Agenda Index City of Vancouver

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

TO:

Standing Committee on Planning & Environment

FROM:

Directors of the Office of Cultural Affairs and the Development Permit Board in consultation with the Directors of Real Estate Services and Facilities Development and General Manager, Park Board

SUBJECT:

Amenity Bonus Proposal - 1133 Seymour Street

 

RECOMMENDATION

The agreements herein approved shall be on the terms discussed in this report and such other terms as deemed advisable by the Director of Legal Services, in consultation with the Directors of the Office of Cultural Affairs, Real Estate and Facilities Development, it being understood that no legal rights or obligations shall arise except upon the signing and registration of the Option to Lease and Section 219 Covenant and issuance of development permit DE405395.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A and B and notes that B represents a grant which requires eight affirmative votes.

COUNCIL POLICY

The Downtown Official Development Plan under Section 6.II allows for an increase in the permitted floor space ratio or density of a building, in exchange for public, social or recreational facilities which have a demonstrated need, subject to Council approval.

Bonused amenity spaces are leased by the City and subleased to Vancouver-based, non-profit social service or cultural organizations at a nominal rent for a term of up to 20 years and include a series of requirements including the obligation to provide community services and benefits accessible to the public; to undertake a fund raising campaign sufficient to pay future operating costs; and to assume all of the City's obligations under the head lease.

SUMMARY

The City's Official Development Plan permits an increase in on-site density in new construction in exchange for providing a public amenity of a social, recreational or cultural nature, subject to approval by the Development Permit Board and City Council. Bonus facilities are subleased to non-profit organizations which are required to provide significant public use of the amenity space. The recipient organization must also have a demonstrated track record of public service, have managed a public facility and, in the City's judgement, have the capacity to raise sufficient funds to meet the future financial obligations of the amenity space.

The proposal outlined in this report is for a 13,700 sq.ft. Film Centre, to be built as part of a residential development at the northwest corner of Seymour and Davie Streets. The preliminary development application was approved in principle by the Development Permit Board, subject to Council's approval of the density bonus, on August 7, 2001.

The site is a good location for a Film Centre, adjacent to Granville Street, next door to the Dance Centre, on the site of the former Seymour Street Arts Club, and across the street from the future Downtown South park. The DP Board has dealt with a preliminary development application for this site, incorporating the cultural amenity and related bonus, and has concluded that the proposal is consistent with the provisions of the DODP and satisfactorily meets the companion Downtown South Guidelines. Planning staff confirm that the proposal, with the additional bonused density, generally meets the City's Planning and Development By-laws and Guidelines. Park Board staff have expressed concern about evening shadowing on the adjacent future park caused by the proposed development. These shadow impacts, however, are well within the Downtown South Guidelines.

Real Estate staff have assessed the proposal and determined that the 13,700 sq.ft. Film Centre, including a 20-year prepaid operating allowance, supports a bonus density of 120,000 sq.ft.. The bonus ratio of market floor area to amenity floor area is 8.76:1.00. This compares to the previously approved bonuses at 488 Robson St.(8.73:1.00) and 955 Richards St. (8.86:1.00).

The proposed recipient of the amenity bonus is the Vancouver International Film Festival Society, a registered nonprofit, educational and cultural organization. The Film Festival currently rents theatres during its annual festival (September/October) and has a permanent office on Hamilton Street. In 2000, the Film Festival hosted 400 screenings of 300 films at eight theatres which attracted 130,000 patrons.

The Festival has developed a vision for a permanent downtown venue which will be its operational centre during the festival and provide a year-round meeting and working space for the production and appreciation of cinema and new media in Vancouver. The Film Centre will provide a publicly accessible 170-seat multi-format festival screening room, box office and multi-purpose gallery as well as production space for use by the non-profit film community and the Society's offices.

