Vancouver Community College eyes major redevelopment of Broadway campus | Daily Hive

Vancouver Community College eyes high-density redevelopment of East Broadway campus

Previous 2023/2024 preliminary master plan concept for the redevelopment of Vancouver Community College's East Broadway campus. (Francl Architecture/Urban Strategies/Avison Young/VCC)

Vancouver Community College (VCC) has high-density, transit-oriented development ambitions for the future of its main campus on East Broadway, which is next to its namesake SkyTrain station.

The City of Vancouver has begun formal public consultation on the master planning process for the redevelopment of the eight-acre campus framed by East Broadway to the south, Glen Drive to the west, East 6th Avenue to the north, and Keith Drive to the east.

The post-secondary institution has envisioned a redevelopment of both its East Broadway and Downtown Vancouver campuses for some time, with the East Broadway main campus’ preliminary redevelopment planning beginning before the City’s finalization of the Broadway Plan in 2022.

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Triggered by the approval of the Broadway Plan which designates VCC’s East Broadway campus as a “Large and Unique Site” that warrants special considerations, VCC subsequently worked in 2023 and 2024 with Urban Strategies, Francl Architecture, and Avison Young to create a potential preliminary master plan concept — a redevelopment with high-density academic and residential uses, along with new active commercial retail/restaurant uses, public spaces, and public benefits, with the strategy “promoting land value capture.”

It would potentially introduce thousands of new homes to the site, along with renewed and expanded academic and institutional space.

vancouver community college broadway campus redevelopment master plan

Site of Vancouver Community College’s East Broadway campus. (VCC)

Existing condition of Vancouver Community College’s East Broadway campus. (VCC)

vancouver community college campus vcc 1155 East Broadway

Site of the East Broadway campus of Vancouver Community College at 1155 East Broadway. (Google Maps)

Surface parking lot on the north side of Vancouver Community College’s East Broadway campus. (Google Maps)

That preliminary concept configured and oriented the new buildings around a north-south public realm axis, with a landscaped central pedestrian spine across the site leading to the SkyTrain station. As well, the tallest and densest buildings would be placed at the northeast corner of the site — closest to the public transit hub and the lowest ground elevation of the campus.

The campus is immediately south of SkyTrain’s VCC-Clark Station, which will see drastically increased regional use when it becomes the starting point of the Millennium Line’s Broadway extension to Arbutus. When this extension opens in Fall 2027, the station will no longer be the “dead end” western terminus of the Millennium Line.

Furthermore, the provincial government has designated the area surrounding VCC-Clark Station as a Transit-Oriented Area.

Vancouver Community College Broadway Campus Development Plan

Previous 2023/2024 preliminary master plan concept for the redevelopment of Vancouver Community College’s East Broadway campus. (Francl Architecture/Urban Strategies/Avison Young/VCC)

The new formal master planning work now underway with the municipal government builds on VCC’s previously created 2023/2024 preliminary development plan. This formal municipal process will establish site-specific planning policies to guide the post-secondary institution’s future rezoning application.

The current public consultation identifies four possible pedestrian-oriented open space concepts organized around a north-south axis, with the main difference being the configuration of the central pedestrian spine and the precise location of the community hub, active commercial retail/restaurant uses, and amenity spaces. Given the site’s steep north-south grade, these concepts also propose different accessibility solutions, such as a public elevator or a gradual ramp through the site with switchbacks.

In addition to north-south accessibility considerations, the campus redevelopment would introduce east-west permeability through active transportation segments of East 7th Avenue and East 8th Avenue through the site.

When it comes to the proposed building forms, the master plan similarly calls for maximizing density on the parcels of the site closest to the SkyTrain station — where the tallest buildings would be located. Additionally, other emerging principles include highlighting views of the Downtown Vancouver skyline and North Shore mountains from public spaces and within the new buildings, minimizing shadows immediately to the west where China Creek North Park is situated, ensuring transitions and variation between buildings, and creating an interesting campus skyline and identity with some signature buildings, with Marine Gateway and Oakridge Park noted as specific examples in the public consultation materials.

vancouver community college broadway campus redevelopment master plan consultation spring 2026

Spring 2026 public consultation for the preliminary master plan of Vancouver Community College’s East Broadway campus redevelopment. (VCC)

The vast majority of the campus area would be redeveloped.

Currently, the former surface vehicle parking lot at the northwest corner of the site is an active construction site for the $291-million, eight-storey building that will be home to the Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation. It is set to reach completion in 2027.

All of the remaining surface vehicle parking lots at the campus and the 1983-built Building A — which occupies much of the southern half of the campus, fronting East Broadway — would be redeveloped. The 2009-built Health Sciences Building would be retained.

Vancouver Community College VCC Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation CCEAI Broadway campus 1111 East 7th Avenue

Concept of the Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation (CCEAI) at Vancouver Community College’s East Broadway campus, replacing the surface vehicle parking lot at the northwest corner of the campus. (Stantec Architecture/Vancouver Community College)

An online survey for the current public consultation is open through June 9, 2026. The public input gathered will be used to create the preferred concept and draft policies, which will go through a round of public consultation in November 2026.

The finalized policies for the campus redevelopment will be considered by Vancouver City Council in early 2027, with VCC then using the approved master plan to guide its future rezoning applications.

Just to the north, immediately west of the SkyTrain station, PCI Development is proposing to redevelop replacing the former two-acre Rogers (Shaw) operations compound, into three mixed-use towers reaching up to 35 storeys. Similarly catalyzed by both the Broadway Plan and the Millennium Line’s Broadway extension, this site at 1155 East 6th Ave. would see 600 secured purpose-built rental homes, 221,000 sq. ft. of office space, a 40,000 sq. ft. grocery store, 41,000 sq. ft. of creative/light industrial space, and retail/restaurant space.

Additionally, adjacent to the public transit, the 10-storey, mass-timber office building of The Hive reached completion early this year and is set to become the new headquarters office of provincial Crown corporation ICBC, which will begin using the space in 2027.

1155 East 6th Avenue Vancouver PCI Low Tide VCC Clark Station

East 6th Avenue frontage; Concept of 1155 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Low Tide Properties/PCI Developments)

Concept of 1155 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Low Tide Properties/PCI Developments)

East 6th Avenue frontage; Concept of 1155 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Low Tide Properties/PCI Developments)

Building uses; Concept of 1155 East 6th Avenue, Vancouver, in relation to the future ICBC headquarters office building, Vancouver Community College campus redevelopment, and other projects along the Great Northern Way corridor. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Low Tide Properties/PCI Developments)

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