Plan for Vancouver’s new Jewish Community Centre shrinks, while towers rise | Daily Hive

Plan for Vancouver’s new Jewish Community Centre shrinks, while residential towers rise

February 2025 revised concept of the first phase of the new community/recreation centre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

The overall mixed-use redevelopment of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver (JCCGV) will see design changes, to be detailed in a new rezoning application later in 2025.

Vancouver City Council first approved JCCGV’s previous rezoning application in January 2018.

A development permit application to proceed with the first phase component of the new community and recreation centre was submitted in March 2022 but then formally withdrawn in early March 2025 after a new development application with major revisions was submitted in February 2025.

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The upcoming new rezoning application this year will propose taller buildings and increased density for the second phase on the west parcel of the site, which includes two major rental housing towers and a new replacement King David High School. Additionally, one of the two rental towers will be relocated from the frontage of West 41st Avenue to the frontage of Oak Street.

Two residential towers up to 39 storeys

Based on the 2018-approved rezoning application, the second phase would have included about 500 secured purpose-built rental homes within two 26-storey towers. But these towers are now set to see a vertical addition of up to 13 storeys.

The forthcoming 2025 rezoning application will call for a 39-storey residential tower at the southeast corner of the intersection of West 41st Avenue and Oak Street and a 37-storey residential tower to the south, generating a total of 588,000 sq. ft. of residential space.

Eldad Goldfarb, the executive director of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, told Daily Hive Urbanized his team is still in the process of determining all aspects of the housing component.

Furthermore, a base podium between the two residential towers at the west end of the site will be a new childcare centre, which he says could potentially accommodate between 30 and 40 kids.

The mid-site building — between the residential towers and community centre building — of the new King David High School will be a new standalone six-storey, 86,000 sq. ft. building. The previous concept integrated one of the rental housing towers into the school uses as its base podium, but this is no longer being pursued. King David High School is currently located in a 2005-built building on the city block just to the east, immediately next to the new Oakridge Park mall.

jewish community centre of greater vancouver 950 west 41st vancouver 2025 design

Site of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

Previous 2018 rezoning concept:

Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver 950 West 41st Avenue

Cancelled 2018 concept: artistic rendering of the first phase of the new community and recreation hub (right) and the second phase of rental housing towers (left) of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

2018 concept of the first and second phases of the redevelopment of Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

Revised 2025 rezoning concept:

2025 revised concept of the first and second phases of the redevelopment of Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

New community centre downsized due to growing construction costs

Meanwhile, the new development application outlines revisions to the first phase of the project, which is the replacement and expanded community and recreation facility on the current surface vehicle parking lot at the southwest corner of the intersection of West 41st Avenue and Willow Street — located on the east parcel of the site.

This will now be a 104-ft-tall, six-storey building with a total building floor area of 187,000 sq. ft.

While this still represents a significant expansion compared to the existing 1960s-built, 95,000 sq. ft. facility to the west of the parking lot, it is a decrease from the previous concept of a new 133-ft-tall, eight-storey building spanning 245,000 sq. ft.

Goldfarb confirmed to Daily Hive Urbanized the reduced size of the new community and recreation centre is due to growing cost pressures, with high inflation in the construction costs for materials, labour, and equipment since the pandemic.

Cost escalation has also been a major issue for new public facilities as well, including the City of Burnaby, which recently downsized and even cancelled some of its major community and recreation centre projects due to financial reasons.

Previous 2022 design of the new community centre:

Cancelled 2022 concept: Artistic rendering of the first phase of the new community and recreation hub of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

Revised 2025 design of the community centre:

February 2025 revised concept of the first phase of the new community/recreation centre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

A significantly larger aquatic centre

Although the facility is now smaller, it still retains the original concept’s key components and features.

This includes a replacement aquatic centre with lap swimming and therapy pools, as well as a wellness centre.

Goldfarb highlighted the new aquatic centre will be significantly larger than the existing facility, including a 25-metre, eight-lane lap swimming pool — an upgrade from the current 25-metre, four-lane tank.

There will also be gymnasiums, a fitness gym, fitness studios, multi-purpose rooms, an auditorium/theatre with a performance platform, an arts/crafts room, a library, gallery, a Holocaust Education Centre, office space for about 20 non-profit services and agencies, kitchens, a cafe, an adult daycare centre, seniors centre, and teens lounge.

