At 1245-1265 West 10th Avenue, a 20-storey tower rezoning. Public consult Mar 20 to April 2. Demoviction of two existing rental buildings. Shadow studies incorrect. With 2 towers on block and a 3rd under construction, this may violate Broadway Plan.

Rezoning application at 1245, 1255 and 1265 West 10th Avenue would replace two existing apartment buildings (1245 & 1255) with a 20-storey tower. This block already has two towers (both on the south side of Broadway), with a third tower under construction (on the Denny’s site)

The City of Vancouver is holding an online Q&A session and comment period for a 20-storey tower proposed at 1245-1265 W10th Avenue. This virtual online consultation period runs between March 20th and April 2nd, 2024. Questions to staff can be submitted using the “Ask a question” tab, while there’s the option to “Send your comments” directly to City planners.

A total of 164 rental units are proposed under the Broadway Plan’s provision to have 20% at below market rental prices. The unit makeup would have 83 bachelor, 24 one-bed, 40 two-bed and 17 three-bed units. Fifty parking stalls for residents (out of 61 total) would be included in 3 underground levels. A total building height of 64.9m (213 ft.) is being proposed with a FSR of 6.5. To put the building height into perspective, “The Independent,” a 21-storey tower at Kingsway and East 10th, has a building height of 215 ft and a FSR of 5.5.

There’s no information in the materials about the property owner; the application has been submitted by Stuart Howard Architects Inc. We’d like to learn more about who is behind the project, to help connect the dots about who is active in the Broadway Plan area. Who are the beneficial owners?

Two existing rental buildings make up the lot assembly (with a condo as the third building) for this application. It might be worth visiting the description that CBRE had for the two rental buildings in their “South Granville Apartment Portfolio” when these were for up for sale (see live link here, and archived here). The existing rental buildings fall under RM-3 zoning (max FSR 1.65). The current zoning has a minimum front yard depth of 6.1m (20 ft) while the rezoning has a scant 3.66m (12 ft.) setback for the main building (so this would be a massive wall going straight up very close to the sidewalk).

It is disappointing to see Vancouver descending into bad urban design.

Renters in the existing buildings may be concerned about their future and are encouraged to read up and network. The Vancouver Tenants Union website (https://www.vancouvertenantsunion.ca/) provides resources regarding tenant rights, including tips on dealing with relocation and demoviction under the Broadway Plan. An article by Nathan Crompton in The Mainlander provides a detailed analysis of a similar situation of demovictions under the Broadway Plan. See “Broadway Plan Touches Down: Redevelopment at 25–55 East 12th Ave.” Tenants affected by all of this may also wish to communicate their views to an industry-spawned activist group named “Abundant Housing Vancouver,” which has aggressively lobbied for supply-at-any-cost government policies and treats existing renters as collateral damage. They need some feedback on the impacts of their actions.

The shadow diagrams included with the application are incorrect. This year, the spring equinox fell on March 19th, so we took photos at 10am and 12pm around the site for checking the direction of the shadows (more on that later).

The Broadway Plan has specific policy in place with capping the maximum number of towers per block:

9.9.2: “There will be a maximum of two towers per block (street to street, including any laneways). On blocks with two or more existing towers constructed prior to adoption of the Broadway Plan, one additional tower will be considered. However, for the northern block faces along 10th Avenue and the northern block face along 13th Avenue between Oak Street and Laurel Street, only one tower will be allowed on the Fairview South Area A block face.”

There are two existing towers on this block at 1258 and 1268 West Broadway (across the laneway from the rezoning site). As the tower at 2538 Birch Street (Denny’s site) wasn’t constructed prior to the adoption of the Broadway Plan, would that leave no room for additional towers on this block? Could section 9.9.2 of the Broadway Plan be literally interpreted this way?

