A controversial condo development will go ahead after all in the heart of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown.
The city’s Development Permit Board voted unanimously Monday to green light Beedie Living’s proposal for 105 Keefer St., subject to several conditions.
Those conditions include a significant reshaping of the corner of the building, a better relationship with public spaces including the Chinatown Memorial Plaza and Dr. Sun Yat Sen gardens, more community consultation and inclusion of traditional Chinatown-style architecture.
The approval will see a 111-unit, nine storey building constructed on a lot that has sat vacant for decades, but is at the heart of the cultural community.
The decision comes after a series of marathon public hearings, where scores of people signed up to speak against and for the project.
The approval drew swift condemnation from the Vancouver Tenants Union, which issued a statement calling the decision undemocratic.
“The ‘conditions’ imposed on the proposal are meaningless cosmetic adjustments that do nothing to address the dire need for social housing in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside,” the group said.
“The government’s shameful lack of commitment to defend popular opposition to the project — let alone its own rulings at City Hall — severely undermines the legitimacy of its leadership and the democracy it claims to uphold.”
Activists opposed to the project have staged several rallies and organized seniors from the neighbourhood to call for the site to be used for 100-per cent social housing.
Opponents say the project will deliver more “luxury” units to the neighbourhood, driving up land values and rent in the area, displacing long-time low-income residents.
They have also argued the proposal is a bad fit with the neighbourhood, saying it will negatively affect the adjacent Chinatown Memorial Plaza and overshadow the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Gardens across the street.
Supporters, including a group of legacy neighbourhood organizations including the Chinese Cultural Centre, the Chinese Benevolent Association and the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association have argued the project will bring new residents and badly needed foot traffic to an area beset by crime, vandalism and street disorder.
This is the sixth time the proposal has come before city decision makers.
The Development Permit Board rejected an identical version of the project in 2017.
But in December, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the board had failed to give adequate reasons for that rejection, and ordered it to give the project a fresh hearing.
A previous 12-storey version of the project did include 25 units of seniors’ housing, but that iteration of the development was rejected amid opposition over the building’s height.
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