City of Richmond proposing to build over 200 rental homes in Aberdeen area | Daily Hive

Site of the future Aberdeen Rental Residences at 3660-3740 Sexsmith Rd., Richmond. (Google Maps)

The City of Richmond is looking to pursue a sizeable secured purpose-built rental housing project on land that is owned by the municipal government.

Called the “Aberdeen Rental Residences” project, two new six-storey buildings are contemplated for five lots at 3660-3740 Sexsmith Rd. within the Aberdeen neighbourhood of the Richmond City Centre Area Plan.

The site is located just north of the intersection of Cambie Road and Sexsmith Road, and it is about a 10-minute walk east from SkyTrain’s Aberdeen Station.

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This site is also immediately east of the Continental Shopping Centre strip mall, southeast of Polygon Homes’ 2022-built Fiorella condominiums, and south, southwest, and west of Polygon Homes’ future Talistar condominiums under construction.

According to the City, it first began forming this particular land assembly in 2001, and it now represents the municipal government’s single largest housing development opportunity in its real estate portfolio.

The land assembly of five lots spans an area of 96,000 sq. ft. As of July 2024’s assessment roll by BC Assessment, the site is worth $22.09 million, with $10,000 coming from the value of a single structure on the northernmost lot and the remainder from the value of the land. The remaining four lots are vacant.

3660-3740 Sexsmith Road Richmond Aberdeen Residences

Walking distance between the future site of Aberdeen Rental Residences at 3660-3740 Sexsmith Rd. and SkyTrain’s Aberdeen Station. (Google Maps)

Site of the future Aberdeen Rental Residences at 3660-3740 Sexsmith Rd., Richmond. (City of Richmond)

The City is looking to build up to 220 secured purpose-built rental homes on this site. This could potentially be a mixed-use project, with the possibility of incorporating some commercial retail, restaurant, office, and/or childcare uses.

To help fund the construction costs, the City is exploring pursuing the provincial government’s Community Housing Fund (CHF), which requires a unit mix of 30 per cent low-to-moderate income market rental units (for households with incomes up to $85,870 for a studio or one-bedroom unit and $138,770 for a unit with two or more bedrooms), 50 per cent for rent geared to income units (units for household incomes below BC Housing’s Housing Income limits, but more than deep subsidy), and 20 per cent deep subsidy income rental units (units for household incomes below BC Housing’s deep subsidy limits).

The municipal government notes that some residents in the community have raised concerns that there would be a supportive housing component in this project.

The development site is immediately north of the adjacent City-owned site of 3780 Sexsmith Rd., which was previously the site of the highly controversial proposal to build a permanent six-storey building with 90 studio units of supportive housing. This completely separate supportive housing project, spearheaded by BC Housing, was cancelled in February 2025 when the municipal government withdrew its support and land following continued public backlash.

Unlike the cancelled supportive housing project, the City emphasizes that Aberdeen Rental Residences is fully designed and intended for people capable of independent living — purpose-built for lower-income working households, including families, seniors, and persons with disabilities.

The municipal government states that such housing is “often underserved” in Richmond. The intention is to have an eligibility requirement of having tenants be not only on BC Housing’s waitlist, but also have ties to Richmond.

Site of the future Aberdeen Rental Residences at 3660-3740 Sexsmith Rd., Richmond. (Google Maps)

Most of the units at Aberdeen Rental Residences will be family-sized units; two-thirds of the rental homes will be two- and three-bedroom units, and the remainder one-third will be studio and one-bedroom units.

The City recently began the procurement process for seeking potential interest from non-profit housing operators to oversee the building’s management after construction.

Preliminary public consultation is underway, and a rezoning application submission is anticipated in September, followed by the selection of a non-profit housing operator. The City is aiming to submit its CHF application later in the fall.

At this early stage, no architectural design renderings have been made public.

Today, the provincial government announced the target housing orders for the City of Richmond, requiring the municipal government to catalyze the net completion of 6,753 new homes over the next five years, including secured purpose-built rental housing with a below-market component.

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