Telus proposes new 26-storey rental housing tower in Vancouver | Daily Hive

Telus proposing to build 26-storey rental housing tower in Vancouver

Concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

A unique mixed-use development has been proposed for a longstanding Telus utility facility located immediately south of Kingsgate Mall in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant neighbourhood.

In partnership with Ledcor Property Investments, Telus Living — the real estate development arm of the telecommunications giant — has submitted a new rezoning application to redevelop 354-380 East 10th Avenue, situated at the southwest corner of the intersection of Prince Edward Street and East 10th Avenue.

This transit-oriented development site is located just a six-minute walk east of SkyTrain’s future Mount Pleasant Station (intersection of Main Street and East Broadway) and steps from frequent bus routes along Main Street, Kingsway, and East Broadway.

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This project would replace the existing large Telus Central Office utility building that houses telecommunications exchange equipment, and a 1989-built, three-storey residential and commercial building.

354-380 East 10th Avenue Vancouver tower Telus Living Central Office

Site of the existing Telus Central Office utility building at 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Existing condition:

Site of the existing Telus Central Office utility building at 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

According to the application, on the mid-block western parcel of the property, Telus would build a new four-storey building containing replacement and expanded telecommunications exchange utilities.

This new four-storey building would contain 18,100 sq ft of Telus utility space within its upper levels, and a retail/restaurant unit on the ground level to activate the street front. It is also noted that this new utility building would be a disaster-proof facility.

Telus’ ongoing transition from copper telephone wires to fibre optics enables a significantly smaller footprint for their telecommunications exchanges. In contrast, fibre optic links provide up to over 1,000 times as much bandwidth as copper, and can travel up to more than 100 times further as well. It is stated that one fibre strand — half the width of a human hair — can transmit about one million phone calls or the equivalent internet data at any given time.

With the need to renew this utility facility and the ability to accommodate the new telecommunications exchange in a much smaller space, there is now an opportunity to develop the site into a high-density, mixed-use project.

New Telus utility building; concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

Concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

On the larger eastern parcel of the site, fronting the intersection, there would be a 258-ft-tall, mixed-use residential and commercial tower, reaching 26 storeys, including a rooftop level with shared indoor and outdoor amenity spaces for residents.

Under the City’s Broadway Plan requirements, Telus Living is looking to achieve 230 secured purpose-built rental homes on this site, including 183 market rental units and 47 below-market rental units.

The unit size mix would be 34 studios, 72 one-bedroom units, 32 one-bedroom units with a den, 69 two-bedroom units, and 23 three-bedroom units. Additional outdoor amenity space would be found on the lower rooftop of the building’s base podium.

The second level of the tower would contain 11,100 sq ft of office space, while the project’s entire ground-level retail and restaurant space component would total 5,600 sq ft, including commercial units fronting Prince Edward Street, the intersection corner, and East 10th Avenue within the tower, and the ground-level commercial unit within the utility building.

Concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

The proposal generally aligns with the prescriptions and stipulations of the Broadway Plan. However, Telus Living is requesting some exceptions to the area plan’s tower floor plate size limit of 6,500 sq ft for the site. They are proposing a larger tower floor plate size of 7,214 sq ft, which is deemed to be necessary in order for the critical Telus utilities to remain on-site.

The larger floor plates for the rental housing uses enable the project to achieve the Broadway Plan’s permitted density for the site without exceeding the allowable building height as stipulated by the area plan. As well, it is stated that the larger floor plates enable more flexible and efficient residential unit layouts.

Furthermore, the project features a waste heat recovery system that captures the significant heat generated by the telecommunications exchange to meet some of the tower’s space and water heating needs. Typically, excess heat is dissipated through cooling towers, but this system reduces that need, effectively lowering carbon emissions, decreasing energy consumption, and minimizing environmental impact.

Concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

Four underground levels would provide 120 vehicle parking stalls and 482 secured bike parking spaces.

The total building floor area would reach 197,100 sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 8.6 times larger than the size of the 28,891 sq ft development site.

According to architectural design firm Arcadis, the building exterior facade’s mix of symmetrical and asymmetrical patterns in the white metal patterns pays homage to Telus’ longtime and continued utility uses for the site, specifically the binary code that converts voice and text into a series of 1’s and 0’s.

“This thoughtful integration of binary principles not only reflects the technological heritage of the site but also creates a visually dynamic and engaging structure,” reads the design rationale.

“The architectural expression of the base continues up through the tower, with an interplay of light and dark tones evident in the contrasting dark window-wall and light metal panel grid system.”

Concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

This redevelopment would be achieved in two phases, beginning with the construction of the new four-storey Telus utility building on the west side of the development site. Once the new telecommunications exchange is operational, this would enable the decommissioning and demolition of old utility building on the east side of the site, and the construction of the 26 storey tower.

According to Telus, its ongoing work transitioning from copper to fibre optics is driving significant real estate development opportunities for the company.

As fibre optics requires a much smaller footprint, they are unlocking redevelopment opportunities for a higher and better use that also responds to the need for more housing across two dozen communities across British Columbia, including 13 cities within Metro Vancouver.

Through Telus Living, the company is looking to build over 4,000 new homes across the province, plus new commercial and industrial developments.

Concept of 354-380 East 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Arcadis/Telus Living/Ledcor)

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