ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: June 27, 1995
Dept. File No. GMcG
TO: Vancouver City Council
FROM: Associate Director of Planning
Land Use and Development and Manager of the Housing Centre
SUBJECT: Heritage Revitalization Agreement for 347 East Cordova Street
and Victory House Replacement
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council authorizes a Heritage Revitalisation Agreement
(HRA) to restore and protect the heritage building at 347 East
Cordova Street.
FURTHER THAT the City agree to accept surrender of the lease
for Victory House at 391 Powell Street, coincident with the
occupancy permit for a Special Needs Residential Facility
(SNRF) at 353 East Cordova Street and on the basis that the
City acceptance of the lease surrender is full consideration
and compensation to St. James Social Service Society for the
HRA for 347 East Cordova Street.
B. THAT the City-owned site at 391 Powell Street be used for non-
market housing and that St. James Social Service Society be
named as sponsor, subject to review if provincial funding for
the project is not forthcoming by the end of 1996.
C. THAT Council instruct the delegate of the Director of Finance
to make a development application for any future use of the
City owned site at 391 Powell Street.
GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS
The General Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval of A,
B and C.
COUNCIL POLICY
It is City practice to lease City land to non-profit societies for 60
years at a prepaid rent of 75% of freehold value for non-market housing
development.
SUMMARY
The St. James Social Service Society has come forward with a development
proposal to relocate their Victory House SNRF from 391 Powell Street to
353 East Cordova Street (see Appendix A). As part of the proposal the
Society offered to restore the adjacent "B" listed Vancouver Heritage
Register building at 347 East Cordova Street and enter into a HRA with
the City ensuring its long term protection. In exchange, the City is to
accept surrender of the lease of Victory House at 391 Powell Street
coincident with the occupancy permit for a SNRF at 353 East Cordova
Street. The report further identifies a use and sponsor for 391 Powell
Street.
BACKGROUND
Victory House at 391 Powell Street was purchased by the City in 1977 at
the request of May Gutteridge of the St. James Social Service Society.
The building, which includes a commercial restaurant, was leased to the
Society for $1 per year for a term expiring in 2000. Victory House has
operated as a community residence for 47 individuals with psychiatric
illness.
Conditional approval has been given for a development application at 353
East Cordova Street for the replacement Victory House facility and the
Province has approved funding for the new facility. A condition of the
issuance of the development permit for this relocated SNRF is that the
Director of Planning be guaranteed that the SNRF use of the existing
Victory House SNRF site be discontinued before the new SNRF is occupied.
Secondly, the "B" listed heritage house is to be restored before the new
SNRF is occupied.
DISCUSSION
Victory House Replacement
To meet the conditions of the development permits for 353 and 347 East
Cordova Street, the lease for the existing Victory House at 391 Powell
Street needs to be surrendered. This provides assurance that St. James
would not continue using the old Victory House as a SNRF, which is not
permitted under the Downtown Eastside Oppenheimer District (DEOD)
Official Development Plan (ODP). The surrender of the lease also
provides assurance that the Society has been given full consideration
and compensation for entering into a HRA. The Society has agreed to
surrender the lease upon occupancy of the replacement facility. A
second condition of the development permit for 353 East Cordova Street
is that a development permit be obtained for any future use of the City
owned site at 391 Powell Street.
Heritage Revitalization Agreement
Staff will report to Council in the near future with suggested policy
and guidelines for the use and processing of HRAs. Staff are reporting
this proposed HRA prior to the policy report because the development
application should not be delayed.
A HRA, is a new heritage conservation tool available through recent
amendments to the Vancouver Charter. A HRA, adopted by-law, is a legal,
registered agreement negotiated by the property owner and the City, that
sets out the responsibilities of the owner with regard to the
restoration and conservation of a building listed on the Vancouver
Heritage Register. In contrast to heritage designation (which the City
can impose thereby invoking statutory protection for the building but
also giving rise to a claim for compensation), through a HRA, the owner
agrees to preserve and protect the heritage structure. Notice of the
HRA is filed in the Land Title Office and so becomes binding on future
owners.
The HRA for 347 East Cordova Street proposes the retention and
rehabilitation of the 'B' listed Vancouver Heritage Register building as
defined by Development Application No. 217470. The HRA will also
restrict future alterations to the heritage building and will require
replication should the building be demolished or destroyed in the
future.
Protection through HRA is preferred over designation for this project
because there is no adequate way to compensate for a designation. As
well, the HRA provides better protection than designation.
Heritage Value
Built in 1901, this house is a good example of the Queen Anne style in
the Downtown Eastside. The house is 2-´ storeys with a 2-storey
projecting bay on the front elevation, and is clad with wood siding and
patterned wood shingles. Other notable features include decorative wood
trim in the gable end, dentil trim on the projecting bay and original
wood windows.
The house is listed in the "B" evaluation category on the Vancouver
Heritage Register. The Vancouver Heritage Commission (previously the
Vancouver Heritage Advisory Committee) reviewed this proposal on August
15, 1994, and commended the applicant on the proposed retention and
restoration of the "B" listed building and resolved to support its
protection.
