ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

                                                        Date:  July 5, 1996
                                                        Dept. File No.  AMH


        TO:       Vancouver City Council

        FROM:     Director of Land Use and Development

        SUBJECT:  Strata Title Conversion - 868 Cassiar Street

        RECOMMENDATION

             THAT   the  application  to  convert  the  previously-occupied
             building at 868 Cassiar  Street (Lot 2, Section 26  N.E. Qtr.,
             T.H.S.L., Plan 18170)  to strata  title  ownership be approved
             in  principle,  but  that  pursuant  to Section  9(1)  of  the
             Condominium Act,  the Certificate of Approval  (Form 10) shall
             not  be issued  unless the  following  condition has  been met
             within one year of the date of this approval:

                  Completion of all work  now underway, to the satisfaction
                  of the City Building Inspector and in accordance with the
                  approved plans and permits,  and issuance of an Occupancy
                  Permit, all at  no cost to the  City, in order that  this
                  building  substantially complies  with all  relevant City
                  by-laws.

        GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

             The General  Manager of Community Services RECOMMENDS approval
             of the foregoing.

        COUNCIL POLICY

        Council  policy  is  reflected  in  the  City's  Strata  Title  and
        Cooperative  Conversion  Guidelines,  which  outline  factors  that
        Council will  consider when  reviewing applications for  converting
        previously-occupied  buildings  to   strata  title  or  cooperative
        ownership.

        PURPOSE

        Council  approval  is required  for an  application to  convert the
        previously-occupied  building  at  868   Cassiar  Street  (Lot   2,
        Section 26  N.E.  Qtr.,  T.H.S.L.,  Plan  18170)  to  strata  title
        ownership.


        BACKGROUND

        The site is zoned CD-1 and is developed with the former "Provincial
        Industrial Home for  Girls", most recently  used as the  Provincial
        Ministry of  Human Relations  library and staff  training facility.
        The building  is a Municipally designated  heritage building, built
        circa 1912,  which is  listed as  a category  'A'  building on  the
        Vancouver Heritage Register.  The location  of the site is shown on
        Figure 1, below.

                                      Figure 1






























        The heritage building is currently undergoing extensive alterations
        to  convert  it  from office  use  to  contain  12 dwelling  units.
        Pursuant  to Development  Permit No.  DE216428, this  site is  also
        intended to be developed with  seven new multiple dwellings,  which
        will  be  constructed  in two  phases,  containing  a  total of  76
        dwelling units.   Council  considered and approved  the relaxations
        required (floor space ratio) to achieve this form of development in
        July,  1995,  when designation  of the  heritage building  was also
        considered.


        The applicant proposes to create a  total of 88 strata lots on this
        site.   Pursuant  to Section  9 of  the Condominium  Act, Council's
        approval is required  as it relates to the  12 strata lots proposed
        in the "previously-occupied" heritage building only.

        As noted above, construction of the new development will be done in
        two  phases.    For this  reason,  the  applicant  is proposing  to
        register  a Phased strata plan, rather than a "conventional" strata
        plan which would require  that all of the buildings  be constructed
        before  the strata  plan could  be registered.   Registration  of a
        Phased  strata plan permits the developer to use funds generated by
        the  sale  of  units completed  in  the  first  phase, to  complete
        construction of the second phase.  

        Phased  strata  plan developments  generally  consist  of only  new
        construction.   Phased strata applications do  not require approval
        by City Council, but rather, are reviewed and approved, or approved
        subject  to  conditions, by  the  Approving Officer,  in  a similar
        manner to the processing of a conventional subdivision proposal.

        In a  similar case  in the  past, the  Director  of Legal  Services
        advised that the existence  of a previously-occupied building on  a
        site which is proposed  for a Phased strata plan, requires  that an
        application for strata title  conversion of that building  be first
        considered by  City Council, as  the Approving  Authority for  that
        type  of strata  plan.   If  the  application for  "conversion"  is
        approved, the  Approving  Officer  will then  be  able  to  further
        consider the Phased strata proposal.

        In the case of 868 Cassiar, the heritage building, along  with four
        of the new multiple dwellings, will be contained within the Phase 2
        strata plan.  The Phase 1 strata plan will contain three of the new
        multiple dwellings,  now under  construction directly to  the north
        and east of  the heritage building.   This  is different from  past
        instances  of  phased/conversions,  where  the  previously-occupied
        building has been  included within  the first phase  of the  Phased
        strata plan.

        For this  reason, the Approving Officer has  proposed that approval
        of the Phase 1 strata plan be withheld  until Council's approval in
        principle of the  strata title conversion of  the heritage building
        is  received.    If  that  approval  in  principle  is  given,  any
        conditions  which Council  might  attach to  the approval,  such as
        completion  of   work  to  bring  the   building  into  substantial
        compliance with relevant by-laws, would have to be completed before
        the  Phase 2 plan, which  contains the heritage  building, would be
        signed.


        STAFF ANALYSIS

        In addition to Planning Department staff, the City Engineer and the
        City Building Inspector have reviewed this application.  Given that
        the heritage building has  most recently been used for  office use,
        the Manager of the Housing Centre has not been asked to comment.

        The City Engineer reports that there are no dedication or servicing
        requirements for this site.  

        The  City  Building Inspector  reports that  the work  necessary to
        convert  the heritage building to residential use is now under way,
        in accordance with approved plans and permits.   Once that work has
        been completed,  and  an  Occupancy Permit  has  been  issued,  the
        previously-occupied  heritage  building  will substantially  comply
        with all relevant City by-laws.

        CONCLUSION

        Based  on the foregoing, and on the applicant's compliance with the
        City's  Strata  Title  and Cooperative  Conversion  Guidelines, the
        Director of Land Use and Development supports this application.


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