Five rental and social housing towers up to 260-ft tall proposed for East Hastings

Map of the five sites for market rental housing and social housing by Westbank and Onni Group on East Hastings Street near Glen Drive in the Downtown Eastside. (City of Vancouver)

Within a two city block radius of the intersection of East Hastings Street and Glen Drive, a total of five secured market rental housing and social housing proposals — including four tower-based projects — are in the process of being considered by the City of Vancouver.

This past summer, City Council gave the green light to City staff to accept and review formal rezoning applications for five different sites.

Three sites are being pursued by Westbank, while the remaining two sites are by Onni Group. All five sites combined could potentially generate as many as nearly 1,000 units of market rental housing and social housing.

Such a pre-approval was a necessary step under City Council’s new Policy Enquiry Process, which directs City staff to send non-compliant proposals for City Council’s ultimate determination.

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Building heights and densities in excess of what is permitted under the City’s Downtown Eastside (DTES) Plan are proposed for four of these sites. In some cases, the proposed building heights are more than double the limitations of the area plan, and the proposed densities are nearly up to triple the policy maximum.

westbank onni group east hastings street downtown eastside rental social housing sites

Map of the five sites for market rental housing and social housing by Westbank and Onni Group on East Hastings Street near Glen Drive in the Downtown Eastside. (City of Vancouver)

Westbank has partnered with BC Housing and real estate investment firm Promerita Group to pursue the redevelopment of three East Hastings Street sites, with each proposal exceeding the DTES Plan’s limitations of a height of 120 ft and a floor area ratio (FAR) density of a floor area that is six times larger than the lot size.

The vacant property of 1030-1070 East Hastings Street at the southwest corner of the intersection of East Hastings Street and Glen Drive — immediately east of the railway to the port — is proposed to be developed into a 249-ft-tall secured market rental housing tower with a density of 12.0 FAR.

Kitty corner from the aforementioned site, Westbank is also looking to redevelop low-storey commercial buildings at 1115-1127 East Hastings Street into a 260-ft-tall secured market rental housing tower with a density of 16.7 FAR.

Retail/restaurant uses are planned for the ground levels of both Westbank project sites below the secured market rental housing.

Westbank market rental housing tower site of 1030-1070 East Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps/City of Vancouver)

Westbank market rental housing site of 1115-1127 East Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps/City of Vancouver)

Westbank social housing site of 1168-1180 East Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps/City of Vancouver)

Under the DTES Plan, rezonings for secured market rental housing or strata condominium housing must set aside at least 20% of the units as social housing. Westbank intends to meet the social housing requirement for both rental housing sites by building a 100% social housing tower at 1168-1180 East Hastings Street — replacing dilapidated low-storey SRO structures immediately east of Pink Pearl Chinese Restaurant. The proposed height is 183 ft, and the proposed density is 10.7 FAR, in excess of regulations. A social enterprise space is planned for the ground floor of this social housing building.

The remaining two project sites are being pursued by Onni Group, in partnership with Community Impact Real Estate Society. Both projects are effectively major revisions of previous rezoning applications submitted by the developer.

Onni Group market rental housing site of 1220 East Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps/City of Vancouver)

Onni Group social housing site of 560 Raymur Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

For the significantly sized property of 1220 East Hastings Street, Onni is looking to build two secured market rental housing towers reaching a height of 210 ft and a combined density of 8.56 FAR. This is larger than its previous rezoning application submitted in 2019, when it proposed a building with a height of 120 ft and a density of 6.0 FAR — meeting existing policies — with 152 units of condominium housing and 55 units of social housing, plus 9,700 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses.

As part of the changes, the 20% social housing requirement will be met off-site nearby at the fifth project site of 560 Raymur Avenue, which was previously proposed by Onni in 2019 as a six-storey building with 59 units of condominium housing and 12,800 sq ft of ground-level light industrial uses. Instead, the condominium uses in the revised mid-rise proposal have been converted into 100% social housing building, but without the need to add any density or height beyond what is currently allowed by the DTES Plan.

Cancelled 2019 design: Artistic rendering of 1220-1298 East Hastings Street, Vancouver. (Yamamoto Architecture/Onni Group)

Cancelled 2019 design: Artistic rendering of 560 Raymur Avenue, Vancouver. (Yamamoto Architecture/Onni Group)

The precise details and architectural designs for these five project sites have yet to be released, but they are anticipated for public consultation in the near future.

Both for-profit and non-profit developers have been urging more more density, typically through added height, to make projects incorporating rental housing and social housing financially feasible to achieve.

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