The DP Board has concluded that the land use and urban design impacts of the additional floor space are acceptable. Office of Cultural Affairs staff believe that the benefit in increased density to the applicant is balanced with the benefit to the public of the proposed Vancouver International Film Centre.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to seek Council approval for an amenity bonus facility proposed within a new residential development at 1133 Seymour Street (DE 405395). The property owner has offered to provide a 13,700 sq.ft. facility suitable for a Film Centre including a170-seat festival screening room, a film production centre and administrative support for the Vancouver International Film Festival Society in exchange for 120,000 sq.ft. of additional density.

BACKGROUND

Ensuring access to appropriate and affordable facilities is a challenge for the non-profit sector in any major city. It is especially challenging in Vancouver's real estate market. In order to ensure that the non-profit community can afford to remain part of our downtown, the City actively seeks opportunities to acquire spaces through zoning incentive programs, such as the Amenity Bonusing Program, where the City, in partnership with private development, creates affordable facilities at no cost to taxpayers.

Since 1975, the City of Vancouver has made use of the Amenity Bonusing Program. The City's Official Development Plan permits developers to increase their on-site density in new construction in exchange for providing a public amenity of a social, recreational or cultural nature, subject to approval by the City's Development Permit Board and City Council.

The developer builds a fully finished amenity space, to the specification of the City, and prepays twenty years of the space's operating costs in exchange for additional density of equal value on-site. The City secures the amenity through legal agreements including a lease of the amenity space for the life of the building. The City sub-leases the amenity space to a non-profit society for a nominal rent with a condition that the society raise sufficient funds to create an endowment fund. The interest from the endowment fund is to cover the operating costs at the end of the developer's 20-year prepaid commitment and to ensure the public benefit for the life of the building.

Bonuses are dependant on securing a site which can accommodate the additional density and a developer willing to pursue the opportunity. Further, bonuses are only considered where the resultant additional density meets the City's planning guidelines and by-laws. The value of the bonus density is calculated by the City's Real Estate Department using a consistent pro forma analysis.

Bonuses are only considered for non-profit organizations which provide significant public benefit and propose public use of the amenity space. The organization must also have a demonstrated track record of public service, have managed a public facility and, in the City's judgement, have the capacity to raise sufficient funds to meet the future obligations of the amenity space.

DISCUSSION

This proposal is for an amenity bonus facility, a Film Centre, to be built as part of a residential development at the northwest corner of Seymour and Davie Streets. The applicant, Amacon-Omni Management Inc, has submitted an application (DE 405 395) to construct two residential towers (Tower A - 300 ft., 32 storeys and Tower B - 237 ft, 24 storeys) along with a three storey podium containing townhouses, retail and the proposed film centre as well as four levels of underground parking. The proposal is to increase the building density from the 5.0 FSR permitted to 8.08 FSR (120,000 sq.ft. increase) for residential use in exchange for a 13,700 sq.ft. cultural amenity facility.

The preliminary development application (DE405395) was approved by the Development Permit Board, subject to Council's approval of the density bonus, on August 7, 2001. The minutes of the meeting are attached to this report as Appendix "E".

Site:
This site fronts onto Davie Street, an active retail street in the downtown connecting English Bay to the False Creek and enjoys significant pedestrian movements. It is also located one block off Granville Street, a major transit corridor and entertainment-focussed part of the downtown. It is next door to the Dance Centre which is scheduled to open in early September. As well, a future park is to be located directly across Seymour Street. These are important locational criteria for a facility such as the Vancouver International Film Centre which staff supports as an appropriate cultural use for the area. A site map is attached to this report as Appendix "A".

Land Use:
While housing is the principal use envisioned in this area, the zoning requires retail use along the Davie Street frontage but limits ground floor retail uses along Seymour Street on a site of this size to 2,500 sq. ft. Other public uses are permitted on a case by case basis. The proposal includes two residential towers on a three-storey podium containing retail, townhouses, and a cultural amenity facility, the Film Centre. The three retail units are located along the Davie Street frontage and the Film Centre is located at the centre of the project between the residential towers facing Seymour Street and the future City park across the street. At the northerly end of the site, along Seymour Street, three townhouses are incorporated into the podium. Although the Official Development Plan for this frontage of Seymour Street encourages housing or a limited amount of office, staff believe that this cultural facility will provide the pedestrian interest and amenity intended. Further, staff believe that the proposed Film Centre is a use compatible with residential. The production components of the facility will primarily be used in the daytime and the screening room, with a capacity of 170 seats is unlikely to attract high impact crowds.

