Point Grey Safeway site redevelopment into rental towers approved | Daily Hive

West Point Grey Safeway redevelopment into rental towers and new grocery store approved by Vancouver City Council

June 2024 revised concept of the West Point Grey Safeway redevelopment at 4545-4575 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/BentallGreenOak/Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada)

Nearly six years after the closure of the Safeway in the West Point Grey retail village, and the subsequent demolition of the longtime grocery store building, there is now an established path forward for reinvigorating the site with a major high-density, mixed-use development.

It will provide a significant new infusion of secured purpose-built rental housing and a new replacement grocery store.

On Tuesday morning, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved the rezoning application for 4545-4575 West 10th Avenue by BentallGreenOak, on behalf of property owner Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada.

This decision follows the initial public hearing date in late February 2025, when City Council heard from dozens of public speakers.

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The three-acre vacant site, spanning most of the city block, situated near the northwest corner of the intersection of West 10th Avenue and Sasamat Street, will be redeveloped into two high-rise residential towers reaching 19 storeys and 21 storeys over a commercial base podium, fronting West 10th Avenue to the south, and two six-storey residential buildings, fronting West 9th Avenue to the north.

4545 West 10th Avenue Vancouver West Point Grey Village BentallGreenOak

The former Safeway site at 4545 West 10th Avenue in Vancouver’s West Point Grey Village. (Google Maps)

The upper levels of the two towers and two mid-rise buildings will contain 571 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 456 market rental units and 114 below-market rental units for moderate income households, based on setting aside 20% of the rental residential units for below-market housing.

The unit size mix is 35 studios, 325 one-bedroom units, 170 two-bedroom units, and 41 three-bedroom units.

It is anticipated that many of these rental homes will be suitable for students, faculty, and staff of the University of British Columbia (UBC), given the site’s close proximity to the campus by frequent buses and the immense shortage of on-campus housing, with the demand increasingly spilling out into the West Point Grey, Kitsilano, and Dunbar-Southlands neighbourhoods.

Within the base podium fronting West 10th Avenue, providing an active streetfront and contributing to the continuity of the retail village, there will be over 41,000 sq. ft. of commercial retail/restaurant space, including a 35,200 sq. ft. new replacement grocery store and two smaller retail/restaurant units.

4545-4575 West 10th Avenue Vancouver Point Grey Safeway redevelopment June 2024

The new grocery store restores the retail village’s anchor business. The closure of Safeway in 2018 — part of a series of Safeway closures across Metro Vancouver that year — and the site’s prolonged vacancy after its 2019 demolition created a major void in the area, and accelerated the area’s demise.

The grocery store’s closure impacted pedestrian traffic flow and hurt the area’s small businesses that would have otherwise benefited from the foot traffic Safeway attracted.

“Having a vacant lot doesn’t serve the neighbourhood, and I think it’s quite striking to see the decline in population in West Point Grey. You see that playing out when you walk through the neighbourhood and the businesses, and it’s such a shame to see the empty storefronts and the dark windows on what was formerly a really lively, village area with a lot of heart and character,” said ABC city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung during the deliberations.

“So I think having new neighbours coming in here with 570 secured rental units who are going to want to shop at the grocery store, get a coffee at the local coffee shop, eat at the local restaurant and shop in the small stores is gonna bring back life and energy into the neighbourhood.”

The area’s businesses will benefit from a new customer base in the immediate area, with up to over 1,000 residents calling this new project home.

The retail village has experienced a decline over the past 20 years not only from changing demographics in the West Point Grey neighbourhood, with far fewer families living in the area and a declining population, but also the growth of UBC’s on-campus offerings.

West Point Grey retail village. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Up until the early 2000s, West Point Grey retail village was UBC’s de facto retail village for groceries, essential shopping, and the dining needs of university students. It was the only and largest retail hub west of Dunbar Street up until 2001, when the significant new retail and restaurant options — including the 32,000 sq. ft. Save-On-Foods grocery store in Wesbrook Village — were built within the campus and the University Endowment Lands (UEL). More recently, in 2023, a 13,000 sq. ft. Urban Fare grocery store opened at the new Lelem high-density residential neighbourhood on University Boulevard within the UEL.

