Vancouver Chinatown project pivots from condos to social housing

Future development in Vancouver Chinatown pivots from condos to 100% social housing

Existing condition of the Brickhouse site at 796 Main Street in Vancouver's Chinatown (left) and an artistic rendering of the 2021-approved development (right). (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive | Studio One Architecture/Bonnis Properties)

The Brickhouse development site on the southern edge of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown will be pivoting into a 100% social housing project for its residential uses, removing all of the previous strata market ownership condominium uses.

This follows the property’s sale to the Hogan’s Alley Society last year.

As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized in April 2024, Bonnis Properties sold their property at 796 Main Street and City’s 2021-approved development plans to Hogan’s Alley Society in November 2023, with the non-profit organization paying the developer $20 million. On the same day the deal was finalized, the federal government’s Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) provided Hogan’s Alley Society with a $25.2 million mortgage.

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The property is a 12,800 sq ft lot that is largely vacant but contains several small structures — the 1910-built two-storey building fronting Main Street, which contains the Brickhouse Late Night Bistro and Dive Bar, and a 1925-built single-storey building fronting Union Street, which previously housed the Jimi Hendrix shrine.

728-796 Main Street Vancouver Chinatown Brickhouse

Location of the approved design for 728-796 Main Street, in relation to the future developments on the city-owned blocks to the south, including Hogan’s Alley (right city block). (Studio One Architecture/Bonnis Properties)

brickhouse 796 main street vancouver chinatown

Brickhouse development site of 796 Main Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Artistic rendering of the 2021-approved design for 728-796 Main Street, Vancouver. (Studio One Architecture/Bonnis Properties)

This week, the City of Vancouver noted it had received an application to allow a change in residential tenure to 100% social housing. The building’s height will also increase slightly from 116 ft to 127 ft, which will enable more floor space — an increase in the floor area ratio (FAR) density from a floor area that is 6.79 times larger than the size of the lot to a density of 7.4 FAR.

Other details on the revised project are not available at this time.

This application, first submitted in June 2024, is being considered under the City’s Affordable Housing Policies.

In February 2021, after a long delay, the previous makeup of Vancouver City Council approved Bonnis Properties’ rezoning application to redevelop 796 Main Street into an 11-storey building with 94 homes, including 75 strata market condominium homes and 19 social housing units, as well as over 6,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses.

Artistic rendering of the 2021-approved design for 728-796 Main Street, Vancouver. (Studio One Architecture/Bonnis Properties)

Brickhouse development site of 796 Main Street in Vancouver’s Chinatown. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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