Art Cowie says he’s ‘no threat’ to neighbourhood
Cheryl Rossi
Van. Courier
Former city councillor Art Cowie hopes rowhousing, such as his project pictured in the above model, catches on in Vancouver. Photograph by : Photo-Dan Toulgoet
Instead of mass rezoning to allow density in Vancouver neighbourhoods where there’s great opposition, the city should focus on fee-simple rowhousing in areas that want it, says Art Cowie.
The former city councillor, parks board commissioner, PNE director, Liberal MLA and ongoing planning consultant expects to break ground on such a project in a month.
His demonstration project and future home will be three, three-storey rowhouses on his larger than normal 80-by-125 foot lot at Cambie and 33rd, with a 480-foot suite built over each of three double garages.
Each will have a 13-by-22 foot front garden, a 20-by-22 foot back garden, a roof garden, decks and solar panels.
Cowie moved across from Queen Elizabeth Park two years ago. He recognized with the Canada Line coming, the thoroughfare with old single-family homes on large lots was ripe for change. With Cowie Rowhouse, a division of his Eikos Planning Inc., and Mike Amiri from West Vancouver‘s MYK Construction Ltd., he’s developing rowhouses that he hopes will catch on along Cambie from 26th to 37th avenues, and perhaps as far as 39th. “This city’s at a time of change again the way it was in the ’70s, and we’ve got an opportunity here to do some wonderful things,” Cowie said. “What I’m saying is let’s get on with it.”
Only one neighbour raised concern about his project, he says, and no opposition was expressed at last March’s public hearing. It helps that investors own 70 per cent of the homes near his property on Cambie, but Cowie said the people in the homes to the west didn’t feel threatened by the development.
“They realize something’s going to happen along Cambie Street,” Cowie said. “I’m no threat. I’m building, essentially, the equivalent to single-family houses only they’re attached.”
Cowie is having the lane behind his lot improved with lighting and said B.C. Hydro has coordinated the laying of all service lines underground.
Instead of his rowhouses being strata titled, Cowie wanted them to be fee-simple housing, with the only agreement between neighbours on their shared wall. Because the city’s legal department was worried that the province doesn’t have legislation to cover shared walls, they will be one inch apart on this project. But Mayor Sam Sullivan asked the provincial government to bring in a new shared wall agreement and this will be hashed out in the spring legislature, Cowie said.
He expects his 3,000-square-foot rowhouses to be listed at $1.6 million, but says in the future he could design narrow 2,000 square foot rowhouses that could sell for $1.1 million.
But what about people who worry rezoning will boost their property taxes, making their homes unaffordable to retain?
“Those people are going to have to move anyway,” he said.
And what about the people who don’t want to demolish their homes to build rowhouses, and who don’t want to be overshadowed by neighbours that do?
“That’s life,” Cowie said.
“We are the most unusual city in the world. We live in suburbia. And it’s going to change whether they like it or not.”
NPA Coun. Suzanne Anton lauds Cowie for making fee-simple rowhousing a reality in Vancouver.
“He could have folded his tent two years ago and said, ‘This is way too much trouble, I’m just going to do a strata,’ but he didn’t,” Anton said. “That perseverance has led to us doing what we should have been doing anyway, which is getting the province to change the rules and getting this form of housing.”
She said the project fits well with the city’s EcoDensity initiative, especially because it adds density along an arterial, and contributes to affordability with the three suites.
