18-storey rental housing tower eyed next to TransLink's Kootenay bus loop | Daily Hive

18-storey rental housing tower proposed next to TransLink's Kootenay bus loop in Vancouver

June 2025 concept for 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (BHA Architecture/PCI Developments)

PCI Developments is looking to build even more secured purpose-built rental housing at the easternmost end of Hastings Street within the city of Vancouver.

This follows their recent completion of two 14-storey secured purpose-built rental housing towers on the 3600 block of East Hastings Street, known as the Yarrow and Aster.

And now, the developer has submitted a new rezoning application to build a new 196-foot-tall, 18-storey secured purpose-built tower for the site of 3553-3563 East Hastings St. — situated less than one block to the west of Yarrow and Aster, and immediately to the west of TransLink’s Kootenay bus exchange.

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This replaces PCI’s previous rezoning application in 2021 to turn the property into a six-storey building with 56 secured purpose-built market rental homes and ground-level retail/restaurant uses. The development site has since been made vacant; up until a few years ago, the property was home to single-storey commercial buildings home to Golden Lake Seafood Restaurant and Bridal Fashion Group.

However, recent provincial and municipal policies encourage more residential density for the site. This bus exchange is a provincially designated Transit Oriented Area (TOA), with legislation enabling greater density and height for more optimal transit-oriented development.

3553-3563 East Hastings Street Vancouver PCI

Site of 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Current condition:

3553-3563 east hastings street vancouver 12

Site of 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Cancelled 2021 concept of a six-storey building:

3555-3561 East Hastings Street Vancouver

Cancelled concept: 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (BHA Architecture/PCI Developments)

Revised June 2025 concept for an 18-storey tower:

June 2025 concept for 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (BHA Architecture/PCI Developments)

Under the new application, there will be 178 secured purpose-built rental homes, with 80 per cent of the units being market rentals and 20 percent being below-market rentals — including 10 per cent of the units rented at below the city-wide average rents of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The unit size mix is 40 studios, 74 one-bedroom units, 62 two-bedroom units, and two three-bedroom units. Residents will have access to shared indoor and outdoor amenity spaces on the second level and tower rooftop.

Additionally, the project offers over 6,500 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space on the ground level, serving to improve the East Hastings Street retail strip.

June 2025 concept for 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (BHA Architecture/PCI Developments)

“The proposed design will contribute to the aspirations and goals of the TOAs by strengthening the mixed-use character of East Hastings Street near transit while providing much needed rental housing stock and commercial amenity,” reads the application designed by BHA Architecture.

“Due to its location on the Hastings corridor right next to the Kootenay bus loop, the proposed site will be well served by public transit.”

Kootenay bus loop is currently served by nine TransLink bus routes, including the R5 Hastings Street RapidBus between downtown Vancouver and Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby campus, and various north-south bus routes linking the North Shore with Brentwood and Metrotown. In the future, the Hastings Street and North Shore-Metrotown corridors could see major rapid transit services.

June 2025 concept for 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (BHA Architecture/PCI Developments)

Three underground levels will provide 73 vehicle parking stalls and 358 secured bike parking spaces.

The total building floor area will reach 136,000 sq. ft., establishing a floor area ratio density of 8.45 — more than eight times the size of the 16,084 sq. ft. land area of the development site.

It is noted that the project will pursue Development Cost Levy waivers to improve the financial viability of the project and its housing affordability levels. Under City policies, the project is eligible for a waiver for such fees, specifically for the rental housing portion of the development.

The project’s visuals show the possibility of a future redevelopment by TransLink of the Kootenay bus loop, with a high-rise tower built above a new bus loop on the site.

June 2025 concept for 3553-3563 East Hastings St., Vancouver. (BHA Architecture/PCI Developments)

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