New hotel proposal converts shuttered SRO on the Granville Strip | Daily Hive

Existing condition of the Clifton Hotel SRO at 1125 Granville Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

A decade after this Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) building on Granville Street in downtown Vancouver was shuttered due to its aging and deteriorating condition, a new proposal seeks to retain and substantially upgrade the heritage property for conversion into a traditional tourist hotel.

The Clifton Hotel at 1125 Granville St., located mid-block near the southwest corner of the intersection of Helmcken Steret and Granville Street, is a 1910-built, four-storey building with 74 SRO rooms for low-income individuals and people at risk of homelessness.

According to City of Vancouver staff, the building has been closed since 2015, when the City’s Chief Building Officer declared it was unsafe to occupy due to building, plumbing, and life safety issues.

Furthermore, since 2020, upon the onset of the pandemic, the building’s frontage — the main entrances and storefront windows — have been completely covered with boarding with painted murals.

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The property changed hands in 2016, when the current owner acquired it following the previous owner’s relocation of some tenants to other buildings prior to its vacancy and closure.

In February 2025, the current owner submitted an application to the municipal government to convert the 74 legally designated SRO rooms into a 67-room hotel, incorporating heritage retention and commercial uses on the ground and basement levels.

1125 granville street vancouver clifton hotel sro conversion

Location of the Clifton Hotel SRO at 1125 Granville Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Existing condition of the Clifton Hotel SRO at 1125 Granville Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

According to the proposal’s floor plans, levels two, three, and four — currently home to the 74 SRO units — will be completely reconfigured. As is typical in such buildings, each floor presently includes two single-occupant shared washrooms with a toilet, and two additional shared washrooms with both a toilet and a bathtub/shower. The proposed overhaul would transform these levels into 67 hotel guest rooms, each equipped with a private in-suite bathroom featuring a toilet and bathtub/shower. The removal of all shared washrooms allows for more efficient use of space to accommodate the new hotel layout.

The ground and basement levels will have innovative commercial uses, featuring a small hotel lobby, shared common areas, and the subdivision of much of the space into 13 micro commercial units.

These micro commercial units are envisioned to accommodate a diverse mix of businesses, including a travel agency, physiotherapist, orthopedist, clothing retailers, dental clinic, flower shop, beauty salon, coffee shop, sports apparel store, and a hairdresser. Within the basement level, there is also a small “food court” space. The project’s design firm is Matthew Cheng Architect.

Proposed concept for the conversion of Clifton Hotel SRO at 1125 Granville Street, Vancouver, into a tourist hotel. (Matthew Cheng Architect)

Under City policies, the removal of each SRO unit in such a building comes with a $300,000 per room payment to the municipal government. With 74 SRO units, this would cost a staggering $22.2 million if municipal policies were to be strictly followed.

However, City staff state they performed a pro-forma analysis, which determined that imposing a fee of $300,000 per room would “render the proposed project unviable.” Instead, City staff are recommending to City Council the approval of a more manageable lower $1.1 million payment or $14,865 per SRO room removed.

If this $1.1 million payment to the City is approved, the proponent would still need to submit a development permit application a later time to outline their proposed project in detail.

City staff note that this proposed project aligns with the prescriptions and stipulations of the draft Granville Street Plan, which seeks to revitalize and transform the Granville Strip into a vibrant entertainment district. The area plan calls for the gradual removal of existing residential uses — including SROs and supportive housing — within the “Entertainment Core” segment of Granville Street between Smithe Street and Davie Street, where the Clifton Hotel is located, and instead prioritize new hotels, commercial, cultural, and entertainment uses. In June 2025, City Council will review this area plan for approval.

According to City staff, the property owner is not interested in pursuing a complete redevelopment of the property to achieve the highest and best use allowed under the future prescriptions and stipulations of the Granville Street Plan and the associated pre-rezoning to come.

City staff anticipate this property, with a land assembly of some of the adjacent lots, could otherwise achieve a “large mixed-use development with commercial, office, service (hotel), and cultural uses” of a density of up to a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 16 times larger than the size of the land assembly lot.

Existing condition of the Clifton Hotel SRO at 1125 Granville Street, Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan)

It is noted that if the owner does not achieve their less-ambitious plan to retain and convert the existing building into a hotel, the $1.1 million SRO conversion payment would no longer be valid, and a new conversion permit would be required for any future development.

According to BC Assessment, as of July 2024, the property has an assessed value of $3.515 million, including $3.464 million for the land and $51,400 for the structure.

According to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, the Clifton Hotel, originally known as the Clifton Rooms, was owned by B.C.’s Donners family until the 1940s, and was one of many Jewish-owned businesses on Granville Street between Smithe and Drake streets. It was originally designed by the architectural partnership of Parr and Fee, carrying the Edwardian Commercial architectural style, which is known for “light-coloured facades, symmetry, and limited ornamentation.”

To the south of the Clifton Hotel SRO, on the same city block, Deecorp Properties has submitted a rezoning application to redevelop 1167-1193 Granville St. (717 Davie St.) — the northwest corner of the intersection of Davie Street and Granville Street — into a 33-storey, 100 per cent hotel tower with 464 guest rooms, a 5,000 sq. ft. second-level restaurant, and meeting and event rooms on the third level.

There would also be a one-of-a-kind tower rooftop destination on the 33rd level, featuring a 2,000 sq. ft. indoor bar and lounge and a 5,500 sq. ft. outdoor patio with a 90 ft. long outdoor swimming pool.

Existing condition of 1167-1193 Granville Street:

717 Davie Street Vancouver hotel proposal

Existing site of Cold Tea Restaurant at 1167-1193 Granville Street (717 Davie Street), Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition of 1167-1193 Granville Street:

Artistic rendering of the hotel tower proposal at 1167-1193 Granville Street (717 Davie Street), Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Deecorp)

Artistic rendering of the hotel tower at 1167-1193 Granville Street (717 Davie Street), Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Deecorp Properties)

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