First Nations plan Vancouver's new tallest towers at Rupert SkyTrain

First Nations could build Vancouver's new tallest towers at Rupert SkyTrain station

A preliminary concept for 3200 East Broadway, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

Some of the City of Vancouver’s tallest buildings could be built immediately adjacent to SkyTrain Rupert Station in East Vancouver, potentially rivalling the heights of Vancouver’s existing tallest building of Living Shangri-La in downtown Vancouver and various nearby existing towers in Burnaby’s Brentwood district.

Public consultation is now underway on the preliminary concepts for a proposal by MST Development Corporation — the for-profit real estate development arm jointly owned by the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations — and Aquilini Development to redevelop the former BC Liquor distribution site at 3200 East Broadway (fully addressed as 3200-3270 East Broadway and 2625 Rupert Street).

The provincial government’s former liquor warehouse property was acquired by the joint venture for $37 million in 2014.

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This is a significant site spanning 10 acres at the southwest corner of the intersection of East Broadway and Rupert Street — immediately west of the SkyTrain station, and north of Still Creek and Real Canadian Superstore.

Site of the former BC Liquor warehouse at 3200-3270 East Broadway and 2625 Rupert Street, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

Two concept options are currently up for public input, with each option featuring the same number of homes and residential density (3,800 units across 3.25 million sq ft of building floor area), employment space (1,750 jobs across 750,000 sq ft of retail, hotel, office, and/or industrial uses), and public benefits and amenities, such as an intercultural greenhouse, childcare facilities, and new public spaces and a plaza spanning roughly 2.3 or 2.4 acres.

There would be a mix of housing tenure types, including an affordable housing component.

The exact housing tenure mix for this project has yet to be determined, but recent First Nations projects generally do not incorporate any conventional freehold strata ownership housing, with ownership opportunities limited to leasehold ownership — long-term leases, typically for a term of 99 years — to enable First Nations to own the land in perpetuity.

Existing condition:

Site of the former BC Liquor warehouse at 3200-3270 East Broadway and 2625 Rupert Street, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

3200 east broadway vancouver option 1 salmon

Preliminary concept for 3200 East Broadway, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

Each of the two concept options — Option 1 of “Salmon” and Option 2 of “Cedar” — features 12 towers, with each option featuring similar building heights.

Option 1 consists of three 60-storey towers, three 49-storey towers, four 32-storey towers, one 23-storey tower, and one 12-storey tower, while Option 2 entails three 60-storey towers, three 49-storey towers, one 32-storey tower, three 30-storey towers, one 23-storey tower, and one 18-storey tower. These towers are also attached to base podiums.

While these 60-storey buildings would be among the tallest within Vancouver, they would likely fall short of eclipsing Metro Vancouver’s new tallest building of Two Gilmore Place in Brentwood and other future tall towers in Burnaby.

This property is not a reserve, but the City of Vancouver is considering allowing significantly added density and height beyond policies as a measure of Indigenous reconciliation, which would ultimately provide each of the three local First Nations with significant long-term revenue for their communities.

The contemplated height and density goes far above BC Housing’s nearby Skeena Terrace affordable housing project (where the tallest buildings will reach up to 36 storeys) and the City’s Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan (which stipulates building heights no more than 40 storeys).

Option 1 concept of “Salmon” for 3200 East Broadway, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

3200 east broadway vancouver option 1 cedar

Option 2 concept of “Cedar” for 3200 East Broadway, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

The former liquor warehouse site is located within the area plan, but the municipal government is providing the property — deemed as a large-scale “Unique Site” — with major exceptions to the future area plan’s prescriptions and stipulations.

In addition to added density and height allowances, the City will allow residential uses for this industrial property, whereas residential uses are generally not permitted for other industrial properties within the area plan to preserve existing employment lands functions.

The key differences between each option are the precise placement of the mixed uses, as well as the configuration and design of the public spaces and road network. In each option, the site is divided by a new east-west road between Lillooet and Rupert streets, and a new north-south road between East Broadway and the SkyTrain guideway.

In both options, the non-residential uses of retail, hotel, office, and industrial uses are generally situated closest to the SkyTrain station and guideway, and the major streets of East Broadway and Rupert Street.

Furthermore, both options incorporate a north-south creek that funnels rainwater downhill into Still Creek, restoring the property’s buried stream due to development.

Option 1 concept of “Salmon” for 3200 East Broadway, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

Option 2 concept of “Cedar” for 3200 East Broadway, Vancouver. (MST Development/Aquilini Development)

Currently, this proposal is being reviewed by the City under the “enhanced rezoning process,” which adds a step prior to the submission of a formal rezoning application. At the end of the enhanced rezoning process, a preferred project concept will be selected and used as the basis for the rezoning application, which will be submitted in 2025.

Concurrently, the City is in the process of finalizing the Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan, spanning the areas around SkyTrain’s Rupert and Renfrew stations. This new area plan is generally framed by Park Street to the north, Boundary Road to the east, East 27th Avenue to the south, and Kamloops Street to the west. Currently, single-family neighbourhoods span a majority of the area, and light industrial and commercial uses are closest to both stations.

This area planning process is similar to recent area plans such as the Broadway Plan, Cambie Plan, and Grandview-Woodland Plan.

Vancouver City Council is expected to review the finalized area plan for approval in Spring 2025.

rupert and renfrew station area plan vancouver

June 2024 draft concept for Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan. (City of Vancouver)

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