32,000 new homes approved for Cambie Corridor in historic densification plan

Early concept for Oakridge Municipal Town Centre. (City of Vancouver)

Earlier this week, Vancouver City Council approved one of the largest neighbourhood-wide densification plans in the city’s history.

The third phase of the Cambie Corridor Plan will allow new dense development opportunities for 1,700 existing single-family homes.

As many as 50,000 additional residents will be able to live along CC through added density, particularly around a two-kilometre radius from Oakridge-41st Avenue Station where dozens of new towers reaching up to 330 ft-tall will now be permitted. This will become the Oakridge Municipal Town Centre – Vancouver’s only secondary town centre.

The CC is framed by 16th Avenue to the north, Ontario Street to the east, Oak Street to the west, and the Fraser River to the south.

Vancouver Cambie Corridor Plan 2018

The City of Vancouver’s Cambie Corridor Plan final draft, 2018. (City of Vancouver)

Other areas next to other Canada Line stations along the CC will see a mixture of low and mid-rises, while peripheral areas will see townhouses.

But the largest redevelopments will be the district-sized redevelopments, and the CC has a number of them – most of them have been separately approved by the municipal government.

This includes the 28-acre Oakridge Centre site, the 25.4-acre Pearson Dogwood site, the 21-acre Langara Gardens site, and the 14-acre old Oakridge Transit Centre site. Planning continues for the redevelopment of the 21-acre old RCMP headquarters on the Heather Lands.

Altogether, there will be a mixture of residential types, including mid and high-rise market and below-market rental apartments. About 32,000 new homes will be built, with 25% to be affordable for people on low and modest incomes, including 2,800 social housing units and 5,400 secured rental homes.

“The Cambie Corridor Plan represents a major step forward on Vancouver’s housing and affordability goals,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson in a statement. “We are transforming Vancouver’s single-family neighbourhoods so more people can live, work and play there, while also adding new parks, community facilities and public spaces, and improving transportation.”

The new Cambie Street frontage between 39th Avenue and 45th Avenue as part of the approved Cambie Corridor Plan. (City of Vancouver)

But all of the new residents and jobs from the planned densification will also require new infrastructure and public benefits.

The municipal government says nearly 1,100 childcare spaces will be created, there will be new and improved community facilities, including a new civic centre and seniors centre as part of the Oakridge Centre project.

There will also be 20 acres of new park space, including a 10-acre waterfront park on the Fraser River and a nine-acre rooftop park at Oakridge Centre.

The city says it is working with TransLink to make improvements to the Canada Line capacity and establish a new B-Line rapid bus route along 41st Avenue.

Plans are also being made to perform extensive upgrades to the existing water, sewerage, and draining networks.

Over $475 million will be spent on the CC’s infrastructure within the coming decade, and over $200 million will be set aside for future infrastructure priorities.

For more information on the densification along the corridor, read Daily Hive’s previous feature story on the plan.

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