Compatibility with Community Planning Objectives
One of the goals in the "Application and Intent" section of the DEOD is
to "preserve and enhance the heritage character of the Downtown
Eastside/Oppenheimer area and recognize its historic significance in the
evolution of Vancouver". This house is located in the Sub-Area 2 of the
DEOD where the rehabilitation of existing residential buildings is
encouraged. The project will result in the loss of two "C" listed
buildings. However, because the most valuable heritage building in the
group, the "B" listed building at 347 East Cordova Street, will be
rehabilitated and given long term protection, staff believe the DEOD
objectives are being met.
Zoning Considerations
The "Use" section of the DEOD does not permit a new SNRF. As an
incentive to retain the heritage building at 374 East Cordova Street,
the Associate Director of Planning, Land Use and Development, agreed to
interpret this section to permit the relocation of the existing SNRF
from DEOD Sub-Area 3 to 353 East Cordova Street in Sub-Area 2, provided
the SNRF use at 391 Powell Street then ceases. The size of the facility
will remain unchanged. The proposal has, therefore, been processed as a
development application instead of as a rezoning.
Condition and Economic Viability
The "B" listed heritage house is in fair condition. Rehabilitation of
the building will include the repair, cleaning and painting of all
existing wood surfaces, the replacement of the entrance porch with a
similar structure and the reconstruction of a one-storey addition at the
rear. Future alterations to this designated building will require a
Heritage Alteration Permit. Plans and elevations of the proposal are
included in Appendix B.
St. James has determined that the incentives noted in the zoning section
above and the City's acceptance of surrender of the lease for the old
Victory House at 391 Powell Street, coincident with the occupancy permit
for a SNRF at 353 East Cordova Street, would make the retention and
restoration of the heritage building economically viable. The property
owners have signed a HRA (on file with the Law Department) for the
protection of 347 East Cordova Street and waiving any future
compensation demands. Therefore, no further support to achieve
appropriate conservation of this building will be required.
The Development Application No. DA217470 for the heritage site at 347
East Cordova Street requires the relaxation of one parking space (two
required, one provided) and one loading space. The Associate Director
of Planning, Land Use and Development is able and prepared to give these
relaxations.
Use of 391 Powell Street Site
Staff have considered the possible uses for the 391 Powell Street site
after St. James has moved to its new location. These are:
- Sell the site
Likely options for purchasers would be keeping the building
and converting it to warehousing or demolishing and building
loft condos.
- Maintain ownership of the site
Use as SRO, operated either by the City or a non-profit
society OR
Lease to a non-profit for non-market housing.
From a housing perspective, the optimum use for this site is for non-
market housing. This is consistent with the DEOD ODP which encourages
increasing the proportion of affordable self-contained dwelling units.
It is also consistent with the City's intent to facilitate non-market
housing in the Downtown Eastside. About 30 non-market units could be
achieved.
The DEOD ODP permits 1.0 FSR for residential, commercial or other uses.
Additional density is conditionally permitted, provided that non-market
housing is included. In practical terms, non-market housing could
achieve 2.5 FSR on this site compared with 1.0 FSR for market uses.
From a real estate perspective, the Manager of Real Estate advises that
the best financial return to the City would be leasing the site for non-
market housing.
St. James has written to the City indicating that it would be interested
in sponsoring a social housing project on this site. In other
circumstances relating to City-owned sites, the City has issued a
proposal call for non-profit housing sponsors. However, St. James is an
obvious choice for this site as it has successfully operated Victory
House at the same location for twenty years and a mixed housing and
community service complex in the same block. Recently, the Society was
added to the List of Sponsors for Non-Market Housing on City-owned or
Controlled sites. The issue of using the site for non-market housing
and naming St. James as sponsor was discussed at meetings with the
Downtown Eastside Strathcona Coalition on February 21 and March 21,
1995. The consensus was that this was a good approach.
St. James would apply to the province for unit allocations this year.
If unsuccessful in 1995 and 1996, the site sponsorship would be
reviewed.
In the unlikely event that the site is not used for new social housing,
staff would report back on alternatives. To meet a condition of the
development application at 353 East Cordova Street, the Director of
Planning requires assurance that the building at 391 Powell Street would
not be used as a SNRF by the City or a lessee. Recommendation C
provides this assurance by stating that a development application would
be secured should the building at 391 Powell Street be used in the
future.
CONCLUSION
The Director of Legal Services has prepared a Heritage Revitalization
Agreement By-law that would ensure the rehabilitation and long-term
protection of the "B" listed Vancouver Heritage Register building at 347
East Cordova Street. St. James Social Service Society is committed to
this HRA in exchange for the City accepting surrender of the lease for
Victory House at 391 Powell Street, coincident with the occupancy permit
for a SNRF at 353 East Cordova Street. Therefore, it is recommended
that Council authorizes the HRA and surrender the lease at 391 Powell
Street. The report further identifies a use and sponsor for 391 Powell
Street.
* * * * *
General Mgr./Dept. Head: Report dated: June 27, 1995
Author: Gerry McGeough (7091)/Jill
Davidson (7670)
Date: Phone: 7091 IRTS Number: CC95231
This report has been Concurring Departments
prepared in consultation
Law Department-F.J.Connell (7506)
with the departments
listed to the right, and
they concur with its
Real Estate-B.E. Maitland (7420)
contents.
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