Vancouver City Council |
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: February 9, 2004
Author/Local: K. Hemmingson/ G. McGeough/6077/ 7091
RTS No. 03943
CC File No. 1401-64
Meeting Date: February 24, 2004
TO:
Vancouver City Council
FROM:
Director of Current Planning
SUBJECT:
55 East Cordova - Heritage Building Rehabilitation Program
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council authorise the City to enter into a Heritage Revitalization Agreement to secure the conservation and rehabilitation of the McLennan & McFeely Building at 55 East Cordova Street as proposed in Development Application No. DE408005. The agreement will:
(i) supplement the HA-2 zoning to grant a density bonus of 5 574 m² (60,000 sq.ft.) available for transfer, which includes 2 229 m² (24,000 sq.ft.) to secure, in favour of the City , the statutory right-of-way across the historic former CPR Right-of-Way;
(ii) limit the development of the site to the built form proposed in Development Application No. DE408005 and vary the zoning to increase the building height to allow for the proposed additional floor on top and the reconstruction of the water tower;
(iii) vary the HA-2 zoning to allow residential use to be included as part of all outright or conditional uses; and
(iv) vary the Development Cost Levy By-law to set the rate at $0.11 per m² ($0.01 per sq.ft.) rather than $64.60 per m² ($6.00 per sq.ft.);
AND THAT Council require a covenant providing that the density bonus not be available for transfer until the rehabilitation is complete, unless the owner secures completion of the rehabilitation by a separate agreement;
AND THAT Council require a statutory right-of-way in favour of the City for the public's right to pass through and be upon the portion of the historic former CPR Right-of-Way located west of the McLennan & McFeely Building at 55 East Cordova.
B. THAT, subject to approval of RECOMMENDATION A, Council authorize two facade grants to the owner of the McLennan & McFeely Building of $50,000 each for a total of $100,000; source of funding to be the 2003 - 05 Capital Plan. Approval of this recommendation requires eight (8) affirmative votes.
AND THAT Council require a covenant to ensure the rehabilitation work on the facades is completed.
C. THAT the agreements shall be prepared, registered and given priority to the satisfaction of the Directors of Planning and Legal Services.
D. THAT the Director of Legal Services bring forth the by-law to authorize the Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA).
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A, B, C
and D.COUNCIL POLICY
The Transfer of Density Policy and Procedure.
Heritage Building Rehabilitation Program and Policies for Gastown, Chinatown, and Hastings Street Corridor.
Approval of grants requires eight (8) affirmative votes.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to seek Council support for a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) and facade grants to secure both the rehabilitation and long term conservation of the "C" listed building at 55 East Cordova Street and to secure a statutory right-of-way for public open space across the historic former CPR Right-of-Way (ROW) portion of this property.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY
Gastown Heritage Management Plan: In July 2003, City Council approved a Heritage Building Rehabilitation Program for Gastown, Chinatown and the Hastings Corridor. The program will be available for a five-year period (2003 - 2008) to initiate economic activity in these historic areas. The objective is to encourage owners to rehabilitate their heritage buildings by compensating them for their shortfall costs. These costs are defined as the amount required to make a project viable when a major building upgrade is completed. The City determines the amount of incentives through site-specific analysis.
DISCUSSION
Proposal: 55 East Cordova Street is located near the easterly edge of the Gastown Historic Area (please see Map in Appendix A). On behalf of the owner, Gower Yeung and Associates have submitted a development application proposing to rehabilitate and code up-grade the heritage building, add a one storey addition and convert it into 118 commercial live/work use units. The proposal also includes refurbishing the historic former CPR ROW on the western end of the property. To assist with the costs of rehabilitation and in recognition of not developing the ROW, the owner is seeking heritage incentives from the City. See selected drawings Appendix B.
Heritage Value: This building is listed on the Heritage Register in the C category. The heritage value of the McLennan & McFeely Building is it is evidence of the rise of Vancouver over Victoria as British Columbia's commercial centre and for being a large and significant warehouse building that represents well the commercial architecture in Gastown in the early twentieth century. Please see Statement of Significance in Appendix C.
Proposed Rehabilitation Work: All the storefronts were restored approximately two years ago for a new large retailer that was unsuccessful and has since moved out. The current development application proposes further modifications to provide access to the proposed multiple individual commercial live-work units. The modifications will be in keeping with the heritage character of the original storefronts. The original upper storey single-hung wood window sash and frames will be retained and restored. The exterior brick walls will be cleaned and restored. A number of window and door openings at the rear and west facades, presently blocked in, will be reopened and made functional as per their original design. The building will also be upgraded to the current Vancouver Building By-Law, which includes seismic upgrading.
