Miscellaneous Housing Rezoning Conditions Amendments
Motion 31 · Council Meeting, July 28, 2026
Summary
- Council considered amendments to housing rezoning conditions and Housing Agreements for 11 developments across Vancouver, including sites on Prince Edward Street, Kingsway, Arbutus Street, Granville Street, Barclay Street, Burnaby Street, and West Hastings Street, among others.
- Three projects are being updated under the Rental Development Relief Program (RDRP), a two-year pilot (February 2026 – December 2027) approved by Council in December 2025 to help financially stressed mid- and high-rise below-market rental projects remain viable.
- Under the RDRP, eligible projects may adjust below-market rents from a 20% discount to CMHC city-wide averages up to CMHC city-wide average rents for all rental apartments — still roughly 25% below rents for new market buildings based on 2024 data.
- Five low-rise rental projects (four west-side RR-3B district schedule buildings and one east-side Secured Rental Policy project) are having their below-market rent discount reduced from 20% to 10% below CMHC city-wide averages, reflecting updated Council direction on fast-tracking rental housing.
- Housing Agreements are registered on title and are legally binding on current and future owners, securing rental tenure, affordability levels, and reporting requirements over the long term; amended agreements will reflect the revised conditions following Council approval.
- The remaining miscellaneous amendments address operational and compliance risks, align projects with recently approved policy frameworks, and are intended to improve overall project viability without removing secured rental tenure protections.
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Public comments
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Transcript
20 segments
Yes, that's correct.
Thank you. Just wanted to make sure. So the next item is number seven, miscellaneous amendments concerning various housing rezoning conditions and housing agreements. Council, are there any conflicts to declare? Okay, once again, this item does not have a team member presentation, and Councillor Fry, you held this item, so you have up to five minutes to ask questions of team members. Item number seven, miscellaneous amendments concerning various housing rezoning conditions and housing agreements.
Item number eight was held by Councillor Zhou, but it is held, so...
Yeah, I do have a few questions. I think mostly I'm just looking at 58 West Hastings on this. Probably expecting that. You know, the project continues to deliver 50% of the residential floor area at shelter rates. However, the housing agreement amendment will remove the affordability requirements for the remaining 50% currently at Hills to improve the financial sustainability of the project. Notably, additional affordability requirements are defined in the ground lease. So this is a pretty big drop in affordability for a very controversial site, one which I believe the federal housing minister, who was the mayor at the time, promised 100% social housing. on this site. There was this site of an encampment for a very long time. And now after, you know, basically, you know, receiving grants from the government, we're now reducing the affordability requirements once again. Would that be accurate? Or could you walk me through? Like, I know there's no presentation, but could you just give me a little bit more color specific on 58 West Hastings?
Yeah, let me start, I guess. Ryan Bigelow, Managing Director, Non-Market Housing Development. So the shift in affordability is intended to provide the operator more operational flexibility and make the project more financially resilient. But continuing to provide that much-needed housing at shelter rate, subject to Council's approval today, the affordability requirement in the ground lease would, in addition to what's in the housing agreement, would be at 50% shelter, 14% hills, 14% low-end-to-market, and 22% at market as the maximum. And so this is necessary, and without this transition, all of these units would be required to be rented at Shelter and Hills. And there's a risk here that folks income out of their particular units, so there isn't that income ladder within the project. as household incomes potentially exceed the housing income limits. And this could force tenants to have to be relocated unnecessarily. And so this affordability mix provides that operational flexibility for the project. As well, the shift in affordability allows the housing component of the project to be more self-sustaining and less reliant on the revenues from the retail side of this project, which could fluctuate if market demand or there's another market downturn for retail. So it's not necessarily about taking affordability away. It's about making the project more financially sustainable and resilient in the long term. Because right now at 50-50 is a tall order, and the entire project is not covered by an operating subsidy. Only the shelter rate units are. So they're wanting to build in that resiliency now.
Okay, that's definitely interesting. So for the retail, I mean, it's struggling to sort of have retail, right? I know I think there's a cafe in there called Buns and Beans or something in a pharmacy as well, but other than that, there's quite a lot of unleased space.
The ground floor, there's, I think, two units that are not tenanted. One is in the process of being permitted. And then the second floor is actually leased to Vancouver Coastal Health. And so there is a larger anchor tenant on the second floor that's helping create some revenue for the project.
Okay, thanks. And then just for some of the other ones, again, I'm sure I know the answer to this, but there's a couple where we're dropping below market from 20 to 10. Again, this is all to do with sort of the market and financial viability.
Is that correct?
Thanks for the question, Councillor Orr. Annie Mobilis with Housing Policy Regulation. That's right. It's trying to address the financial viability challenges that these projects have. So we have a time-limited opportunity to reduce that below-market rental affordability for projects that are eligible for the Rental Development Relief Program.
Okay. And then, so I think you just answered it, but what sort of effects do these amendments have on projects that are already in the pipeline that have agreed to the 20%? That's still on the table for them to come back and...
