One Vancouver lot. One single home. And 17,500 square feet of space in which to situate it.
That’s the case on 4575 Granville Street, one of a number of properties in the tony Shaughnessy area, where high hedges hide the homes from public view along a major street.
But things could change soon.
Coverage of density on Globalnews.ca:
There’s a proposal to locate 21 stacked market rental townhouse units on the property.
It’s a move that requires a rezoning from RS-5 (one-family dwelling) to a CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) district.
The application is being considered under the City of Vancouver’s Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy, which permits rezonings if whatever is built there is sold below market value.
READ MORE: Vancouver’s density lags comparable wealthy cities: Fraser Institute
“This policy was put in place about six years ago, and since then we’ve not had one project come forward under the affordable housing, because nobody really knows how to make it affordable in perpetuity,” said architect Michael Geller.
If approved, the rezoning could help to mark the end to the monster homes that line Granville Street. Densification is already happening along other major streets in the city, like Cambie.
“I think for years, many of us have argued that we should densify the arterials,” Geller said.
“Now some would say why the arterials, they’re the noisiest, dirtiest part of the city. But somehow it seems more acceptable, you are closer to transit.”
Even if the city doesn’t accept this rezoning, observers say it could just be a matter of time before single-family homes disappear along Granville.
“Densifying things is something that’s going to happen in this city,” said one person who spoke to Global News.
“There’s nothing that people can do about it, there’s a million people coming in over the next who knows how long, where are we going to put them?”