These convenient on-campus and UEL options significantly reduced the need for students, faculty, and staff to visit West Point Grey retail village, and closure of Safeway dealt it a final blow.

Furthermore, coupled with declining foot traffic, small businesses in West Point Grey have also suffered from skyrocketing property taxes.

“I remember as a UBC student spending a lot of time on the West 10th neighbourhood shopping,” said ABC city councillor Mike Klassen.

“There used to be a lot more energy and more excitement… I think it will be a really positive thing that we’ll eventually see this energy return to West 10th Avenue, which has been struggling with an incredibly high vacancy rate because of the lack of sort of key services and key amenities like the grocery store.”

May 2022 original concept:

May 2022 concept of the West Point Grey Safeway redevelopment at 4545-4575 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/BentallGreenOak/Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada)

July 2023 revised concept:

4545 West 10th Avenue Vancouver Point Grey Safeway Redevelopment 2023 7

July 2023 revised concept of the West Point Grey Safeway redevelopment at 4545-4575 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/BentallGreenOak/Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada)

December 2023 revised concept:

4545 West 10th Avenue Vancouver Safeway rezoning 2023

December 2023 revised concept of the West Point Grey Safeway redevelopment at 4545-4575 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/BentallGreenOak/Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada)

Approved — June 2024 revised concept:

Some public speakers and those who submitted their comments to City Council prior to the decision suggested the need for a higher degree of affordability in the units, more on-site public amenities such as open plaza areas, a childcare facility, and a new purpose-built home for the Vancouver Public Library branch, along with shorter building heights.

Over the past three years, the design — created by architectural firm Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership — has undergone several revisions after receiving public and City staff input, including a reduction of the height of the large bulky base podium and redistributing that density vertically through taller buildings, wider sidewalks, and a larger West 10th Avenue public plaza now reaching over 6,200 sq. ft.

The project will also create a new mid-block, north-south publicly accessible pedestrian connection between West 9th Avenue and West 10th Avenue.

“I think that, over the course of the six years and the many iterations, that there have been improvements to some of the design that I think reflect some of the aspirations and concerns from the community,” said Green city councillor Pete Fry.

“Does it knock all those needs out the park? No. But also recognizing that it has been six years, that we have a challenging development environment for folks, the costs of doing these kinds of things, the interest rates, the threats of tariffs, and all the things that are going on in the world right now, I do think that it’s in our best interest to move forward with this. It is going to deliver housing close to UBC. It’s going to inject a little bit more life into the neighbourhood and hopefully some retail vibrancy.”

TransLink 99 B-Line bus stop at Sasamat Street in West Point Grey retail village. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Two underground levels will provide 444 vehicle parking stalls and over 1,100 bike parking spaces.

The total building floor area will reach 505,000 sq. ft., establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 3.92 times larger than the size of the lot.

Over the longer term, the nearby First Nations-owned, 90-acre Jericho Lands development could provide West Point Grey retail village with further activity. The high-density, mixed-use project, built over four phases, will generate 13,000 new homes for up to about 24,000 residents, and 500,000 sq. ft. of commercial and institutional space for up to about 3,000 jobs.

There will also be an on-site Jericho Lands Station as a part of the future UBC SkyTrain extension, with the station located within close walking distance to the eastern end of West Point Grey retail village. However, the retail village will lose one of its existing biggest pedestrian traffic generators — the in-village Sasamat Street bus stop of the 99 B-Line, which will be fully discontinued when the SkyTrain extension opens.

The municipal government is also in the process of reviewing an application to redevelop the Safeway at 2315 West 4th Avenue in Kitsilano into a new mixed-use development with nearly 400 rental homes, a new replacement grocery store, and additional retail/restaurant space.

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