15-storey social housing tower proposed for Commercial Drive parking lot

Artistic rendering of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

There is a new proposal to finally redevelop the surface parking lot at the southeast corner of the intersection of Commercial Drive and Adanac Street in Vancouver’s Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood.

More specifically, this is the site of the cancelled Kettle Boffo redevelopment — a previous controversial proposal that called for a new 12-storey, mixed-use building with 200 condominium homes, 30 supportive housing units, 18,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses, and a new drop-in facility for The Kettle Society.

After seven years of planning, in 2018, development partner Boffo Properties cancelled their proposal due to the municipal government’s steep additional cash community amenity contribution (CACs) requirement of up to $16 million, in addition to $39 million of in-kind CACs. This pushed their proposal into the realm of financial unviability, adding to the challenges and delays due to the immense public opposition from the immediate neighbourhood.

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And now, the City of Vancouver’s Non-Market Housing Development department is looking to redevelop the municipally owned property on its own into a mixed-use building with primarily social housing uses.

The newly submitted rezoning application for the triangular-shaped parking lot at 800 Commercial Drive calls for a 171 ft tall, 15-storey tower with 93 units of social housing, including 26 studio units, 29 one-bedroom units, 26 two-bedroom units, and 12 three-bedroom units.

800 commercial drive vancouver social housing 16

Site of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

800 Commercial Drive Vancouver social housing

Site of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

Existing condition:

Site of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

Residents will have access to various indoor and outdoor shared amenity spaces, including outdoor common corridors on the southwest side of the tower levels, which are intended to encourage social interaction amongst the occupants.

“The single-loaded corridor scheme, combined with balconies that offer a ‘front porch’ feel, allows residents to unwind and socialize with neighbours while maintaining a sense of privacy, control, and personal space,” reads the design rationale.

“The gradation of spaces from private [unit interiors] to semi-private [front porches] to public [outdoor amenity areas] will provide a platform to nurture a community that is more resilient, healthy, and connected.”

The ground level will be activated by 4,600 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses — well below the previous proposal’s 18,000 sq ft.

Artistic rendering of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

The height of this new social housing tower proposal is taller than the previous Kettle-Boffo concept to provide more homes. As well, the taller, slender tower reduces bulk.

Two protected mountain view cones — emanating from Trout Lake and the intersection of Commercial Drive and East 15th Avenue — cross over the site, but the regulations do not impact the proposal as the view cones pass about twice as high above the proposed tower height.

Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design began working on the design with the City in late 2020. They made a formal rezoning inquiry and received a letter of response in November 2021. The formal rezoning application was submitted in July 2023, and it was released by the City for formal public consultation today.

Uses of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

Artistic rendering of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

According to the architect’s design rationale, they chose a brick material for the facade to acknowledge the brick materials found on many of Commercial Drive’s older buildings. As well, arches in the design on the ground level and open outdoor corridors add a “human scale to the design that is perceivable both by the residents from the interior and onlookers from the exterior. They are also a nod to the breadth and variety of atypical yet traditional architectural expressions seen throughout the neighbourhood.”

Two underground levels will accommodate 27 vehicle stalls and 196 secured bike parking spaces.

The proposed total building floor area is 88,400 sq ft, representing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 8.2 times larger than the size of the parking lot.

Immediately to the west, construction is approaching completion on a six-storey secured rental housing building at 1680 Adanac Street.

Just three blocks to the north, closer to Hastings Street, Aboriginal Land Trust and Lu’ma Native Housing Society are proposing to redevelop 1710-1730 East Pender Street into an 18-storey, mixed-use tower with 191 social housing units.

Artistic rendering of the social housing tower at 800 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. (Human Studio Architecture & Urban Design/City of Vancouver)

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