Yeah, the program has an end point. It's a time-limited program, and so anyone that would want to apply would have to do so, I believe, by September 15th to be able to make that two-year timeline from council decision. So ones that are in the system that have had approval to reduce the affordability will proceed, and others, if they haven't applied by then, I think would have to retain their 20% discount.
Okay. Okay, that's good to know. I was going to ask, I don't think I have enough time, what this means for Barkley and Burnaby site, but that's okay. No, it's okay.
No, no, happy to move the recommendation. Happy to move the recommendation. Sorry, Councillor Maloney.
Yeah, I was interested in the answer to to that. So if you could answer Councillor Orr's question, perhaps you could repeat it to help me out.
So for the Barclay projects, the West End projects, they're also able to do the reduced affordability. However, we have considered the affordability for returning tenants to be able to come into a 50% discount unit, which was part of that West End affordability construct that's different than Broadway Plan, for example. So we're looking just to ensure that those tenants that would be eligible for that 50% discount can continue to have that as an option. Otherwise, the project would benefit from a kind of less affordability to make the project viable. Okay. That helps. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Okay. Seeing no one else in the queue, would someone like to move a motion?
Councillor Claston, thank you. Is there a seconder? Councillor Dominato? Council, any discussion?
Statement Watch
Yeah. Thanks very much. It's quite an honor for this to be marked. It's quite important for us to mark Emancipation Day as a community. I think it's wonderful that the City of Vancouver and the Mayor of Vancouver are marking Emancipation Day. I don't think we do enough in Canada to actually mark Emancipation Day. Juneteenth is very important for Americans, and we seem to latch on to some of that. But there's obviously a lot of work to be done. The history of the relationship between the city of Vancouver and the Black communities has been, at best, a complicated one. And we hope that there will be improvements. There's a reason why the United Nations decided to have another decade to mark black presence, black dignity, addressing anti-racism against black people. And some of this is reflected in the work that is done and hasn't been done in the city of Vancouver. So this is an important day. It's an important celebration. And we hope that the work does go with the words. Thank you.
Statement Watch
I'd like to say a few words. Good day. My name is Neville Thomas.
I would like to say thanks for having us here. The group has reduced considerably, but I'm happy to be here.
Also, the presence of Dr. Andrew Wright, nice meeting you. I would like to start by saying thanks to group for your contribution, participation over all these years. This occasion is a historic one.
And at the end of all year, 26, 27, I would like you to be assured that we, the members of the anti-racism group, greatly appreciate the contribution you have made, as well as the greater population. Thank you, and we look forward to continued relationships and your contribution as we move forward.
Statement Watch
First of all, I'd like to thank all the councillors in the city of Vancouver for recognizing the contributions of my father. He's quite humble, and he didn't even know about this. We just surprised him. He just found out right now. Yeah, so Connor's been very working with us on that end. But thank you very much, and I want to thank all the family members that are here today. You all mean a lot to my dad and us, and it's a great day for him. Thank you. I just told him he was coming for lunch at City Hall. And it would be a quick 15 minutes. And yeah, I don't know if he was playing along or if he actually knew, but I don't think he knew. Are you surprised? I think it is a great surprise for me. I would like to thank for recognizing me as the founder of the Punjabi market. So I'm very thankful for the city hall and all the city Councillors for recognizing my services for the senior society and as well as for the Punjabi market. Thank you.
Statement Watch
First of all, I'd like to thank all the councillors in the city of Vancouver for recognizing the contributions of my father. He's quite humble, and he didn't even know about this. We just surprised him. He just found out right now. Yeah, so Connor's been very working with us on that end. But thank you very much, and I want to thank all the family members that are here today. You all mean a lot to my dad and us, and it's a great day for him. Thank you. I just told him he was coming for lunch at City Hall. And it would be a quick 15 minutes. And yeah, I don't know if he was playing along or if he actually knew, but I don't think he knew. Are you surprised? I think it is a great surprise for me. I would like to thank for recognizing me as the founder of the Punjabi market. So I'm very thankful for the city hall and all the city Councillors for recognizing my services for the senior society and as well as for the Punjabi market. Thank you.
Statement Watch
Well done. Thank you.
Do we get, like, the group photo?
Yeah, for sure.
We've got one more. We've got somebody else who'd like to speak. Gentlemen, it's my pleasure to know Mr. Sutakale for a long time. And I found him such a nice person, so amicable, so friendly. And I have learned a lot from him. I have read some of his books. They were very inspiring. They reflect what the community is here. So it gives me inspiration as well as good guidance. And with his inspiration, I have also written two books. One is Life and Act of Art. and today I have another poetry in daily life. The first I have presented to your worship, Damir, and today I will again, if I meet him, I will present him the other book. So Mr. Suchas is still going well. He's so energetic, even, you know, all these, you know, health problems. So it is something which is working inside him, behind him, and of course, when we say behind him, Unfortunately, his better half is not there, but his family, it's a pillar for him. So I wish Mr. Sucha all the best in his life, and I wish all the best for the family. They must continue taking care of him. Thanks a lot.