CD-1 Rezoning 2345-2349 Main Street – Refer Back

Good morning. Good morning, council. My name is Chan Hon Goh, and I'm the general and artistic director of Goh Ballet Academy. Since 1978, my parents began this academy with the goal of offering world-class dance training for students of all ages and backgrounds. Since establishing ourselves, we've grown to produce generations of local and international dancers who have garnered global awards and contributed to Vancouver for being a city that produces exceptional dancers. I'm here today to talk about our rezoning application, a project that serves Vancouver. For nearly 50 years now, we have expanded on our offering and our reputation draws in students from not just Vancouver, but from around the world. We now train 600 students in our after-school and diploma programs and over 200 adult students weekly. Next year, we anticipate about 100 new student applications. I'm also here speaking on their behalf. We have a need. We have a need to expand our studios and performance space to accommodate more students. We found that our greatest barrier for future growth is actually a lack of student housing. I hear from our students and their families time and time again that they can't find suitable accommodation in Vancouver. And we have had many promising talents opt to train and live elsewhere because of this student housing crisis. This issue affects more than just our students. The need is widespread in Vancouver. I'm requesting your approval for Go Ballet to respond to that need. Today, you're not being asked whether every technical detail has been resolved. You're being asked whether the overall public benefit justifies approval for this rezoning application. After five years of planning, consultation, and refinement, I sincerely believe that it does. I'm also told by my team of consultants who are experts in real estate that we can resolve outstanding technical issues at the DP stage and that this is common practice. This project serves Vancouver. Go Ballet is a key cultural institution and one that puts the city on the map for world-class dance training and performance. Our students come from throughout Metro Vancouver, across Canada, and internationally, contributing to our local economy and cultural life. This proposal is about ensuring that this contribution continues for generations to come.

This project advances Council's priorities. Our proposal directly supports many of Council's long-standing priorities, such as housing close to rapid transit, heritage preservation, arts and culture, education, student housing, affordability, transit-oriented development, neighborhood vitality. Few sites are better positioned to support these objectives other than our location which is on the corner of East 8th and Main. After five years, this application deserves resolution. Our application has been in process for five years. During that time, we have continued to work collaboratively with city staff, responding to evolving policies, revising the proposal and addressing concerns. However, another referral does not create greater certainty or provide a clearer path forward for approval. At some point, continued study becomes a barrier rather than good planning. A referral is not a neutral decision. The choice to send this project back for further planning work may appear procedural. In reality, It really isn't. It would delay 315 student housing units, delay restoration of an important heritage building, delay expansion of one of Vancouver's leading cultural institutions, increase the construction costs, create continued uncertainty, place the future of this project at considerable risk. Council not deciding you're not deciding whether to wait you're you're deciding whether this project has a chance to succeed and in staffs report it actually recognizes many of this project's public benefits so respectfully these public benefits warrant significant weight on councils decision Let me point out, please, the heritage preservation. We're committed to preserving the historic Royal Bank building, even though it is not legally designated heritage. This commitment unanimously was supported by Vancouver Heritage Commission. And we all know that heritage, once lost, cannot be recreated. This project secures its long-term future. And we all know that Vancouver has an urgent need for student housing. This need is not only for public universities, but for students attending cultural and other educational institutions. Our proposal will be secured through a housing agreement and a registered covenant. It creates housing specifically for students, not only for go ballet students, but for other students in our city. This places students beside rapid transit, places students close to institutions, including Emily Carr, SFU, UBC, and many others. So I would like to mention that student housing should be evaluated as student housing. Students have different housing needs. After 48 years of supporting and educating students, we feel we can recognize and speak to this. I would also like to quickly mention that we're fully accredited. We're accredited institutions through BC Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills. And we meet the standards required for EQA, Education Quality Assurance. We know that students, they prioritize affordability, transit, proximity to education, safety, community. The proposed minimum unit size of 270 square feet, it reflects successful student housing models. It is larger than many units offered at UBC and SFU, which are closer to the range of 150 to 200 square feet. It helps maintain affordable rent. Increasing unit sizes would reduce the number of student homes while making them less affordable. I would also like to say that I've not heard from any of our families or students wanting or expressing a desire for private balconies. Students prioritize safety, location, and shared amenities for gatherings. This is what our project offers. Balcony requirements that are foisted on this project will increase construction costs and also reduce the rental affordability of these units. Our project is financially necessary. The requested density is not a design preference. This is the financial mechanism that makes this project possible. Without it, the seismic upgrade cannot be funded. The heritage restoration, which will cost at a minimum of $10 million, cannot be funded. The three levels of underground academy space cannot be delivered. The expansion of Go Ballet. will no longer be viable. So we know that a six-story building can't support all these public benefits.

This project already has a path to approval. Although staff recommended refusal, they've also prepared a draft CD1 bylaw and conditions of approval. This demonstrates there's already a framework through which council can approve this application. And one of the other points that was brought up was land assembly, but land assembly should not prevent good planning. It was recommendation from staff that... We should try for future land assembly. Well, respectfully, land assembly is outside of Go Ballet's control. Neighboring owners may never sell. We've talked to them. Planning decisions should not depend upon circumstances an applicant can't influence. Our location is logically the location for density. The site is uniquely suited for higher density because it's a corner site. It fronts two public streets, Main and East 8th. The benefits for permanent access to light and air. It provides side street servicing opportunities which will reduce impact on Main Street. It should not be evaluated as though it were a constrained mid-block site. We feel that this project is being held at an exceptionally high standard. I respectfully ask whether this project is being evaluated against standards that very few projects could ever satisfy. If every technical issue, every operational detail, every future scenario had to be fully resolved before rezoning, very few significant projects in Vancouver would ever receive approval. Cities are not built by waiting for certainty. They're built by making thoughtful decisions while allowing technical matters to continue through established approval processes. So nearly 50 years ago, my parents chose Vancouver and believed that this city values education, culture, and opportunity. This belief has shaped generations of young people. Today, Council has the opportunity to ensure that contribution continues for another 50 years. This decision is about the kind of city that Vancouver chooses to be. A city that preserves heritage. A city that invests in young people. A city that supports arts and culture. A city that creates innovative housing solutions. A city that is prepared to exercise leadership when exceptional public benefit is before it. For these reasons, I'm asking council to approve our rezoning application. Thank you. I would like to also ask our director of development, Magod, to say a few words. Thank you.