City Council approves North False Creek social housing sites with 661 units

Potential form of the 28- and 29-storey below-market housing towers in False Creek North. (City of Vancouver)

An agreement many years in the making to incorporate more affordable housing into the post-Expo ’86 development of North False Creek is now supported by area plan amendments allowing such developments on specific sites.

On Thursday, Vancouver City Council unanimously approved bylaw changes enabling social housing buildings on the three undeveloped sites of 1050 Pacific Boulevard, 900 Beatty Street, and 450 Pacific Street in the general vicinity of the north end of the Cambie Street Bridge.

In February 2023, the municipal government announced it reached a deal with Concord Pacific — the developer responsible for revitalizing North False Creek after the World’s Fair — that will see the developer provide three sites set aside for future non-market housing and a $110 million cash contribution to the City.

The combined cash and in-kind value of the deal is $121 million, including $11 million by waiving the combined option price.

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Another three vacant sites near the western end of North False Creek — 1502 Granville Street, 431 Beach Crescent, and 450 Pacific Street — will remain under Concord Pacific’s ownership for future condominium development uses. This amounts to a removal of the decades-old, non-market housing obligations for these sites.

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Six sites involved with Concord Pacific’s agreement with the City of Vancouver. 1050 Expo Boulevard, 990 Beatty Street, and 450 Pacific Street will be transferred to the City for non-market housing development, while 1502 Granville Street, 431 Beach Crescent, and 900 Pacific Boulevard will remain under Concord Pacific ownership for condominium development. (City of Vancouver)

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This agreement builds on a November 2018 memorandum reached between Concord Pacific and the municipal government during the final days of the previous Vision Vancouver-led City Hall.

In total, all three sites transferred to the City will generate a combined total of at least 661 social housing units.

“For me, the delivery of social housing is incredibly important. This is one of [the] big crises in our city. Some people who spoke to us asked, ‘Why are we giving up three sites?'” said Green councillor Adriane Carr during the deliberations, addressing the overall six-site deal agreement, with half used for public social housing and the other half for developer-driven condominiums.

“It’s not about the number of sites; it’s about the number of units in my mind. Yes, there are three less sites, but we are increasing the number of units of social housing that are being delivered here.”

But Thursday’s approval of the area plan amendments is only the first step, as rezoning, development, and building permit applications are still needed.

The construction and funding of the three affordable housing sites will be led by BC Housing, which has yet to determine exactly what kind of housing tenure will go into these properties. But it was made clear during the meeting that this would be social housing and not supportive housing.

These homes will be dedicated to people who can live independently without support. As usual, tenant selection will be performed by the non-profit operators, which have yet to be selected by BC Housing.

The municipal government will direct the $110 million in cash from Concord Pacific towards achieving the road and infrastructure investments to support the Northeast False Creek Plan, including potentially using the funding towards covering at least a portion of the cost to demolish the Dunsmuir and Georgia viaducts. The project to build a new replacement ground-level road network and demolish the viaducts has stalled largely because of steep cost escalation and the slower-than-anticipated area redevelopments to fund the Northeast False Creek Plan’s public amenity and infrastructure costs.

During the meeting, City staff noted it would be up to City Council to determine how exactly the funding will be used.

“Especially in the downtown area, we hear a lot about the lack of affordability for people in the service industry, healthcare workers, and other people whose incomes don’t allow them and force them to live outside the city. It puts us at risk, certainly for our economy, so having a range of housing is going to really benefit all of the people who live in downtown,” said ABC councillor Mike Klassen.

ABC councillor Lisa Dominato added: “This has been a long time coming. In a context of a city where we’re continually talking about housing affordability, this is a step towards addressing that.”

While the two sites of 900 Beatty Street and 1050 Expo Boulevard are high-rise towers reaching 28 storeys and 29 storeys, respectively, the site of 450 Pacific Boulevard will be a shorter mid-rise building at seven storeys as it is wedged between other high-rise towers, with City policies requiring a minimum 80 ft spacing over such buildings.

It should also be noted that the site of 990 Beatty Street, which is immediately adjacent to Cambie Street Bridge’s southbound entrance, will include a new and expanded replacement fire station for Fire Hall 8, which is currently located about two blocks away at the northwest corner of the intersection of Smithe and Mainland streets in Yaletown.

vancouver fire hall 8 895 hamilton street

The existing location of Fire Hall 8 at 895 Hamilton Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Deputy fire chief Tyler Moore told City Council the existing Fire Hall 8 building is undersized for its actual uses and seismically vulnerable. It currently has three crews assigned, with one fire truck parked outside, as the indoor facility only has two fire truck bays. With thousands of calls per month, he says, the fire department has assigned more staff to this facility due to the response requirements.

This new fire hall location was selected based on a performance analysis, which is based on how fire crews in the overall network of fire halls can respond to calls. With its strategic adjacency to the Cambie Street Bridge, he says, this would enable crews to also respond to the south side of False Creek.

Ground-level retail/restaurant uses are permitted and encouraged by the City’s area plan and policies for the three social housing sites, as the area is intended to evolve into an entertainment district under the Northeast False Creek Plan, with such commercial uses activating the street frontages.

City staff said there are currently no plans to incorporate retail/restaurant uses as the priority is to achieve social housing on the sites, but it is not completely off the table.

Here is a full breakdown of the three social housing sites as contemplated:

990 Beatty Street: 28-storey tower

The vacant site of 990 Beatty Street — the southeast corner of the intersection of Beatty Street and Nelson Street/Cambie Street Bridge — is proposed to become a 28-storey tower.

There would be 288 units — 98 studios, 88 one-bedroom units, 98 two-bedroom units, and four three-bedroom units — within a 280 ft tall, 28-storey tower.

This 231,000 sq ft building would entail 207,000 sq ft of non-market housing floor area, a 6,300 sq ft childcare facility with a capacity for 44 kids, and an 18,000 sq ft new expanded fire hall replacing the nearby Fire Hall 8. The floor area ratio (FAR) density would reach a floor area of 7.5 times larger than the size of the 31,000 sq ft lot.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of the site at 990 Beatty Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Proposed form for the non-market housing tower at 990 Beatty Street, Vancouver, including a new fire hall and childcare facility. (City of Vancouver)

1050 Expo Boulevard: 29-storey tower

Just kitty corner from 990 Beatty Street is the 41,700 sq ft triangular-shaped site of 1050 Expo Boulevard, currently used as a surface parking lot — framed by Cambie Street Bridge, Expo Boulevard, and Pacific Boulevard, immediately adjacent to the Expo ’86 giant ring monument.

A 289 ft tall, 29-storey tower would contain 255,000 sq ft of total building floor area, with 296 non-market housing units — 108 studios, 69 one-bedroom units, 91 two-bedroom units, and 28 three-bedroom units. The FAR density would reach 6.1.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of the site at 1050 Expo Boulevard, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Proposed form of the non-market housing tower at 1050 Expo Boulevard, Vancouver. (City of Vancouver)

450 Pacific Boulevard: 7-storey building

The third site for non-market housing is at 450 Pacific Boulevard — located to the west of David Lam Park.

This site is expected to become a 74 ft tall, seven-storey building with 76,000 sq ft of total building floor area, with 90 units of non-market housing — 30 studios, 26 one-bedroom units, 23 two-bedroom units, and 11 three-bedroom units. The FAR density on this smaller 21,500 sq ft lot would reach 3.5.

Existing condition:

Existing condition of the site at 450 Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Proposed form of the non-market housing building at 450 Pacific Street, Vancouver. (City of Vancouver)

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