Taller towers, more rental homes in revised proposal at Commercial-Broadway Station

Taller towers for more rental homes in revised Safeway redevelopment proposal at SkyTrain Commercial-Broadway Station

Artistic rendering of the September 2022 revised concept for the Broadway Commercial Safeway redevelopment at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

SkyTrain Commercial-Broadway Station is already one of the busiest transit hubs in Western Canada, and the forthcoming revised proposal of the adjacent Safeway redevelopment will be an attempt to better acknowledge this very fact.

After the October 2022 civic election, a revised rezoning application will be brought forward to Vancouver City Council to consider taller building heights for the “Broadway Commercial” project.

Added density through taller towers will allow for a 37% increase in the total number of homes, growing from 653 units in the previous iteration to 894 units in the revised design. This updated figure will provide enough homes for up to about 1,600 people.

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Most of the 241 additional homes will be secured purpose-built rental housing.

The number of affordable rental homes will more than double from 93 units to 205 units.

Market rental housing will grow from 345 units to 395 units.

Condominium housing will also see an increase, rising from 215 units to 294 units. In an interview, Peter Busby, the principal of architectural firm Perkins&Will, told Daily Hive Urbanized the additional market ownership units are needed to help pay for the project’s various benefits, including offsetting the cost of both the increased market and affordable rental housing tenures.

Safeway Broadway Commercial 1780 East Broadway Vancouver September 2022

Site plan of the September 2022 revised concept for the Broadway Commercial Safeway redevelopment at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

Apart from the vertical increase in the height of the three towers, the overall design of the redevelopment is largely the same as what was proposed in the previous revision made in 2021.

Tower A closest to the Expo Line platforms has grown from 29 storeys to 38 storeys — the revision’s largest height increase of nine storeys. Tower B fronting East Broadway is now 34 storeys instead of the previous 29 storeys, while Tower C fronting East 10th Avenue on the southeastern corner of the site is now 31 storeys instead of 24 storeys.

Base podium uses of the previous concept including a new replacement 50,000 sq ft Safeway, plus office, retail, restaurant, and fitness gym uses will remain. The existing Safeway is the grocery retail chain’s busiest store in Western Canada.

Busby says the design changes to the towers were relatively simple and quick, using the same elevator cores and no additional vehicle parking.

Th newly revised concept grows the complex’s total floor area from around 600,000 sq ft in the previous iteration to roughly 740,000 sq ft as of September 2022. The resulting floor area ratio (FAR) density is a floor area that is 7.0 times larger than the size of the Safeway lot — up from the previous FAR of 5.7.

Crombie REIT and local developer Westbank are going back to the municipal government with more density by using City Council’s approved Broadway Plan’s allowable transit-oriented density, as the new baseline for the type of density that can and should be allowed near SkyTrain stations. Furthermore, the Broadway Plan’s eastern geographical border is just two blocks to the west on Clark Drive.

Artistic rendering of the September 2022 revised concept for the Broadway Commercial Safeway redevelopment at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

Busby brought to attention the allowable densities next to the five future subway stations directly on Broadway, part of the Millennium Line Broadway Extension, will range between 10.5 and 12 FAR.

“We feel pretty strongly that SkyTrain stations are important locations to put density,” he said. He notes that the site is guided by the stipulations of the City’s 2016-enacted Grandview-Woodland Plan, but this area plan is now out of date in terms of the realities facing the city and wider region.

It also takes into account the immense ridership impact the scheduled 2025 opening of the Millennium Line Broadway Extension to Arbutus will have on Commercial-Broadway Station, and the growing momentum to further extend the Millennium Line westward all the way to the University of British Columbia (UBC), which is anticipated for the 2030s.

As the key interchange between the Expo and Millennium lines, the extensions of the Millennium Line to Arbutus and then eventually to UBC are expected to grow Commercial-Broadway Station’s ridership to 31,100 passengers per day by 2045.

