Agenda Index City of Vancouver

POLICY REPORT
DEVELOPMENT AND BUILDING

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning & Environment

FROM:

Director of Current Planning

SUBJECT:

Heritage Revitalization Agreement and the Provision of Parking for 65 Water Street

 

RECOMMENDATION

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

COUNCIL POLICY

On January 25, 1983, and further on April 2, 1996, Council approved a Transfer of Density Policy to foster, among other City objectives, the transfer of density from sites containing heritage buildings to other locations within the Central Area for the preservation of listed heritage buildings. Currently, this policy does not apply to the Gastown area, zoned (HA-2).

On September 23, 1986, Council approved the Vancouver Heritage Register which lists, among other buildings, the Malkin Building at 65 Water Street, a Class "B" heritage building. In addition, the Malkin Building is Provincially designated as part of the Province's initiative to protect the Gastown Area in 1971.

Heritage Revitalization Agreements provide for increases in density and for additional uses to be permitted beyond that permitted by a site's zoning to enable the restoration and reuse of listed heritage buildings and sites. To date, these agreements have not been applied to buildings in the Gastown area.

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This report recommends approval in principle of a Heritage Revitalization Agreement and the leasing of parking for the site at 65 Water Street. This will allow the use of the heritage building for "live-work" dwellings and the transfer of up to 5 648 m² (60,800 sq. ft.) of density to another site in the Central Area.

On November 2, 1998, the Development Permit Board approved a development permit for 65 Water Street which involved the restoration of the listed heritage building (the Malkin Building) and its rehabilitation to office and residential space as well as the development of a new residential tower on a parking lot immediately to the east of the building and the development of retail/commercial space for the vacant lot immediately to the west of the building. Since the Development Permit Board approval, the developer has advised staff that, due to different market conditions, this project is not viable. However, there is general agreement that a development in this location would benefit Gastown by restoring a heritage building, increasing the resident population and thereby revitalizing the neighbourhood. It was also felt by staff that the development would better fulfill heritage objectives if there was less of an addition to the heritage building and an overall lower height for the new development.

In the interest of better achieving heritage objectives and rendering the project economically viable, staff and the developer pursued discussions to see if a new mutually supportable proposal could be framed.

After reaching consensus with the developer and community representatives, staff are recommending the approval-in-principle by Council of:

· a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) which will enable the approval of "live-work" uses (i.e. home-based businesses) and the vesting of density in a density bank to be transferred elsewhere; and
· the lease of parking spaces for the project at a market rate in the nearby City-owned parkade.

Starting in the late 1980's, staff began a comprehensive planning review in the Gastown and Chinatown areas. For a variety of reasons, the Gastown area work was not taken to completion and staff were directed to complete the process for Chinatown. Council adopted a Transfer of Density policy for Chinatown that permits a maximum transfer of 2.0 FSR with the ability to make minor additions to the building. At present, the Gastown area is still not included in the application of heritage policies and incentives (e.g. density bonuses and transfers and HRA's). This situation is under review in the Gastown Heritage Management Programme and this project provides an effective pilot to test new and existing incentives, including the HRA and density transfers.

If Council approves this report's recommendations, staff will prepare an HRA to be presented for Council consideration at a public hearing.

BACKGROUND

The City of Vancouver Heritage Management Programme

The City of Vancouver Heritage Management Programme offers a variety of incentives to owners of heritage buildings on the Vancouver Heritage Register in exchange for the rehabilitation, and in many cases designation, of their buildings. Most notably, these include:

· floor area bonuses;
· zoning relaxations (i.e. parking, height, setback, etc.);
· subdivision variances; and
· transfer of density.

Council's policy is based on off-setting the cost of heritage restoration and retention through these incentives. Transferring density is a way to maintain the original massing of a building, while compensating the owner for the loss in revenue potentially available if they chose to demolish the building and develop a new building on the site. Since the program began in 1993, 385,000 sq. ft. of density has been transferred off six heritage donor sites to approximately 15 recipient sites in the Central Area. The transferred density has predominantly been taken up by tower proposals and manifested as additional floors, while staying within the permitted height maximums on the recipient sites; or, alternatively, in one case, located in underground floors. The programme has been so successful that, at present, several sites are awaiting the next donor site to generate transferrable density.

