City of Vancouver restarts False Creek South development planning

October 2021 rejected concept for the future of False Creek South. (City of Vancouver)

Nearly three years after the previous makeup of Vancouver City Council rejected a City-led redevelopment concept for the False Creek South neighbourhood, the municipal government is now restarting the planning process from scratch.

City of Vancouver staff have begun the process of seeking an urban design and planning contractor to create a new False Creek South Comprehensive Development Plan.

This area plan specifically deals with the 80 acres of land owned by the municipal government in False Creek South, which is an area generally framed by Cambie Street Bridge to the east, West 6th Avenue to the south, Burrard Street Bridge to the west, and the inner harbour of False Creek to the north.

But unlike area plans such as the Broadway Plan and Cambie Plan, there is a clear difference with the False Creek South Comprehensive Development Plan, as this planning exercise would be conducted from the City’s landowner perspective.

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The selected contractor would work with various City departments — Real Estate Services, Long-Term Financial Strategy, Business Planning and Project Support, Engineering Services, and Non-Market Housing Development and Operations — to create various development plan options, including supporting rationale, density options, and financial pro forma.

The contractor would also identify technical requirements such as infrastructure, amenities, soil remediation, sea level rise mitigations, and transportation infrastructure.

The City of Vancouver owns 80% of the False Creek South neighbourhood. (City of Vancouver)

False Creek South. (City of Vancouver)

After City Council selects a comprehensive development plan option, which would be decided based on the perspective of a landowner rather than a land use regulator, City staff would consult with the City’s planning team to identify a path forward in terms of policymaking. At that point, an area planning process similar to the Broadway Plan — conducted from a land use regulator perspective — could potentially be initiated, given the City’s recent history with such area plans.

Up to five teams will be shortlisted to submit a detailed bid to carry out the planning work. The stated expectations and requirements suggest this contract for the planning work will be a very extensive and exhaustive process.

In addition to the directions made by the previous makeup of City Council in October 2021 to go back to the drawing board, the current City Council also passed a member motion in March 2024 to provide further new and refined direction to City staff on the parameters of the upcoming planning work.

The March 2024 motion directs City staff to create a new False Creek South Development Plan that retains City ownership of the lands, retains options for existing residents to return to new homes, increases the number of co-ops and other housing options, creates a more complete community by allowing mixed-use developments, protects and expands existing parks, green spaces, and community amenities, accelerates sea level mitigation measures, and improves public transit accessibility.

As well, this new process will share the City’s landowner’s principles and goals for the neighbourhood with existing False Creek South residents and other neighbourhood stakeholders in an “open and transparent manner.”

False Creek South low-rise residential buildings. (Heritage Vancouver)

Charleson Park in False Creek South, backdropped by Central Broadway towers. (Johnny Habell/Shutterstock)

False Creek South seawall. (City of Vancouver)

Recent provincial and municipal policies related to housing and building development are expected to significantly influence the determination of future required permissible building forms within False Creek South.

The provincial government’s new transit-oriented development legislation for residential uses covers almost the entirety of the False Creek South neighbourhood, especially the 800-metre radii of the provincially-legislated Transit-Oriented Areas (TOA) of SkyTrain’s Olympic Village Station and the future Oak-VGH Station, and to a lesser extent Broadway-City Hall Station and the future South Granville Station.

This means the False Creek South areas closest to Olympic Village Station — within 200 metres of this particular station — carry minimum height allowances of 20 storeys, including the large City-owned surface parking lot next to the station and False Creek Tennis Club. Almost all other areas are within the outer TOA radii enabling at least 12 storeys or eight storeys. Overall, these provincially legislated minimum building heights and resulting densities would be higher than not only False Creek South’s existing primary typology of low-rise structures reaching three or four storeys but also greater than the rejected October 2021 proposal.

It should also be noted that the municipal government is in the process of considering additional building height and density for TOAs within Vancouver beyond the minimums prescribed by provincial legislation.

olympic village station transit oriented area vancouver toa

Provincially-legislated 800-metre Transit-Oriented Area for SkyTrain Olympic Village Station. (City of Vancouver)

oak vgh station transit oriented areas vancouver toa

Provincially-legislated 800-metre Transit-Oriented Area for SkyTrain Oak-VGH Station. (City of Vancouver)

south granville station transit oriented areas toa

Provincially-legislated 800-metre Transit-Oriented Area for SkyTrain South Granville Station. (City of Vancouver)

Additionally, just this past week, City Council approved major amendments to relax the municipal government’s view cone policies, which serve to restrict building heights and shapes to preserve public views of the mountains. These amendments include a handful of view cone changes that increase building development opportunities in False Creek South, each to a varying degree. The future building development in False Creek South is particularly influenced by boundary changes to the extensive View Cone 3.0 from Queen Elizabeth Park and, to a lesser extent, View Cone 9.0 from Cambie Street near Vancouver City Hall.

Changes to View Cone 3.0 enable high-rise tower heights of up to over 40 storeys for False Creek South sites near the Cambie Street Bridge and Olympic Village Station; generally, based on view cone policies alone, high-rise towers would be permitted for the area between Charleson Park and the Cambie Street Bridge.

2024 changes to View Cone 3.0 emanating from Queen Elizabeth Park. (City of Vancouver)

The municipal government’s 80 acres within False Creek South are some of the most valuable assets of the City’s multi-billion dollar Property Endowment Fund.

All of the residential properties on these former industrial lands were built in the 1970s and 1980s.

According to the City, the entire False Creek South neighbourhood — including properties not owned by the municipal government — spans 136 acres and currently accommodates a population of about 5,500 people. Approximately 60% of the residential units in this neighbourhood are situated on land owned by the City and leased to either non-profit or for-profit housing operators or directly to tenants through long-term ground leases. Most of the 1,172 non-market housing units are located on City-owned land. The area is predominantly residential, with limited commercial uses.

After the October 2021 rejection, City staff began the process of renewing some of the expiring leases by up to 20 years to provide some residents with more certainty. As of last month, most of the leases on City property are due to expire between 2036 and 2066, with two co-op leases due to expire sooner.

City staff’s previous concept, which was rejected in October 2021, strived for a significant phased redevelopment to increase the number of homes from about 1,850 units today to 6,645 units upon full completion beyond the 2040s. There would be a housing tenure mix of 2,350 units of market strata leasehold, 2,020 units of market rental, and 2,275 units of non-market and co-op — roughly one-third share for each housing type in an effort to align with the community’s original mixed-income vision.

Existing condition of False Creek South. (City of Vancouver)

Existing condition of False Creek South. (City of Vancouver)

October 2021 rejected concept for the future of False Creek South upon full buildout by 2040. (City of Vancouver)

The centre of the site would see low-rise and mid-rise buildings, while towers were envisioned for the western and eastern ends, including a 500-ft-tall standalone residential tower next to Granville Island and a cluster of towers replacing the parking lot and False Creek Public Tennis Club next to SkyTrain Olympic Village Station.

The neighbourhood’s total floor area on City-owned land would grow from 1.862 million sq ft today to 6.643 million sq ft — from a floor area ratio (FAR) density of a floor area that is 1.3 times larger than the size of the land area to 3.4 FAR upon full buildout.

The previous makeup of City Council shelved this concept due to overwhelming opposition from the neighbourhood’s residents.

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