Jericho Lands project to take new City of Vancouver approval step | Daily Hive

City of Vancouver to turn Jericho Lands project into an Official Development Plan

Concept for the Jericho Lands development. (MST/CLC)

Next week, Vancouver City Council is expected to approve the referral of a public hearing for the Official Development Plan (ODP) specifically for the Jericho Lands development, situated in the West Point Grey neighbourhood.

This is the latest step for the 90-acre project, which is a joint partnership between MST Partnership — a private entity wholly owned by the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations — and federal Crown corporation Canada Lands Company (CLC).

In January 2024, the massive development project received City Council’s approval for the Jericho Lands Policy Statement, which is a master plan that guides future rezoning applications for the project’s parcels and phasing.

However, according to City of Vancouver staff, the First Nations subsequently requested that the policy statement be formalized and turned into an Official Development Plan (ODP).

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An ODP for a master-planned, neighbourhood-sized development is not a municipal planning requirement, but this is being adopted to turn the policy statement’s approved development allowances, affordable housing, and public benefit requirements into a City bylaw. This effectively provides more certainty than the policy statement, serving the purpose of supporting the efforts of the First Nations in securing financing from borrowers to allow the project to move toward construction.

The ODP bylaw will outline the policy statement’s permitted floor areas, land uses, housing tenures, public amenities, infrastructure, and the phasing of construction.

It is emphasized by City staff the Jericho Lands ODP will not alter any of the prescriptions and stipulations of the 2024-approved policy statement for the project. After it is enacted, the ODP will serve to guide future rezoning applications for the Jericho Lands.

A public hearing is anticipated for mid-April 2024, at which point City Council is expected to review and provide final approval for the ODP.

Site of the Jericho Lands in the Vancouver Westside. (City of Vancouver)

December 2023 master plan of the Jericho Lands. (City of Vancouver)

Other master-planned, neighbourhood-sized developments that only have a policy statement for guiding future rezoning applications — without the extra step of an ODP — include the MST and CLC’s other major project of the Heather Lands, as well as other relatively recent projects such as Pearson Dogwood by Onni Group, Skeena Terrace by BC Housing, and Little Mountain by Holborn Properties.

A prominent exception to this is the ODP created for Wesgroup Properties’ River District (East Fraserlands), which was recently revised to enable significantly more density.

Based on the 2024-approved policy statement, Jericho Lands will have dozens of high-rise towers reaching up to 49 storeys, as well as a range of low- and mid-rise buildings, generating about 13.6 million sq. ft. of total building floor area — containing 12.6 million sq. ft. of residential uses and at least 500,000 sq. ft. of commercial uses. This translates into about 13,000 new homes for up to approximately 24,000 residents and employment spaces for about 3,000 jobs.

The policy statement requires at least 20 per cent of the residential floor area be used for social housing, which translates into about 2,600 homes. As well, at least 10 per cent of the residential floor area must be used for secured purpose-built market and below-market rental housing, with below-market rental housing accounting for a minimum of 25 per cent of the overall secured purpose-built rental housing component.

As for the ownership housing opportunities, MST has noted their intention to only provide leasehold strata as the sole ownership tenure, which would enable the First Nations to own the land in perpetuity. Similarly, the First Nations will also own all of the social housing.

However, in City staff’s report outlining the ODP, it is noted that the ODP provides flexibility to allow consideration of alternative approaches to achieve the affordable housing component, including the alternatives of providing more secured purpose-built market and below-market rental housing as an alternative to some of the social housing.

From the outset, during the policy statement planning process, it was previously noted that the full scope of the social housing component is only possible if the federal and/or provincial governments provide funding.

The full 20 per cent social housing component, about 2,600 social housing units, carried an estimated cost of about $760 million in 2024. Without funding from senior governments, according to City staff, it is expected the project will be able to achieve about 16 per cent of the required social housing, about 2,000 social housing units.

December 2023 conceptual artistic rendering of the Jericho Lands. (City of Vancouver)

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December 2023 conceptual artistic rendering of the Jericho Lands. (City of Vancouver)

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December 2023 conceptual artistic rendering of the Jericho Lands. (City of Vancouver)

jericho lands mst clc vancouver concept june 2023

June 2023 revised concept of the Jericho Lands. (MST Development Corporation/Canada Lands Company)

City staff state that if MST is required to provide a cash contribution toward the construction costs of SkyTrain Millennium Line’s future extension from Arbutus to the University of British Columbia (UBC), this would further reduce the ability of achieving the required social housing.

So far, the First Nations have committed to providing the required land to build the on-site Jericho Lands subway station, as well as temporary usage of the lands for the construction staging and storage needs of building the overall SkyTrain extension project.

Furthermore, the sequence of the Jericho Lands’ four phases of construction is strategically intended to enable the first phase to be built without the SkyTrain extension. The first phase is located on the west side of the development site.

If the SkyTrain extension is significantly delayed (currently a 2030s completion is anticipated), not built, or a decision is made to substantially change the location of the on-site Jericho Lands Station (the station location is currently planned near the centre of the site), the master plan and/or approach for phasing could be reviewed for changes.

In January 2025, Premier David Eby’s mandate letter for the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure deemed the UBC SkyTrain extension to be a priority to advance progress on.

jericho lands vancouver policy statement november 2023

Phasing plan for the Jericho Lands redevelopment. (City of Vancouver)

General potential area of the subway station footprint of the Jericho Station on the Jericho Lands. (City of Vancouver)

June 2023 revised concept of the Jericho Lands. (MST Development Corporation/Canada Lands Company)

The significant density and wide range of uses outlined in the policy statement are based on the expectation of a SkyTrain extension with an on-site station to accommodate the anticipated major transportation demand. Jericho Lands would effectively be served by two stations, as the envisioned Alma Station (just to the east at the intersection of Alma Street and West Broadway) is also within very close walking distance from the new neighbourhood’s eastern areas.

In 2024, the total cost of the public benefits package for the Jericho Lands was pegged at about $1.3 billion. It is expected that the development can self-fund about $550 million of the public benefits, including utilities and public works infrastructure, a new community centre, a non-traditional First Nations public library, childcare facilities, parks and open spaces, and social and cultural spaces. As well, space will be set aside to enable a future new additional elementary school for up to 550 students.

City staff note that the First Nations intend to retain ownership of all the community amenities, with the City and the Vancouver Park Board potentially operating some of these amenities and facilities.

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Editor’s note: This is a referral for a public hearing for the Jericho Lands ODP.