BURST
After more than a decade of applications and design iterations, a legal battle and community opposition, a contentious condo project in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown has been approved.
On Monday, the city’s development permit board approved Beedie Living’s revised application for a nine-storey, 133-unit condo on 570 Columbia, previously 105 Keefer, on a vacant lot adjacent to Chinatown Memorial Square. It caps a years-long battle on the future of the site, which was purchased by Beedie in 2013.
The project was proposed in 2015 as a 13-storey, 127-unit building, which was rejected by the city.
Its third iteration in 2017 — a 12-storey tower with 106 strata units and 25 seniors housing units — drew fierce community opposition, with hundreds of people packing council chambers over several days to speak against the project.
Critics said the project will fuel gentrification in Chinatown and the neighbouring Downtown Eastside, displace low-income residents and seniors and push rents and property prices up. It also said a tower would overshadow the Chinatown Memorial Square, a culturally significant site.
After council rejected the project, Beedie submitted an amended application for a nine-storey building with 111 market units and a seniors centre on the ground floor. Because of the lower height, the proposal did not need council approval, but had to go through the city’s development permit board.
In Nov. 2017, the board rejected the project in a 2-1 vote, a rare rejection as the project met zoning requirements.
Beedie appealed to the B.C. Supreme Court and in Dec. 2022, a judge ordered the development permit board to reconsider.
In June 2023, the board granted approval with a series of conditions, mostly design-related.
Beedie hired James Cheng Architects as the project’s lead design team to meet the conditions, which was up for the board’s final decision on Monday.
Several Chinatown organizations, including the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association, and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Garden Society, have backed the revised proposal in the hopes the development and incoming residents would help revitalize the struggling neighbourhood.
Opposition groups say the fight is not over. They want the provincial government to purchase the site from Beedie and build 100 per cent social housing.
“This decision marks a singularly appalling moment in Vancouver’s history as the city continues to serve elite developer interests, and continues to prioritize profit over people,” said Jade Ho in a news release issued by community groups after Monday’s decision.
“This decision will exacerbate displacement and accelerate gentrification in a neighbourhood that is increasingly unlivable for low-income seniors and residents.”