Gastown Heritage Management Programme

Many of the heritage retention incentives discussed above, including density transfers and bonuses, have not been available in the Gastown neighbourhood due in part to the protection afforded under the provincial designation. Until the last several years the area's buildings were retained and re-adapted to new uses without incentives. However, staff and the Gastown community have agreed that further revitalizing and the restoration of the area's buildings would be promoted by incentives including those available elsewhere.

On December 14, 1999, Council approved funding and a work programme for the Gastown Heritage Management Programme. Currently underway, it is anticipated that the bulk of the technical work will be completed by the end of June. The findings will be reviewed by staff and vetted through interest groups in the neighbourhood before reporting to Council with policy recommendations by the end of 2000. However, it was not the intent that the work of this study would delay the consideration of projects involving the retention of listedheritage buildings in Gastown or the use of tools, such as density transfers, being studied by the Gastown Heritage Management Programme.

Staff expect that the density transfer and bonuses being recommended for 65 Water Street will likely be among the heritage incentives recommended by the Gastown Heritage Management Programme. The application of these incentives for 65 Water Street can be viewed as a pilot project for the emerging management programme.

The initial proposal for 65 Water Street

A redevelopment proposal for 65 Water Street was approved by the Development Permit Board on November 2, 1998 (see drawings in Appendix A). The application involved 3 adjacent sites including the heritage building (the Malkin Building). The following was approved at that time (see Appendix A for an illustration of this project):

Phase One:
· restoration of the heritage building complete with seismic upgrading, 2-3 storey addition to the roof for dwelling uses, conversion of warehouse space to office;
· construction of an "atrium" space on the west vacant lot for commercial use with public access in the future for an overpass above the railway lines.

Phase Two:
· construction of an 11-storey building on the east vacant lot for market residential and commercial use;
· underground parking on 2 levels for 166 cars accessed from the north lane.

The project was controversial due to the height of the 11-storey new building and the rooftop addition to the existing heritage building. However, even with these approvals, the owner decided the proposal was not economically viable.

The proposal currently before Council represents a modification of the development discussed above.

DISCUSSION

Proposed Use: Staff support the proposal by the owner to pursue a "live-work" use for the heritage building because it is compatible with the uses permitted by the area's zoning. Staff expect that the permitted "live-work" uses will be similar to those approved by Council at a public hearing for the development at 600 Nicola Street in the Coal Harbour neighbourhood. The zoning approved for that site will allow occupants to have a variety of home-based businesses in their units, which are compatible with residential use.

Scale and Transferred Density: The developer has proposed the transfer of a portion of density that was approved in 1998; first, a rooftop 3-storey addition to the heritage building and second, the top storey of the new condominium tower to the east of the heritage building. This reduction in height responds to concerns raised by some in the neighbourhood and the heritage community who felt that the previous proposal was too high. In addition, the transfer and sale of density will also assist in the viability of the project. The removal of the rooftop addition also better responds to the principles of heritage conservation because the existing massing of the heritage building is retained.

The Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA): Staff recommend the use of an HRA as the ideal mechanism for facilitating the transfer of density and permitting a use not currently permitted by the zoning. This mechanism is essential as the zoning for the site does not describe a floor space ratio (density) and thus there is no density that can be transferred off-site without a legal vehicle to create the transferable density.

Parking: The developer has advised staff that the provision of sufficient parking is essential for the viability of the project. Also, construction of parking is very expensive under the existing heritage building. For this reason, staff recommend that secure parking be made available at the City-owned parkade within the 100 blocks of West Cordova and Water Streets.

Comments from the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee (GHAPC): Staff reviewed the project with GHAPC on December 15, 1999 and the committee resolved:

Next Steps: Should Council approve recommendations A and B regarding the proposed use, transfer of density and parking provision for the 65 Water Street project, the owner will submit a revised Development Application, staff will draft the HRA and proceed with processing the Development Permit. A Public Hearing is required to approve the HRA.

CONCLUSION

Staff recommend that Council support-in-principle a Heritage Revitalization Agreement for the site at 65 Water Street as it will facilitate the development of a mixed-use residential project which will assist in the revitalization of the Gastown neighbourhood and the reuseand restoration of a listed heritage building. Many in Gastown believe that a project of this type and an increase in the resident population of the area will spur the area's revitalization. The current proposal represents a consensus among staff, the developer and community organizations.

ATTACHMENTS THAT DO NOT HAVE ELECTRONIC COPY ARE AVAILABLE ON FILE IN THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.

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