a plaza, which is partially covered. And along Scotia Street, the building angles to a courtyard, which provides access to a commercial unit and the residential lobby.

Artistic rendering of 315-319 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver. (Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design/Wave Developments)

Commercial units for manufacturing, brewing, distilling, and restaurant uses will be spread over the first and second levels. As well, the second level will see fitness gym and general office uses.

Floors three to seven will accommodate 100 secured market rental homes, with a unit mix of 71 micro-units, 10 studios, 10 one-bedroom units, and nine two-bedroom units.

These residential floors are sandwiched above by more general office use within levels eight and nine.

Artistic rendering of 315-319 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver. (Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design/Wave Developments)

Form of 315-319 East 2nd Avenue, Vancouver. (Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design/Wave Developments)

“This proposal is consistent with the City’s goals of increasing employment and providing rental housing,” reads the design rationale by Studio Balcaen Kwan Architecture and Design. “The design of the building not only fits within the context of its surroundings but also offers a contemporary approach to the industrial urban fabric of the area.”

Two underground levels will accommodate 66 vehicle parking stalls and 136 bike parking spaces. The total floor area is 78,900 sq. ft., generating a floor space ratio density of four times the size of the 19,700-sq-ft lot.

Just to the north of the site, right across the laneway at 304 East 1st Avenue, there is a separate proposal for a 100-ft-tall, nine-storey building with 112 secured market rental homes, a 7,200-sq-ft daycare, and 4,500 sq. ft. of retail.

Artistic rendering 304 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership / The Cape Group)

See also: