Vancouver's Langara YMCA to be redeveloped with new facilities and housing

Vancouver's Langara YMCA could be redeveloped with new facilities and housing

Artistic rendering of the new Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

The Cambie Street Corridor in Vancouver could see a major new and expanded recreational facility through the redevelopment of the existing Langara Family YMCA into a two-building complex comprised of an 11-storey affordable rental housing building with a YMCA facility in the five-storey podium, and a 20-storey market housing tower.

YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation is proposing to demolish its existing, aging facilities on its two-acre property at 282 West 49th Avenue – located adjacent to Langara College and Langara Golf Course and just east of the Canada Line’s Langara-41st Avenue Station.

Existing site of Langara Family YMCA. (Google Maps)

Existing site of Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

Existing site of Langara Family YMCA. (Google Maps)

The project, designed by Endall Elliot Associates, will replace the current 44,000-sq-ft facility with a new-build 60,000-sq-ft, four-storey building. It will accommodate the community’s growing needs, especially from the expected densification as a result of the City of Vancouver’s approved Cambie Corridor Plan, which will add 50,000 new residents to the area.

Artistic rendering of the new Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

Site plan for the new Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

The new facility includes a new six-lane swimming pool, warm water leisure pool, hot tub, gymnasium, cycling studio, 12,300-sq-ft fitness gym, indoor walking track, multi-purpose rooms, family centre, and 9,000-sq-ft daycare that accommodates about 75 young children.

Rooftop space on the third level will be used as a large outdoor social space and playground for the daycare.

Two additional levels, creating fifth and sixth storeys, can be added for 15,000 sq. ft. of additional space to the YMCA facility, when future demand warrants it.

Artistic rendering of the new Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

Site plan for the new Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

As for the 11-storey component above the YMCA floors, its 60,000 sq. ft. of floor area will be utilized for 71 affordable rental housing units. YMCA will own and operate these units, which will entail a mix of market rental and below-market rental housing.

To help fund the new facility, YMCA wants to turn the southern half of its site – currently used as surface parking – into a 20-storey tower with 157 market residential units, including townhouses on the ground level. YMCA will partner with a developer to construct this portion of the redevelopment.

All vehicle parking for the new YMCA facility and various housing components will be built underground.

Site plan for the new Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

This project is currently in the pre-application phase; a formal rezoning application is required in order for the proponent to achieve the variety of uses and increased density. There was previously a plan to relocate Langara Family YMCA to a new facility within the nearby Pearson Dogwood redevelopment by Onni Group, but that plan fell apart.

Site plan for the new Langara Family YMCA. (Endall Elliot Associates / YMCA of Greater Vancouver Properties Foundation)

YMCA is also involved in a new eight-tower, 2700-home redevelopment proposed next to the Millennium Line’s Burquitlam Station in Coquitlam. If approved, a new 60,000-sq-ft, three-storey YMCA facility – complete with a swimming pool, gymnasium, walking track, daycare, multipurpose rooms, and studios – will be built to serve the emerging density around the SkyTrain station.

Similar to the Langara Family YMCA redevelopment, this suburban facility can also be further expanded in the future through additional floors.

Both the Coquitlam project and the newer Robert Lee YMCA in downtown Vancouver were designed by Endall Elliott Associates.

Last year, YMCA sold its property at 5055 Joyce Street, next to the Expo Line’s Joyce-Collingwood Station, for its redevelopment potential. Westbank acquired the property for $55 million.

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