Urban Design:
The additional density resulting from the bonused floor area created by the amenity facility (120,000 sq.ft.) results in a second tower on this site; the southerly tower at Davie Street (Tower A) being 300 ft. in height, and the northerly tower along Seymour Street (Tower B) being 237 ft. in height. Downtown South Guidelines set a series of criteria for the consideration of two towers on a site including tower separation, tower floor plates, setbacks, site frontage and site area. This site meets all of the guidelines for consideration of a second tower except that the site frontage of 325 ft. is 50 ft. less that the minimum set in the Guidelines.

The rationale to support the guideline relaxation for two towers is that Downtown South Zoning and Guidelines anticipated a maximum of two towers located within a typical block frontage. The development potential of the adjacent site to the north is restricted to 70 ft. and 3.0 FSR because of the remaining 150 ft. frontage, (unless this site is developed as social housing whereby the height could increase to 120 ft. and FSR could increase to 5.0). Given the limited developmental potential of the adjacent site, staff are comfortable that the adjacent site would not be compromised by the reduction in the tower setback to 30 ft. for the proposed second tower. The DP Board agreed.

The Downtown South Guidelines seek to preclude shadowing on parks and public spaces from 10am to 4pm at the equinoxes (March 21 and September 21). The shadow analysis indicates that at the equinox, up to 4pm, there are no shadow impacts. The 4pm shadow begins to reach the northwest corner of the future park, leaving virtually all of the future park in sun.

Although not covered by the Guidelines and beyond the scope of previous shadow evaluations, staff have also reviewed the shadow impacts between 5pm and 8pm at the summer solstice (June 21) when park use will extend into the evening and Daylight Saving Time is in effect. The Guidelines allow for additional analysis on specific sites where shadow impacts are a concern. The following chart compares the proposed two tower shadow impacts with that which would result from a permitted single tower.

Figures below are % of park area NOT shadowed.

Time
Solstice (June 21)

Proposed
Two Towers

Permitted
Single Tower

Variance (+/-)

5:00PM

80%

87%

7%

6:00PM

67%

83%

16%

7:00PM

57%

74%

17%

8:00PM

20%

39%

19%

Shadow impacts increase as the evening progresses. By 8pm shadowing impacts are attributable to a combination of the surrounding street walls, the non-market housing tower at 1221 Seymour, and the Dance Centre at 677 Davie Street as well as the proposed and permitted towers on the subject site. Staff note that no other future towers to the south and southwest of the park are possible under the present DODP zoning and Guidelines that could add to the shadowing.

Staff and the applicant did review the option of flipping the towers but concluded that the tower heights were not factors in reducing evening shadowing. The Development Permit Board has set a condition of approval to reduce the tower widths to meet the Downtown South Guidelines. Staff believe this will make some improvement to the late afternoon and evening shadow.

On balance, the Development Permit Board has concluded that the overall usability of the park is not significantly compromised by the additional tower.

Park Board Comments:
At issue is not the allowable maximum FSR of 5.0 but the proposed bonus density of 3.0 that will increase site FSR to 8.08. The bonus density leads to a second tower and a tower distribution that places one tower near Davie Street. Both result in increased shadowing of the future park. These shadow impacts occur largely outside the time frame specified in the Downtown South Guidelines, therefore the proposal has been ruled to conform with the Guidelines. The issue to be decided now is whether the public benefit of the proposed cultural amenity outweighs the public cost of increased shadowing of the park.

