Number of homes doubled for old TransLink bus depot site near Oakridge Park mall | Daily Hive

Number of homes doubled at future redevelopment of former TransLink bus depot near Oakridge Park mall in Vancouver

June 2026 concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (Hariri Pontarini Architects/Arcadis/Grosvenor)

The Mayfair West project to redevelop TransLink’s former Oakridge Transit Centre bus depot has evolved from a mix of low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings into a plan dominated by taller high-rise towers, enabling significantly greater residential density — particularly for secured purpose-built rental housing.

The redevelopment of the 14-acre former trolley bus depot — located immediately north of West 41st Avenue between Oak Street and Willow Street — has now been more than a decade in the making, dating back to Vancouver City Council’s approval of the site’s redevelopment policy statement in 2015. The following year, in 2016, TransLink permanently ceased bus depot operations and sold the property to Modern Green Canada for redevelopment.

This site is formally addressed as 929-989 West 41st Ave., 5670 Oak St., 988 West 38th Ave., and 5469-5507 Willow St.

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United Kingdom-based developer Grosvenor initially pushed forward and marketed the project using the design established by Modern Green Canada, which received rezoning approval from Vancouver City Council in 2020.

Grosvenor acquired the property and its approved redevelopment plans in 2022. That same year, Vancouver City Council also approved a revised rezoning for QuadReal Property Group and Westbank’s nearby Oakridge Park mall redevelopment — just a block to the east — allowing for a significant increase in residential density through additional height.

Over the last few years, a number of master-planned developments along the Cambie Corridor have also received substantial increases in residential density through added height, including City Council’s revised rezoning approvals for Onni Group’s Cambie Gardens (Pearson Dogwood) project and, most recently earlier this year, the MST Development-led Heather Lands project just to the north, as well as Concert Properties and Peterson Group’s Langara Gardens project to the south.

Immediately to the south, a revised rezoning application was submitted last year for the future redevelopment of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, proposing substantially taller high-rise towers to double the number of secured purpose-built rental homes.

And immediately to the west, taller high-rise towers are envisioned for the future redevelopments of the Shawn Oaks and Louis Brier sites.

Site of Mayfair West (former Oakridge Transit Centre bus depot redevelopment). (City of Vancouver)

mayfair west oakridge grosvenor vancouver concept june 2026

June 2026 concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (Hariri Pontarini Architects/Arcadis/Grosvenor)

West 41st Ave. vehicle entrance into the former TransLink Oakridge Transit Centre bus depot. (Google Maps)

“The original rezoning plan is no longer economically viable”

According to Grosvenor, the increased densities approved for these nearby projects set a precedent for Mayfair West, although the developer believes it is doing so in a way that “strikes a balance,” with the project’s building floor area ratio (FAR) increasing from 2.36 to 3.98 times larger than the size of the land area.

The total building floor area has now been increased to 2.48 million sq. ft. — up from 1.44 million sq. ft. in the 2020 rezoning plan.

Above all, the developer argues that the rezoning plan approved in 2020 under Modern Green Canada is no longer economically viable due to higher construction and financing costs, as well as changing market conditions over the past six years. Grosvenor notes that the additional density is necessary to improve the project’s financial viability.

In 2023, Grosvenor submitted a development permit application with plans to proceed with the project’s first phase at the southwest corner of the site, which would have been its highest-density component. However, that first phase — based on the original rezoning plan — ultimately stalled for these economic reasons. The site, left in its vacant state, even enabled Oakridge Park mall to use it as a designated overflow parking lot during its busy grand opening weekend last month.

“The original rezoning plan is no longer economically viable due to the economic conditions that have deteriorated significantly since the 2020 approval and a new rezoning submission is required in order to enable development of the site. The low density of the previous rezoning along with the positive build covenants associated with amenity delivery exacerbates the financial challenges, rendering the original rezoning plan undeliverable,” reads the new rezoning application.

Number of high-rise towers grows from five to 11, with taller heights

Previously, under the 2020 rezoning plan, the project had five high-rise towers — all situated on the southern half of the site closest to West 41st Avenue, with heights of five storeys, 12 storeys, 15 storeys, 18 storeys, 21 storeys, 23 storeys, and 26 storeys. Under the new rezoning application, these tower heights have grown to 27 storeys, 22 storeys, 25 storeys, 22 storeys, 27 storeys, 29 storeys, and 33 storeys, respectively.

