Apartment, Development, Office, Retail

Market Recap: Rezoning of Two Major Downtown Sites

As was reported in the media late last week, two major rezoning inquiries are going before the City of Vancouver’s Standing Committee on City Finance and Services on Wednesday; one was expected and one was a bit of a surprise within the industry. The inquiry stage simply confirms Council’s approval to proceed to a formal rezoning application stage.

Sinclair Centre

  • 1.54 acre site
  • Proposal to increase the density and height for commercial uses
  • 1,100,000 SF of office space for Federal Gov’t (up from existing 390,000 SF)
  • A density of 17.0 – 20.0 FSR
  • Max height of 350 ft due to view cones (29 storeys)
  • Existing CD-1 zoning proposed to be amended

Sinclair Centre

Excerpt from the Policy Report explaining the heritage aspect:

The Sinclair Centre is comprised of four heritage buildings all listed on the City’s Heritage
Register:
  • the former Main Post Office (built in 1910) — Municipally Designated and Federally Recognized Heritage Building, listed as an ‘A’
  • the R.V. Winch Building (built in 1911) — Municipally Designated and Federally Recognized Heritage Building , listed as an ‘A
  • the Customs Examining Warehouse (built in 1913) — Vancouver Heritage Register, listed as an ‘A,’ and Federally Recognized Heritage Building , listed as an ‘A,
  • the Federal Building/Post Office Extension (built in 1936) — listed as a ‘B’ (but not designated).
  • In 1986 the four buildings were restored by the Federal Government. While the buildings were seismically upgraded, they would not meet today’s standards and some portions of the buildings received very modest upgrades

Post Office Site

  • 2.98 acre site acquired by bcIMC in 2013 for $159 Million
  • Rezoning to allow reuse and retention of the existing building, with new residential and commercial uses
  • Existing Post Office building would contain retail, office, hotel, residential lobbies
    and the blank granite walls would be modified to provide for pedestrian-oriented at-grade retail
  • New building above would contain office, hotel, and rental/condo housing
  • View cones limit building heights between 225 feet and 285 feet

349 W GeorgiaComment from the Policy Report on the heritage aspect:

Since 1958, the building was the City’s Central Post Office. Recently, the Post Office has relocated to a site near the airport. The building has heritage merit. It was identified in the “ Recent Landmarks–Post 40’s Inventory,” which was conducted in the early 90’s, as a Class ‘B’. Designed by a prominent architectural firm McCarter Nairne and Partners Architects, the design of the building subscribes to the general principles of the International Style of Modernism.
May 11, 2015by david.taylor@colliers.com