The shadow impacts will be most pronounced from the middle of May to the middle of July when sunset occurs after 9 PM. One can assume that park use is going to be high on those evenings, with a large residential population seeking relaxation in the first park of Downtown South after coming home from work. Even though the park will be surrounded by high-rise buildings, shadow analyses have shown that substantial areas of the park could still receive sunlight as late as 8 PM. The application of bonus density will reduce the amount of sunlight in the park on summer evenings, between 6 and 8 PM the bonus density will overshadow an additional 16 to 19% of the park.

Park Board staff feel that the future park should be kept as sunny as is reasonably possible, and would therefore prefer if bonus density was not applied to the site.

Bonus Density:
Council policy provides for bonusing to secure a range of public objectives including heritage, low-cost housing and facilities to meet the needs of the not-for profit social service and cultural community. Bonusing provides one mechanism to secure these facilities in the downtown where real estate costs are prohibitive for both the non-profit sector and the City.

In 1986 and again in 1990, staff reviewed the amenity bonusing program and implemented revisions to ensure that the public benefit would remain as long as the additional density remained. To that end, the bonus calculation was revised to secure the space for the life of the building and to provide a 15 to 20-year prepaid capitalization of operating costs. Early bonuses provided for a share of the operating costs for 15 years. Later bonuses provide for all operating costs for 20 years. Because of the increase in the operating allowance, the size of the bonused density has increased since the program began in 1975. A list of all bonuses approved by Council since 1975 is attached to this report as Appendix B.

Real Estate staff reviewed the applicant's proposal and pro forma and based on an assessment by Facilities Development's quantity surveyor, concluded that the provision of the fully finished and fit up Film Centre including the 20-year prepaid operating allowances was valued at 151,000 sq.ft.. Planning staff however, had determined that the site could only accommodate a maximum additional density of 120,000 sq.ft.. Staff therefore worked with the Film Festival Society to reduced the program area and the Film Festival also agreed to raise the funds necessary to secure the projection equipment and screen necessary to complete the cinema. These reductions have been documented in the Building Program (May 22, 2001) which forms the basis of this current proposal which the applicant has confirmed in the attached letter (see Appendix C). In exchange for providing the 13,700 sq.ft. Film Centre, the applicant has requested an additional 120,000 sq.ft. of bonus density for residential use on the site.

The following chart compares the bonus ratio of the projects approved since 1990 with the proposal. The bonus ratio measures the amount of additional density created for every square foot of amenity area. The bonus ratio is comparable to previously approved projects.

Address

Date
(DP)

Bonus recipient

Amenity Sq.Ft.

Bonus Sq.Ft.

Ratio
(bonused density/amenity)

938 Howe

1989

Alliance for Arts & Culture

4,095

26,500

6.47

955 Richards

1999

Contemporary Art Gallery

5,496

48,713

8.86

488 Robson

1998

Music Library - Cdn. Music Centre/Vcr. New Music

3,116

27,191

8.73

1133 Seymour

2001

Proposed: Film Centre

13,700

120,000

8.76

While the size of the amenity bonus facility contemplated does cause a significant increase in additional density on site, Planning staff have concluded that this site is large enough to absorb the density without undue impacts. Cultural Affairs staff note that the costs to build a stand alone film centre downtown would be in the order of $3.5 million plus land. On balance, staff conclude that the use of the amenity bonus program to realise the proposed Film Centre provides an affordable mechanism to secure this cultural amenity facility.

Proposed Amenity - Vancouver International Film Centre:
The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is operated by the Greater Vancouver International Film Festival Society, a provincially registered, nonprofit, educational and cultural organization incorporated under The Society Act of British Columbia, and is a Federally registered charity. The purpose of the VIFF is to encourage understanding of cultural diversity through the art of cinema, to foster the art of cinema, to facilitate the meeting in Vancouver of cinema professionals from around the world, and to stimulate the motion picture industry in Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada.

