vancouver's downtown eastside could be opened up to more market development, 32-storey towers
dan fumano: vancouver may reduce the requirement for social housing in "the heart of the low-income community" of the dtes from 60 to 20 per cent.
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lowrise buildings are pictured in vancouver's downtown eastside on april 22 as the city is proposing to change zoning to allow buildings up to 32 storeys.
nick procaylo
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the city of vancouver is seeking public feedback on a plan to transform the downtown eastside by boosting private-sector development and nearly tripling maximum building heights to enable 32-storey towers.
by allowing the private sector to build more market homes and less social housing in each project, city hall hopes to bring in a mix of incomes and people to the neighbourhood, which is home to a vibrant, tight-knit community but is also the epicentre of some of b.c.’s most intractable social problems.
but the proposal will likely fuel fears of displacement of low-income people from a neighbourhood many see as one of the last refuges in an increasingly unaffordable city.
“we’re trying to strike a balance,” said dan garrison, vancouver’s director of housing policy and regulation.
city planners want to ensure it’s financially viable for private landowners to add more market — and more new social housing — while also redeveloping existing single-room occupancy hotel rooms into new self-contained units.
but, garrison said, they don’t want to see land values in the area escalate significantly.
“there’s no point in making changes that will not generate viable development options,” garrison said. “on the other hand, you do have to be careful about the extent to which you allow those kinds of options because of the concerns about land value and speculation in this area.”
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lowrise buildings in vancouver’s downtown eastside on april 22.
nick procaylo
/
10107701a
the policy changes, which are set to be released for public consultation on wednesday, would update the dtes area plan approved in 2014 by the vision-majority city council of the day. that plan aimed to build “mixed-income communities with a range of affordable housing options (including social housing) for all residents.”
that vision included ensuring more housing choices for the working poor, low-income seniors and families, and those at risk of homelessness, while also adding more market housing for people earning higher incomes.
but in the decade since the plan’s approval, the dtes has added social and supportive housing at a faster pace than market homes, the city’s numbers show.
the 2014 plan set a target of adding 1,400 social and supportive housing units to the dtes by 2024. the city, partnering with other levels of government and non-profits, blew past that target by completing 1,800 units of social and supportive housing with another 700 under construction.
but the city has added less than half the number of “market ownership” homes (1,200 delivered versus 2,700 expected) and market rentals (600 completed vs. 1,600 expected) envisioned in the 2014 plan.
the dtes plan has been the subject of contentious debate over the past decade, with many arguing it was past time to overhaul the plan. an october 2023 public forum on the plan drew a heated debate and a crowd of protesters.
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this week’s proposals stem from a motion unanimously approved by council in november 2023. that motion included providing several directions for city staff encompassing different efforts to “uplift” the downtown eastside, including to explore and report back on options to update the dtes plan with the goal of delivering more social and supportive housing units in what’s known as the downtown eastside oppenheimer district, or deod.
this district, stretching around oppenheimer park for a few blocks in each direction, is described in the 2014 plan as “the heart of the low-income community.” aiming to ensure the deod continues to provide affordable housing for poor people, the 2014 plan required developments there to include 60 per cent social housing and 40 per cent market rental.
a man passes in front of lowrise buildings in vancouver’s downtown eastside on april 22.
nick procaylo
/
10107801a
but it has proven difficult for redevelopments to proceed with that 60-40 mix, the city says. only two projects have been completed in the deod in the past decade, according to the 2023 motion.
so, aiming to “balance the need for affordable housing with the financial viability of new development,” the city is proposing to change the mix to 20 per cent social housing and 80 per cent market rental. the city says the proposed changes would reduce the number of social housing units required for individual projects, but improve the projects’ financial viability, thereby leading to more overall social housing being built.
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garrison said that if taller market rental or condo towers were allowed with no requirements for social housing, that could raise concerns about increased land values. but city planners believe that despite the additional height and density being proposed, the land value lift will be limited because the policies include strong tenant protections and affordability requirements.
one key piece is that tenants in properties undergoing redevelopment would be offered the right to return to the new building at their old rent, or a 50 per cent discount from the city’s average market rents, whichever is lower. there is also an option to allow private developers to build market rental buildings with 10 per cent of units permanently secured at 50-per-cent-below city wide average rents, a deeper level of affordability than the city requires in other neighbourhoods.
“those affordable housing requirements really limit our concerns around increases in land value,” garrison said. “you might see very modest increases in land value, because people have to acquire the sites. but we’re not talking about runaway speculative investment in land value in any way.”
to enable taller buildings, the city is considering changing view-protection rules, going beyond the view-protection changes council approved in july 2024. this would reduce some protected public views of the north shore mountains from certain parts of the city, while preserving others.
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city staff don’t see these moves as abandoning the 2014 plan but adapting policy to achieve the original vision.
edna cho, a senior city planner, said: “the goals of what we’re trying to do align with the vision of the downtown eastside plan, which is to accelerate sro replacement and ensure there’s diverse housing options for all the different communities down there, including low-income communities … it’s just going to take some different approaches and tools.”
details about the proposed changes are available on the city’s website, and members of the public are encouraged to provide feedback until may 16 through an online survey, or at a series of forthcoming public events.
after the public consultation period, city staff are expected to present final recommendations to council for consideration late this year.
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