Free transit pilot project for new East Vancouver rental housing building

Construction progress on Yarrow (foreground) and Aster (background). (PCI Developments)

Tenants of a new purpose-built secured rental housing building in Vancouver’s Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood have a new major perk, albeit this amenity will be temporary.

PCI Developments and TransLink are providing each unit at the 94-unit Yarrow building with a Compass Card pre-loaded with $150 each.

This is a three-month pilot project to enable the public transit authority to better understand how developer-funded fare subsidies can increase public transit use.

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The 14-storey tower at 444 Kootenay Street — located at the southeast corner of the intersection of East Hastings Street and Kootenay Street — reached completion in late 2023. The developer announced in February 2024 all 94 rental homes — a mix of 19 non-market units and 75 market units — are fully leased.

The site is just across the street from TransLink’s major Kootenay bus loop, which is served by numerous frequent bus routes, including the R5 Hastings RapidBus.

Such a program of a developer providing free public transit to residents for a certain period of time through the provision of Compass Card passes is far from new. Municipal governments across the region provide developers with the option to deliver a range of transportation demand management (TDM) measures in exchange for building fewer vehicle parking stalls, which are typically located underground. Other TDM measures typically relate to the provision of on-site carshare services — such as Modo carshare — and active transportation considerations.

But Yarrow’s TDM measures go beyond the usual simple free transit provisions. During the pilot project, public transit usage will be tracked with the participants’ permission, including the completion of surveys for feedback.

Construction progress on Yarrow (foreground) and Aster (background). (PCI Developments)

“This new project will allow us to learn more about how developer-led transit subsidies can help promote transit-oriented developments in the region,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn in a statement.

In 2022, TransLink conducted a similar pilot project at PCI’s King George Hub development, which is located at King George SkyTrain Station in Surrey City Centre. Over the three-month study, public transit use increased by about 10% in the area. The public transit authority determined that such incentives encourage public transit use among people living or working in transit-oriented developments and create a new revenue stream for TransLink.

“PCI is pleased to once again have the opportunity to work with TransLink to support sustainable transportation options for Yarrow residents in Vancouver’s East Village, an area well-served by public transit,” said Tim Grant, the president of PCI.

“Building on the successful initial pilot at King George Hub, we are hopeful this initiative will help to encourage more transit use by our residents, and further inform best practices around transit-oriented development.”

Yarrow is one of two new secured purpose-built rental housing towers built by PCI on the city block. Yarrow is on the west end of the block, while Aster bookends the eastern end of the block at the southwest corner of the intersection of East Hastings Street and Boundary Road. PCI does not own the mid-block properties, which have not been developed.

Artistic rendering of Yarrow (left) and Aster (right). (PCI Developments)

Addressed as 435 Boundary Road, Aster is nearing full completion and now renting. The 14-storey tower contains 118 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 24 non-market units and 94 market units. The market units are renting at $1,995 monthly for studios, $2,300 monthly for one-bedroom units, $2,995 monthly for two-bedroom units, and $3,650 monthly for three-bedroom units.

Both Yarrow and Aster have retail/restaurant uses on their ground levels, which activate and provide continuity to the East Hastings Street retail strip.

The rezoning applications for Yarrow and Aster were approved in July 2020, and both buildings are among the first completions under the City’s Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program (MIRHPP).

Under the provincial government’s new transit-oriented development legislation, Kootenay bus loop is one of two standalone bus exchanges (non-SkyTrain) within Vancouver that are deemed to be transit-oriented development areas, where municipal governments must permit higher densities and heights up to 10 storeys for residential uses, and remove minimum vehicle parking standards.

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