The Film Festival currently rents eight theatres during its annual festival (September/October) and has a permanent office on Hamilton Street. Over the years as the smaller movie houses in the downtown close down, the Festival has struggled to maintain a critical mass of screens necessary to mount a major international film festival. In the past few years alone the Caprice, the Paradise, the Plaza, the Starlight, the McGill Theatre in Robson Square and the Royal Bank Cineplex have all closed. By the end of the year the two screens at the Vancouver Centre will also close. At the same time, Film Festival audiences have continued to grow. In 2000, the Vancouver International Film Festival hosted 400 screenings of 300 films at eight theatres which attracted 130,000 patrons.

The Festival has developed a vision for a permanent downtown venue which will be their anchor during the festival and provide a year round meeting and working space for the production and appreciation of cinema and new media in Vancouver. The Vancouver International Film Centre would provide the public with a multi-format cinema and screening room, a festival box office, flexible production space for use by the non-profit film community and a multi-purpose gallery.

The Vancouver International Film Centre would serve as a "demonstration centre" for cutting-edge film technology, helping B.C. filmmakers and media artists to remain competitive. It will also serve as a base for outreach and education programs, and provide collaborative public programming with other festivals and arts institutions. The proximity of the Film Centre to the Pacific Cinecentre, the Dance Centre, the Canadian Music Centre and the new Contemporary Art Gallery will provide additional opportunities for collaborative programming and events.

The creation and appreciation of film are critically important to Vancouver's cultural ecology. The film industry has become a $1+ billion industry in B.C. and indigenous productions account for 30% of market, only a small fraction of British Columbia films find room on local area screens. Cultural Affairs staff believe that facility infrastructure to support local film societies provides the best possible support the City can provide. Facilities, such as the Pacific Cinematheque and the proposed Film Centre, which are controlled by local non-profit organizations ensure that local film makers have access to screens at affordable rates, and local audiences will have the opportunity to see a wide range of films.

Further, the relationship between the Film Centre and the new park may provide additional public programming opportunities. Ex Centris, a film centre in Montreal hosts a very popular outdoor film festival every summer in an empty lot adjacent to their facility. A similar opportunity could exist in the new Downtown South park. Subject to Council approval of this project, staff will co-ordinate a meeting with Park Board and Film Festival staff to review opportunities.

Option to Lease, Lease and Sub-lease Agreements:
Subject to Council's approval, the City will secure its interest in the amenity space through an option to lease for the life of the building which will be sub-leased to the Vancouver International Film Festival Society on those terms and conditions as are generally outlined in Appendix C of this report, as well as other terms as are required by, and satisfactory to the Director of Legal Services, in consultation with the Directors of the Office of Cultural Affairs and Real Estate Services.

The bonus calculation includes a 20-year prepaid operating allowance. As a condition of the sublease, bonus recipients are required to raise an endowment fund during the first term of the sublease such that the interest from the endowment fund is sufficient to pay the operating costs of a subsequent sublease. Following a review of various options to secure the endowment fund, the Film Festival Society has proposed to make monthly contributions to a reserve fund which will be held, along with the 20-year prepaid operating allowance, by the City. The projected amount of the required monthly payment to the reserve is comparable to the amount currently paid by the Society for their permanent office space. The Society has been in existence for more than 20 years and staff believe that they have the resources and operational capacity to manage the financial obligations of an amenity bonus facility.

CONCLUSION

Staff have reviewed the amenity bonus proposal and believe that the land use and urban design impacts of the additional floor space are acceptable and that the benefit in increased density to the applicant is balanced with the benefit to the public of the proposed Vancouver International Film Centre. The proposed Film Centre will provide a much more visible, year-round presence for the Film Festival, access for Vancouver's professional film-makers to central production facilities as well as public access to a state-of-the-art cinema.

* * * * *

pe010920.htm

Appendix A
Page 1 of 1

Site Map - 1133 Seymour Street

Significant adjacent development includes:

Appendix B
Page 1 of 1

Amenity Bonus Facilities

1. Approved and Built:

Address

Date
(DP)

Bonus recipient

Amenity Sq.Ft.

Bonus Sq.Ft.