Right-of-Way: Prior to 1929, the CPR moved freight between its False Creek railyards and Burrard Inlet railyards via a diagonal right-of-way through Gastown. The use of this right-of-way was discontinued with the construction of the Dunsmuir tunnel. In 1976, City Council approved a policy to seek "public open space" over the former rail right-of-way lands. As sites adjacent to the right-of-way have developed, the City has secured consistent landscape treatment on three of the six right-of-way properties and has secured public access over three of the properties.
With the rehabilitation of the McLennan & McFeely Building, the City will secure a new right-of-way for public access and open space. As part of the redevelopment of the site, the ROW portion will be improved with the same landscape treatment approved by the City on other right-of-way sites. It is proposed that a new parking facility in the basement of the building will extend under the right-of-way.Heritage Revitalization Agreement: The recommended HRA and associated covenants would ensure the prompt rehabilitation of the heritage building and landscaping of the right-of-way, as well as the commitment by the owner for on-going maintenance of the building. The HRA will also authorize the following: transferable density bonus, height variance to allow for the proposed one-storey addition and reconstruction of the water tower, development cost levy (DCL) relief for the addition and commercial live/work use.
This landmark building will be key to revitalizing the easterly portion of Gastown. Commercial live/work use throughout the building and at-grade is a new concept for this area in transition and will assist in revitalizing and strengthening this downtown community. In the short term, commercial live/work use will permit a more diverse set of uses in the building and will allow the units to be used as residences along with other permitted uses. On the ground floor facing Cordova Street, where the long term goal is to have retail orservice uses at grade, the Director of Planning would set conditions of development permit approval to ensure the units are configured for easy conversion to retail or service use in the future.
Economic Analysis: The owner has requested a compensation package valued at $1,744,000, comprised of:
· 2 229 m² (24,000 sq.ft.) density bonus for converting the historic former CPR ROW into a public open space (i.e. foregoing the above-ground development rights on the ROW, entering into a new statutory right-of-way secured in favour of the City, and landscaping it to the City's standards);
· 3 344 m² (36,000 sq.ft.) density bonus for rehabilitation work;
· approximately $145,000 of DCL relief for the new addition (based on a rate of $64.60/m² ($6.00/sq.ft.)); and
· $100,000 facades grant.Staff have undertaken an independent economic analysis and determined that the requested compensation is justified. It should be noted that the owner has requested to not take advantage of the tax incentive. He advised that if he did the future strata title owners would be the beneficiaries and he has not found an effective way to have this future benefit accrue to the developer. Given the compensation package is modest relative to the scale of project, staff recommend Council support it as requested. To ensure tax relief is a useful incentive for future strata conversion projects under this program, staff will explore methods for developers to realize the value of it.
The owner will apply for the Federal Historic Places Initiative grant available to an owner of commercial heritage buildings. Staff have analysed the proforma and the market conditions and concluded the requested municipal incentives and the federal grant potential of $1,000,000 are justified.
Inventory of Unsold Density: The current balance of density available in the market for sale is 13 034 m² (140,300 sq.ft). This amount does not include density held by heritage building owners for their own future projects nor density assigned to development and rezoning applications in process. If Council were to approve the recommended HRA the new balance of density available for sale would be 18 607 m² (200,300 sq.ft.). Staff support this balance.
Comments from Advisory Committees: On December 19, 2003, the Gastown Historic Area Planning Committee supported the application, subject to certain conservation and design issues. Resolution of these issues will form part of the Director of Planning's conditions of development permit issuance, and the applicant has stated he is prepared address such conditions.
On February 2, 2004, the Vancouver Heritage Commission supported the proposal including the compensation package. It requested the owner find a practical use for the water tower and retain one or two of the existing passages over the lane. Staff will pursue these two recommendations with the applicant.
Notification: In accordance with the Vancouver Charter Public Hearing provisions, newspaper advertisements were been placed in two consecutive issues of a local newspaper. As part of the development application process, the surrounding neighbours were notified. The building is currently unoccupied so no tenants were notified. Staff received six letters. Four supported the application as they felt it would help revitalise this part of Gastown.. The two opposed are neighbouring owners expressing concerns about the proposed height and the impact on mountain views from their units. The City's past practice has been to allow extra height for development along the ROW in exchange for delivery of a public benefit. Staff reviewed the view blockage and past practice of height increases in the area and concluded, on balance, that the extra height is supportable in order to help make this rehabilitation project economically viable.
CONCLUSION
The recommended density bonus, height variance, facade grants and DCL relief would compensate the owner for the costs of rehabilitating the "C"-listed Heritage Register building and for foregoing the above-ground development rights on the ROW. The recommended Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) and associated covenant will secure the City's interest of ensuring the building is promptly rehabilitated, seismically up-graded and maintained on an ongoing basis. The statutory right-of-way in favour of the City will secure public access across the historic former CPR ROW.
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