The model and drawings for the rezoning proposal at 1412 – 1460 Howe Street shows that 425′ tower is anticipated on City owned property at 1450 Granville. Part of the rationale for a 49-storey 493′ tower on Howe is that there would be a symmetrical tower form on the other side of Granville in order to form a ‘Gateway’ entrance into the city. While towers at these locations would have a huge impact on views, it’s also interesting to note that at some point there was a plan to put non-profit housing in a 20-storey tower at 1450 Granville and in another 7-storey building at 1410 Granville (as shown on a Colliers International Property Map). There were buyers of condo units in the towers east of these sites who were shown this property map with non-profit housing (east of the Granville Bridge) at the time they made their purchases. At an Open House on April 4th city staff had no knowledge of the plans to put non-profit housing at these sites when they were asked why there was a 425′ tower block at 1450 Granville in the model. Was the whole ‘gateway’ views exercise contrived with the intent of loosening view controls in order to justify a single tall tower at 1460 Howe? Or does the City of Vancouver really intend to develop and put a 425′ tower at 1450 Granville? Will there be any non-profit housing on the previously identified sites? For reference purposes, the plan from the rezoning application is reproduced below (colouring added/changed, titles added, original siteplan here):