Additional benefit

745 Thurlow

1975

City Stage

3,250

2,816

Time limited (10 yrs); No Op Costs

1125 Howe

1981

Pacific Cinecentre

9,499

39,380

15 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

1190 Hornby

1981

Community Arts Council
(now Canadian Music Centre)

3,590

22,840

15 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

1140 West Pender

1981

Granny Y Daycare
(now Pooh Corner)

14,267

48,471

15 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

900 Howe

1984

Public Legal Education

5,000

36,000

15 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

925 West Georgia

1988

Canadian Craft Museum

9,252

39,903

15 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

938 Howe

1989

Alliance for Arts & Culture

4,095

26,500

20 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

955 Richards

1999

Contemporary Art Gallery

5,496

48,713

20 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

2. Approved but not Built:

Address

Date
(DP)

Bonus recipient

Amenity Sq.Ft.

Bonus Sq.Ft.

Additional benefit

885 West Georgia

1981

Playhouse Theatre

57,000

127,399

Shell only, 15 Yr. Op. Cost Allowance

1010 Howe

1981

Inuit Art Museum

7,400

34,850

15 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

1161 Melville

1984

Contemporary Art Gallery

5,300

26,136

15 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

1166 Alberni

198?

Arts Club Theatre

7,500

15,500

Shell only, No Op allowance

488 Robson

1998

Music Library - Cdn. Music Centre/Vcr. New Music

3,116

27,191

20 Yr. Operating Cost Allowance

APPENDIX C
Page 1 of 2

Appendix C not electronically available.

APPENDIX D Page 1 of 2

Terms of Option to Lease and Lease to City

Term · until demolition of the development.
Area· 13,700 sq.ft. amenity space on Seymour Street located on common property, plus access at no charge to 13 designated and 8 shared-use parking stalls, including one disability parking stall in the underground parking area of the building and one designated loading bay at grade.
Use · No restrictions on use
Subletting, assignment, or mortgaging · City reserves the right to sublet, assign, mortgage or grant licenses of the premises.
Rent · nominal rent of $1 per annum
Taxes, if any · payable by the City
Utilities, strata fee (if any) and common expenses · payable by the Owner as a lump sum equal to twenty years of prepaid operating expenses incurred in connection with the management, maintenance, operation and provision of the building's common areas, facilities and services as well as any costs related to the heat, light and electrical power usage for the amenity space, as calculated by the City's Director of Real Estate, independently secured and payable on delivery of the lease.
Finishing and Fixturing · The Owner to construct and finish the 13,700 sq.ft. amenity space to the satisfaction of the City's Directors of Facilities Development and Office of Cultural Affairs, at an average quality as detailed in the society Building Program dated March 21, 2001 and revised May 22, 2001.
Termination · upon demolition or destruction of the building
All other terms and conditions required by the Director of Legal Services.

APPENDIX D Page 2 of 2

Terms of Sublease to Vancouver International Film Festival

Term· Twenty years
Rent · Nominal rent of $1 per annum
Taxes, if any · Payable by the subtenant
Utilities, strata fee (if any) and common expenses · All costs assumed by City are passed on to the subtenant.
Future operating expenses· Subtenant to undertake a fund raising drive commencing in the first month of occupancy and contributing monthly to a reserve fund held in trust by the City, the proceeds of which will be sufficient to pay the utilities, strata fees (if any) and common expenses at the end of the first twenty year term.
Third party use · No right to assign, sublet, grant mortgages or licences.
· Requirement to make available at rates to be approved by the City to Vancouver non-profit cultural organizations for public events and activities.
Covenants of the subtenant re: operation · to operate a non-profit film centre for the benefit of the citizens of Vancouver and the Vancouver professional film making community which is open to the public, to the satisfaction of the City.

All other terms and conditions required by the Director of Legal Services.

****

APPENDIX E
Page 1 of 8

Appendix E not electronically available.

pe010920.htm

Comments or questions? You can send us email.
[City Homepage] [Get In Touch]

(c) 1998 City of Vancouver