New Buy-Low Foods grocery store on Fraser Street includes rental housing

Artistic rendering of the Buy-Low Foods redevelopment at 6095 Fraser Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth E. King Architecture & Planning)

The Buy-Low Foods location in Vancouver’s Sunset neighbourhood could be redeveloped into a mixed-use building containing a replacement grocery store and dozens of rental homes.

According to a new rezoning application, the 1945-built, single-storey grocery store building at 6095 Fraser Street — the northwest corner of the intersection of Fraser Street and East 45th Avenue — would be replaced with a 79-ft-tall, seven-storey building.

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The base would be dedicated as the new Buy-Low Foods store, spanning a floor area of 14,600 sq ft over the first two levels — slightly larger than the existing location’s 12,100 sq ft.

Buy-Low Foods has been an anchor retailer for the area’s retail strip for nearly two decades, and the foot traffic it attracts also supports the area’s small businesses of restaurants and shops.

6095 Fraser Street Vancouver Buy Low Foods

Site of the Buy-Low Foods redevelopment at 6095 Fraser Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Existing condition:

Site of the Buy-Low Foods redevelopment at 6095 Fraser Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the Buy-Low Foods redevelopment at 6095 Fraser Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth E. King Architecture & Planning)

The upper five levels would provide 36 secured market rental homes, including eight studios, 15 one-bedroom units, eight two-bedroom units, and five three-bedroom units. Residents will have access to an indoor and outdoor amenity area on the fifth floor, and an outdoor amenity lounge and children’s play area on the rooftop.

Three underground levels are intended to contain 48 vehicle parking stalls and 74 secured bike parking spaces. The total floor area of the building is 47,000 sq ft, providing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 4.18 times larger than the lot size of about 11,300 sq ft. The design firm is Kenneth E King Architecture & Planning.

Artistic rendering of the Buy-Low Foods redevelopment at 6095 Fraser Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth E. King Architecture & Planning)

The proponents have filed their application under the Secured Rental Policy (SRP) for commercial districts along arterial roads, which was a new framework approved by Vancouver City Council in late 2021. Since the approval of the SRP, it has catalyzed a wave of new low-rise rental housing building proposals.

The SRP permits rental housing and ground-level commercial uses in heights of up to six-storeys for sites like this Buy-Low Foods location. At seven storeys, the proposed building would exceed the height limits of the policy.

“Due to the proposed loading spaces, ramp to the underground parking and other services, residential lobby, and vertical circulation, the proposed usable main floor area was reduced significantly. City planning had deemed the mezzanine floor as a storey, therefore the increase of the second floor area was needed to make the size of the supermarket viable,” explains the applicant.

Layout of the first floor of the Buy-Low Foods in the new seven-storey building at 6095 Fraser Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth E. King Architecture & Planning)

Layout of the second floor of the Buy-Low Foods in the new seven-storey building at 6095 Fraser Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth E. King Architecture & Planning)

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