1200 Block West 10th and West Broadway (showing a constructed tower at 2538 Birch Street on the old Denny’s Site). Massing for existing buildings at 1245-1265 West 10th Avenue are shown. Renderings by the applicant have omitted the tower at 2538 Birch Street

Rendering from applicant: “Aerial View from SW” showing their proposed tower at 1245-1265 W10th Avenue. Note the omission of the tower at 2538 Birch Street. Also, there’s an interesting take on the downtown skyline in the background (see our renderings further down for a skyline comparison)

The shadow studies included with the applicant’s booklet are incorrect. We documented shadows on the spring equinox in the field to compare for ourselves. There are the expressions “don’t trust your lying eyes”, and “seeing is believing”, so here are a few comparisons:

Ground truthing: Birch Street looking north at 10am on the spring equinox (left). Compare the actual length of the shadow cast in the field by the building at 2572 Birch Street (NE corner at W10th Avenue) with the applicant’s shadow study (right)

Compare the shadows cast by the building at 1298 W10th Ave (SE corner of Birch St) in the real world at 10am on the spring equinox (left) and the shadow from the model of this same building submitted by the applicant (right). The applicant predicts the shadow won’t even go as far as 2547 Birch Street (the building kitty corner from 1298 W10th Avenue); however, in the real world, it extends well past the front of that building (further to the west)

Spring equinox 10am (W10th Avenue and Birch, looking northeast). Note the shadows cast by the building at 1298 W10th Avenue (SE corner of Birch St intersection) in the foreground (on W10th) extend further than ones depicted in applicant’s shadow diagram. In the background, two towers along Broadway (on the same block) can be seen. Another tower is under construction (crane on Denny’s site), see section 9.9.2 of the Broadway Plan on tower limits per block.

Spring equinox 10am (W10th Avenue and Birch, looking west. Shadow study from applicant doesn’t match the real world (compare with shadow from building at 1298 W10th Avenue)

Compare the direction of the shadows from the 1245-1265 West 10th Avenue rezoning (left) with a shadow study from another rezoning on the following block at 1190 West 10th Avenue (right)

Applicant’s shadow study predicts that 1245 W Broadway would be in shade more than halfway (along the sidewalk/lower façade). In reality, it’s in the sun and the shadow falls further to the east (photo spring equinox, 10:04am)

Photo spring equinox, 10:05am

An approximate overlay of the two shadow studies from 1245-1265 W10th (upper left) and 1190 W 10th (lower right). The shadow study for 1190 W10th was rotated slightly for this overlay (as the street grid / north orientation differed by a small amount)

Spring equinox 10am (our rendering) shows the shadow from 1258 W Broadway falling on furthest building on the north side of Broadway (1285). The applicant’s shadow study shows the shadow from 1258 West Broadway falling further east on the block (onto 1245 W Broadway)

Compare the direction of the shadows from the 1245-1265 West 10th Avenue (left) with a shadow study from another rezoning on the following block at 1190 West 10th Avenue (right)

1200 Block West Broadway at 12:02pm on the spring equinox. There is no shadow falling on 1235 W Broadway (the yellow building on in from the left) from towers on the other side of the street (unlike the prediction in the applicant’s shadow studies)

There is no shadow falling on 1235 W Broadway from towers on the other side of the street (noon, spring equinox)

Our context model with the tower at 2538 Birch Street at full height (1245-1265 W10th Avenue building massing in current state)

Rendering from applicant: “Aerial View from SW” showing their proposed tower at 1245-1265 W10th Avenue. Note the omission of the tower at 2538 Birch Street. Also, there’s an interesting take on the downtown skyline in the background.

Our context model with the tower at 2538 Birch Street at full height (1245-1265 W10th Avenue building massing in current state). Compare the location of the downtown skyline with the applicant’s renderings

Physical model 2538 Birch Street shown at an in-person Open House organized by the City of Vancouver. Note that there is no in-person Open house scheduled for 1245-1265 W10th Avenue.

Front yard setback of 12 ft. (3.66m) from property line is proposed (level 3 plan). The balconies will be even closer to the property line (no dimensions provided on the drawings).

Streetscape illustration from the applicant’s materials. Note the difference in scale between the proposed tower and the existing buildings on West 10th Avenue.

Tower construction at the old Denny’s site has almost reached grade (2538 Birch), March 20, 2024

Parking breakdown from applicant’s submission (comparison with City’s parking by-law)

Rezoning sign at 11:58am on spring equinox (pictured buildings at 1255 W10th (left) and 1245 W10th Avenue (right))