While the 2020 plan provided a combination of low- and mid-rise building heights for the northern half of the site, high-rise towers and taller mid-rise buildings have now been incorporated into this area, including four new tower heights of 16 storeys, 17 storeys, 20 storeys, and 21 storeys.

The total number of high-rise towers has effectively grown from five in the 2020 rezoning plan to 11 in this revision.

2020 rezoning plan:

2020 rezoning concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (James Cheng Architects/Grosvenor)

2026 revised rezoning application:

June 2026 concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (Hariri Pontarini Architects/Arcadis/Grosvenor)

The overall configuration, layout, and internal road network remain largely the same, with seven acres of open and public spaces, including a two-acre central public park. The new rezoning concept still orients the buildings around the central park, although this large open green space feature has been shifted slightly to the south to accommodate two additional six-storey residential buildings that frame the northern end of the park, fronting West 38th Avenue.

This new low-rise residential development parcel north of the park was previously envisioned as a single-storey pavilion building with a large childcare facility and a public washroom. Instead, the 8,500 sq. ft. childcare facility for 69 kids has been relocated into the mixed-use development parcel just southeast of the park.

2020 rezoning plan:

2020 rezoning concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (James Cheng Architects/Grosvenor)

2026 revised rezoning application:

June 2026 concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (Hariri Pontarini Architects/Arcadis/Grosvenor)

10 times more market rental homes, and two times the overall number of homes

The overwhelming driving change in the new rezoning application is the secured purpose-built rental housing component. The 2020 rezoning plan called for 180 market rental units, while the 2023 development permit decreased this tenure count to 125 units. The new rezoning application calls for about 1,400 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 1,238 market rental units and 158 below-market rental units. This is a tenfold increase in market rental homes alone.

The number of strata market condominium homes would increase very slightly to 1,231 units. At least 35 per cent of these condominium units would be sized for families (defined as units with at least two bedrooms or more), with at least 10 per cent being three-bedroom units.

June 2026 concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (Hariri Pontarini Architects/Arcadis/Grosvenor)

Furthermore, a parcel on the east side of the property would be left vacant and transferred to the City of Vancouver for the opportunity to build a 17-storey tower with 361 social housing units.

Altogether, Mayfair West’s residential unit count would reach about 3,000 units — up from 1,600 in the 2020 rezoning plan, almost doubling the previous concept. Based on the industry standard of averaging 1.5 to 1.8 residents per unit, roughly 5,000 people could live at this project upon the full buildout of its various phases.

To better accommodate the needs of this significant residential population, the new rezoning application has doubled the amount of neighbourhood-serving retail/restaurant space — rising from 24,000 sq. ft. to about 53,000 sq. ft., which could further increase based on market demand. This increase allows potential street-level commercial space expansion deeper into the site to provide activity for the streets and park frontage, whereas the original plan called for consolidating the retail/restaurant uses within the southwesternmost portion of the development.

There would also be 2,247 vehicle parking stalls within parkades up to three underground levels deep.

June 2026 concept of Mayfair West, Vancouver. (Hariri Pontarini Architects/Arcadis/Grosvenor)

To support not only the future transportation demand generated by the new Oakridge Park complex, but also the high-density development planned throughout the surrounding regionally designated Oakridge Municipal Town Centre — including major master-planned communities such as Heather Lands and Mayfair West — mall owner QuadReal Property Group is spearheading a major expansion of SkyTrain’s Oakridge-41st Avenue Station.

The upgrades include a second station entrance providing a direct underground connection to the indoor mall, as well as an expanded street-level entrance with two additional escalators and a new elevator. This station improvement project is now in the final stages of construction, scheduled for completion this summer.

The Mayfair West site is also directly served by bus stops for the R4 41st Avenue RapidBus and the local trolley bus route along Oak Street.

QuadReal Property Group is also contemplating higher densities for the future second phase of Oakridge Park, the parcel on the western side of the mall property.

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