The projected 2045 ridership of Commercial-Broadway Station is more than twice the forecast for South Granville Station (14,700 daily), and about 50% more than Broadway-City Hall (19,700 daily), which will be the busiest station within the 2025-completed SkyTrain extension segment.

“This bolsters the argument that this is a candidate for rezoning, absolutely,” said Busby. Based on the current timelines, if approved, the redevelopment could reach completion in 2026, just a year after the SkyTrain extension’s opening.

Artistic rendering of the September 2022 revised concept for the Broadway Commercial Safeway redevelopment at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

Busby’s firm is responsible for the designs of some of the most successful mixed-use, transit-oriented developments in the region.

With PCI Developments, it designed Crossroads (home to London Drugs and Whole Foods Market) kitty corner from Broadway-City Hall Station, and Marine Gateway (home to Cineplex and T&T Supermarket) next to Marine Drive Station.

City Council was supposed to enter into the pubic hearing for the rezoning application of the previous concept for the Safeway redevelopment before the end of July 2022. The official reason for punting this project’s decision to after the election is because City Council ran out of time, after spending many dates on the marathon public meetings for the Broadway Plan, Vancouver Plan, and other controversial housing projects.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of the Safeway grocery store site at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of the September 2022 revised concept for the Broadway Commercial Safeway redevelopment at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

The previous concept for the Safeway redevelopment is already a highly controversial proposal for local residents, which is made evident by the angry red “NO MEGATOWERS” lawn signs that dot the surrounding single-family neighbourhood.

“The neighbours are against this project because they don’t want change of any sort. They have publicly stated they want more affordable and rental housing, so this project will represent 5% of the affordable housing in Grandview-Woodland,” said Busby.

“They have said they want this site to be covered with four- and five-storey buildings, but that’s a waste of opportunity. We can get about 900 units, but we’ve got to get going with it. Every year we delay, rental rates in this city go up.”

Busby also addressed some suggestions by the neighbours to create a large centralized public park or plaza on the 2.4-acre lot, as opposed to the linear public plaza on the western end of the site. He says this is a non-starter for property owner Crombie REIT, as it would be unfeasible for a new replacement Safeway. Under such a scenario, this Safeway store at 1780 East Broadway — largely a surface parking lot — would remain undeveloped for many more years.

Busby notes the new revised concept provides some improvements to the complex’s public spaces. The 20,000 sq ft linear public plaza is now slightly larger, as it no longer includes sidewalks. As previously conceived, this is to be a space for events, pop-up retail and art, lingering, and a mid-block pedestrian connection between East Broadway and East 10th Avenue.

Artistic rendering of the September 2022 revised concept for the Broadway Commercial Safeway redevelopment at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

Site plan of the September 2022 revised concept for the Broadway Commercial Safeway redevelopment at 1780 East Broadway, Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Westbank/Crombie REIT)

The previously planned central courtyard on the rooftop of the Safeway is now improved with a publicly accessible greenway, and a second public entrance. A new staircase to the courtyard has been added at the southeast corner of the site from East 10th Avenue, while retaining the main staircase with amphitheatre seating at the public plaza.

Visible from the courtyard will be large thermal tanks that store water to help balance the complex’s thermal needs throughout the year, with excess energy recovered from cooling commercial space used to heat the residential.

The thermal tanks connect to a district energy plant by Creative Energy (Vancouver’s district energy provider) in the parkade that will provide low carbon heating and cooling to the project. The district energy system is a key part of the project’s goal of being a Net Zero Carbon lifecycle building, and has the potential to expand and provide low carbon, low cost energy to the surrounding community. Other green building features include triple pane glazing for the windows, a tight building envelope, and the use of low impact concrete. This will be an all-electric complex.

“The proposal here is for a significantly greener building than what the City of Vancouver requires… it will be the greenest building in Vancouver,” said Busby. “We’re hopeful that this will be well received.”

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