105 Keefer proposal goes back at Development Permit Board (May 29th). Citizens have opportunity to comment (note deadlines).

Chinatown Memorial Plaza with 105 Keefer in the background

The Development Permit Board will be reconsidering a Beedie Group proposal for a 9-storey building at 105 Keefer Street on Monday, May 29th [Update: the meeting will continue on June 12th to continue to hear from speakers]. The same design that was turned down by the board in 2017 will be up for consideration again, as a result of a court ruling.

Interested speakers can signed up to speak at the May 29th meeting (please see the agenda here, note deadlines). While the meeting will also be live-streamed, speakers will have to be present in person at City Hall in order to address the Board (sign up information from the City’s DPB website is as follows: “If you wish to speak to an item, register with the Development Permit Board Assistant at 604-873-7770 or kathy.cermeno@vancouver.ca or may.sem@vancouver.ca.”).

In addition, members of the public can make written submissions up until the time of the meetings; however, submissions for consideration in the staff report have a deadline and should be sent in by Monday, May 22nd. The City is accepting Public Comments via the a webpage for 105 Keefer on the following ShapeYourCity.ca web page: https://www.shapeyourcity.ca/105-keefer-st

The proposed design is for a 9-storey building with 111 residential units, three levels of underground parking, retail uses at grade and a Floor Space Ratio of 6.50. The context of the site is highly sensitive, as it is on Chinatown Memorial Plaza, across from the Chinese Culture Centre and Dr. Sun-Yat-Sen Park. The proposed building is very bulky as it attempts to maximize site coverage (as seen in the 6.50 FSR).

The SaveChinatownYVR substack page (hashtag #SaveChinatownYVR) contains several articles that go into the details and describe many of the flaws of the proposed design. Recommended reading. See also their tips on letter writing.

The City of the Vancouver and the Development Permit Board still have discretion to reject or to approve the proposal for 105 Keefer. The court ruling was a split decision on points between Beedie (Keefer Street) Holdings Ltd. and the City of Vancouver, with the end result of the City being required to reconsider the Development Application under the existing zoning and design guidelines at the time of the refusal in 2017. The text of the court decision is over here: https://www.bccourts.ca/jdb-txt/sc/22/21/2022BCSC2150.htm

We’ll provide additional analysis of this proposal at 105 Keefer in the upcoming weeks as well as some of the history about the site and context.

According to the Information Sign posted on the property, the City received this development application on February 15, 2023. This application was posted to the City’s ShapeYourCity.ca portal on May 1, 2023.

Level 2 floorplan of proposed design (cropped) as provided by the City of Vancouver in the Development Permit Board Report (Appendix D, page 7 of 17). Does the quality of drawings in the City’s report leave for a lot of improvement, or is this the best that staff can do?

Related:

Second time lucky? Input sought for controversial Beedie proposal for lot in Vancouver’s Chinatown
Beedie’s newest application is similar to the one for a nine-storey condo building that was rejected in 2017 by the board, which said it did not fit the context of the neighbourhood (Joanne Lee-Young, Vancouver Sun, May 03, 2023): https://vancouversun.com/business/real-estate/vancouver-development-permit-board-reconsider-controversial-beedie-proposal-keefer-street