Goldfarb specified the auditorium/theatre combination will be a single space with retractable seating for 400 spectators — larger in capacity than the existing 318-seat Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre.

The childcare facility will remain on the sixth floor, with an indoor space on the northern half and an outdoor play area on the southern half, ensuring ample sunlight exposure. While this rooftop childcare facility’s floor area remains the same, it will now provide space for 65 kids (24 spaces for children 12 months to 36 months old, and 41 spaces for children 30 months old to school age) — down from the previous envisioned capacity for 108 young kids. The actual capacity is determined by City of Vancouver and Vancouver Coastal Health regulations.

The sixth-floor childcare facility, located on the rooftop of the new community and recreation centre building in the first phase, is in addition to the childcare facility planned for the second phase within the base of the residential towers.

Both childcare facilities complement an expanded, licensed after-school care program for 75 to 90 school-age children, a reduction from the previous concept of 100 children.

The building will also feature internal atriums and general-purpose spaces, and the main entrance will be located on the west side of the building.

Previous 2022 design of the new community centre:

jewish community centre of greater vancouver 2022 design

Previous 2022 concept of the first phase of the new community/recreation centre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

Revised 2025 design of the community centre:

February 2025 revised concept of the first phase of the new community/recreation centre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

The development permit application indicates that the revised community and recreation centre design has been optimized for security considerations and emergency evacuation.

Most of the vehicle parking for the community and recreation centre will be located in the future three-level underground parkade of the redevelopment’s second phase, which can only be achieved after the first phase is complete to enable the existing facility to remain open.

Other features of the overall redevelopment include a turf sports field, a basketball half court, and an orchard/educational garden.

Acton Ostry Architects is the project’s design firm.

Previous 2022 design of the new community centre:

Previous 2022 concept of the first phase of the new community/recreation centre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

Revised 2025 design of the community centre:

February 2025 revised concept of the first phase of the new community/recreation centre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

The first phase to achieve the new community and recreation centre previously had an estimated cost of $155 million, but this was based on a completion in 2024/2025.

To cover the first phase’s construction costs, JCCGV received a $25 million contribution from the provincial government in 2021, a matching $25 million contribution from the federal government in 2022, a joint donation of $36 million from the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation and the Al Roadburg Foundation in 2023, a $25 million donation from the Diamond Foundation, and a further $25 million specifically towards the new high school.

The second phase of rental housing was also previously timed for a 2028 completion at a cost of $272 million, which is now a dated figure due to inflation and the major changes in design.

Goldfarb told Daily Hive Urbanized that construction on the first phase of the new community and recreation center is currently scheduled to begin between March and May 2026 and is expected to be completed by late 2028.

No construction timeline has been established for the subsequent phases of the new high school building and residential towers.

When asked, he noted that no potential future uses have been identified for the existing high school building, which occupies an entire city block.

Previous 2022 design of the new community centre:

jewish community centre of greater vanouver new aquatic centre pool

Previous 2022 artistic rendering of the new community, cultural, and recreation hub of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

Previous 2022 concept of the first phase of the new community/recreation centre at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. (Acton Ostry Architects)

Later in 2025, the new 100,000 sq. ft. City-owned and operated Oakridge Community Centre is expected to reach completion and open at Oakridge Park mall. Construction is also approaching completion on the new 42,000 sq ft Marpole-Oakridge Community Centre at Oak Park, which is expected to finish in 2025 as well.

Immediately north of JCCGV, site preparation work is well underway on the 13-acre former TransLink trolley bus depot, which is being redeveloped into the Mayfair West mixed-use development by Grosvenor, featuring 1,600 homes.

At the northwest corner of the intersection of West 41st Avenue and Oak Street, there are planned high-density, mixed-use redevelopments of Louis Brier Home & Hospital and Shawn Oaks sites. For the Shawn Oaks site alone, there are plans to build a 33-storey condominium tower, 31-storey condominium tower, and two six-storey social housing buildings for a total of 450 strata market ownership condominium homes and 180 social housing units for families.

For the southwest corner of the intersection, including the former Chevron gas station site, Wesgroup Properties is currently in the process of constructing 25-storey and 17-storey towers with 357 rental homes and over 16,000 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant uses.

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