Council hears proposal to swap planned office for housing at Waterfront Gateway amid weak office market

Vancouver City Council on Monday examined a developer-requested change to the Waterfront Gateway site plan that would replace a proposed office building with an 85-unit residential building to improve the project’s financial feasibility.

Patrick Quinton, the city’s director of economic prosperity and housing, told the council the proposed swap responds to “no demand and a significant serious lack of financing for new office buildings nationwide,” and that “the office project is not feasible at this time.” Quinton said the city’s community review group, CCRA, has reviewed the analysis and recommended the site-plan change because current market conditions make the original office scheme unlikely to secure financing.

The change would remove the office building identified as Building 4 in staff materials and add an 85-unit residential tower; staff said the revised layout yields a net increase of about 146 residential units across the site because of site efficiencies. The plan would also reduce on-site retail slightly and cut the amount of required parking, which staff said lowers the cost of the shared parking…