1535-1557 Grant Street

The Story so Far

This project has been through a lot. Its block has been zoned for multifamily low-rise buildings for decades, yet is still comprised of only single family homes. The first version of this proposal, a 4 story strata building, hoped to change that, but community opposition led the applicant to reduce the scope to only 4 townhomes.

Soon after, the community led Grandview Woodland plan reaffirmed the zoning of this area, allowing for rental buildings of up to 6 floors. In response, the proposal was revised once more to offer 32 homes in that format. Unfortunately, the difficulties didn’t end there.

After strong opposition to both the proposed height and rental housing at its pre-application open house, it met with a similar fate at the Urban Design Panel. Several panellists worried about the effect on neighbourhood character, recommended ways to mitigate that affect, and requested it return for further examination.

Following a second community event that was slightly more positive, the design was revised again with several major improvements. Now with a new team of city staff regulating the project, it returned to the UDP and faced the worst review I’ve seen.

May 31st, 2018 / November 16th, 2018

The Applicant’s Plea

The applicant seemed contrite as they explained the changes. To make the east and west facades more sensitive to the neighbours, windows were introduced to those formerly blank walls. In places they aligned with their neighbours windows, they would be frosted over, and a living landscape would be added to green the area.

The top floors were pulled back, losing living space in the process, and the expanded amenity area was then reorganized to prevent overlook on neighbouring yards. More horizontal and vertical elements were added to satisfy the panellists conflicting desires, and even the colour palette of the top floors was lightened.

However, the location of a padmount transformer was unchanged, it literally wouldn’t fit anywhere else on the site. Lastly, to make the homes even more affordable, the owner agreed to apply under the Rental 100 policy, even though it wasn’t required.

May 31st, 2018 / November 16th, 2018

The Verdict

In response, every single panellist praised the changes, and agreed that all of their previous recommendations had been satisfied. The chair acknowledged many were struggling with the massing, but many others were quite satisfied. There were no recommendations, and, with that, the panel failed the project.

After a brief silence, one of the four “no” votes suggested the facade was too strong, and that implementing a series of boxes might make it less jarring. Another chimed in, clarifying the problem was context. While they felt this building was handsome on its own, they believed the single family homes on this block would be there for a long time to come, and this proposal was too out of place.

One panellist admitted that the changes made the impacts of this 6 story building very similar to one that only had 4 floors. They felt it proved that size was better suited to this area, noting the community approved guidelines were wrong for not recognizing the character of this unique block. The chair clarified it wasn’t the panel’s role to critique the community plan, and the future would bring similar buildings. To this, another member countered, stating the panel had a duty to point out anomalies.

May 31st, 2018 / November 16th, 2018

The End?

After a lengthy debate over when the chair is allowed to vote, one individual declared that no one would be able to change their vote against this proposal. However, another admitted that they often want buildings to be taller, but chose to follow the guidelines. The last to speak simply said we can’t monkey around with those plans just because some neighbours are upset.

This bickering continued until one member simply declared you do not have the support of the panel. The applicant left without knowing what to do next. I left too, but I knew my plan, I had to meet up with Hannah to go to a pre-application event in Marpole.

Still, this means if you dislike the project, you can relax, it’s probably dead, and the owner will likely choose to build a prezoned 4 story strata building instead.

However, If you support this rental building, you’ll have to act to save it. The only thing that could possibly turn the fate of this project around now is a strong showing of public support. No matter how you feel, you can leave your comments here.