Glen Korstrom
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Anthem Properties has bought a site at the corner of West Georgia Street and Bidwell Street, which housed the second to last gas station in Vancouver’s downtown peninsula.

The Vancouver-based developer would not reveal how much it spent for the 16,369-square-foot site at 1698 West Georgia Street. Neither would Chevron, which had operated a gas station on the property for the past 61 years and closed the business on March 29.

Colliers vice-president David Taylor, however, said that the transaction was valued at $72 million when he checked Altus Group Data Solutions’ RealNet subscription service, which provides land title information.

“The Anthem team, its consultants and its financial partners are enthusiastically looking forward to creating a stunning residential project on this high profile site in conjunction with the planning department of the City of Vancouver,” said Anthem CEO Eric Carlson in a news release.

Anthem plans to submit a proposal with the City of Vancouver to rezone the site and to share a preliminary concept for the site with the neighbourhood in the near future.

“It’s was a real estate decision,” Chevron spokesman Adrien Byrne told BIV on April 3. “It was one of the highest performing sites in our network in B.C. but, given the vibrant real estate market in Vancouver, we made the decision last year to put the site on the market and now it is sold.”

Indeed, BIV reported in August that Chevron was putting three of its Vancouver locations on the market, citing a revved up property market.

Wesgroup recently bought the 18,009-square-foot Chevron station site at 5505 Dunbar Street for $19.4 million, according to Taylor, whose source was RealNet. A third Chevron site is a now-closed commercial station at Clark Drive and East 1st Avenue.

Copyright © Business In Vancouver.

DENISE RYAN
The Province

A new development proposal for Broadway and Alma could inject a dose of much-needed diversity and youth into Vancouver’s west side if a rezoning application is successful. 

The proposed six-storey, mixed-use building featuring 94 market-rental suites would require rezoning a tiny strip mall on the northwest corner of those streets. The land is currently zoned C-2 (commercial use), but it sits alongside streets featuring single-family (RS-1) zoning, and the application is being made under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy. 

Reilly Wood, a housing advocate with Abundant Housing Vancouver, is urging people who need housing and support west-side zoning alternatives to attend a community open house April 5, from 5-8 p.m. at St. James Community Hall, to meet with city officials. 

“It’s absolutely huge that we get supporters out to the meeting,” said Wood. “The only people that usually show up at these meetings are the local homeowners that don’t want change, and it biases the city planners. We want to see support for projects like this.”

Wood said it’s time to address the growing inequity in how and where density is being allowed in the city. “The west side has a really troubling history of exclusionary zoning, although we have decades and decades of demand for affordable housing in the area.” 

Access to the University of B.C., and parks like Jericho beach and Spanish Banks, make the area ideal for families and students, and relieve pressure on areas like East Vancouver that have been loosening zoning restrictions and absorbing more and more people, said Wood. 

Wood said public support is critical to countering the strong NIMBY lobby that has kept the west side on a virtual lockdown. San Francisco-based density expert Sonia Trauss, a proponent of YIMBY — or Yes in My Backyard — was in Vancouver last week arguing the case for increasing housing stock. 

“We shouldn’t allow a few individuals to veto housing for a lot,” she said.

West-side residents, especially homeowners, need to think not just about themselves, but also about where their children are going to live, said Wood. “Their children are not going to be able to afford a three- or four- or 20-million-dollar home.”

Small shifts in zoning to allow townhouses, low-rise apartments and secondary suites, and the six-storey, mixed-use proposal for Broadway and Alma, are necessary steps to creating badly needed rental stock, he said. 

“Broadway and Alma is a great example of a neighbourhood with excellent transit, walkability and access to amenities,” said Wood. 

Wood, who lives in Mount Pleasant, said he was dismayed that when after moving out of residence at UBC he tried to find housing near the campus. “The only thing available was a dingy, illegal basement suite where I couldn’t even stand up in the shower.”

Wood, 30, now lives with his partner in a small one-bedroom. Like many millennials, he’d like to start a family at some point. “I love living in Vancouver and I don’t want to have to leave if I have children.”

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Onni introduces customizable condos at 1335 Howe

Simon Briault
The Vancouver Sun

1335 Howe

Project location: 1335 Howe Street, Vancouver

Project size: 120 homes, 1,090 — 6,055 square feet, priced from $1.7 million

Prices: start at $1.7 million and viewings of the show suite are by appointment only.

Developer: Onni Group

Architect: IBI Group

Interior designer: Onni Group’s in-house designer

Sales centre: 1372 Seymour Street

Hours: Appointment only

Telephone: 604-689-8535

Website: https://www.onni.com/1335howe/

Condo developers often give their buyers options to customize their homes in one form or another – offering a choice of colour schemes, for instance, or the ability to upgrade some or all of the kitchen appliances. But a few years ago, Onni Group hit on an idea that takes the concept of customization a step further.

Nic Jensen, Onni’s vice-president of sales, says the idea of giving buyers the opportunity to customize the size and position of their homes at 1335 Howe, the company’s latest project, originated with a tower they built some years ago in Yaletown called The Mark.

“As it was being built, we saw a lot of interest from downsizers who wanted to follow their kids downtown, selling their homes in the west side or in West Vancouver,” Jensen says. “But they were having a tough time finding adequate spaces – homes with two or three bedrooms.”

“With affordability being what it is in Vancouver, many of the condos being built are five- or 600-square-foot one-bedrooms and eight- or 900-square-foot two-bedrooms,” Jensen adds. “That’s great for people entering the market, but it’s not going to cut it for downsizers that are used to a good amount of space.”

There was overwhelming interest from downsizers at The Mark, so Onni started to combine some of the homes, effectively putting two homes together to provide more options in terms of size. But because the idea was an afterthought and the architectural scheme of the building had not been specifically designed for it, the layouts weren’t ideal.

So in mid-2014, Onni decided to build a tower that catered specifically to downsizers. The Charleson has only three homes per floor and buyers could buy a single home, combine it with another on the same floor, or buy the whole floor. Homes ranged from about 1,100 to 3,600 square feet.

“When we launched the tower, it had 117 homes,” said Jensen. “But now, with only three homes left to sell, there’s a total of only 83 homes, because the ability to combine homes was so popular. After the success of The Charleson, we acquired another downtown site and thought we’d do this again.”

Onni’s 1335 Howe tower has 40 floors and four homes per floor, which makes them all corner units. On each floor, two of the homes have two bedrooms and two have three bedrooms. But if you want to have more space than that, you can combine any of the homes that sit next to each other, or even buy a whole floor. This would give you a living space of more than 6,000 square feet.

“What we’re offering here is the option to customize your home based on the size that you want and the view that you prefer,” Jensen says. “At the Charleson, we sold 10 homes that were entire floors. This floor plate here at 1335 Howe is somewhat larger so that will obviously be reflected in the price, but we certainly expect to see a few homes sold as entire floors. The combo homes start at about 2,350 square feet.”

As you’d expect from a high-end offering like 1335 Howe, the developers are piling on the luxury when it comes to the interiors. Kitchens have stone countertops with breakfast bars in the buyers’ choice of marble or polished stone. There are flat-panel walnut veneer cabinets, under-cabinet lighting and appliance packages featuring brands like Wolf, Sub-Zero and Asko. All kitchens also come with wine fridges and the option to upgrade from microwaves to steam ovens.

Bathrooms have ‘floating’ wood cabinets, walk-in showers, soaker tubs, composite stone slab countertops and accent lighting. There’s 12-by-24-inch porcelain tile on bathroom floors and matching 24-by-48-inch tile on the walls.

Homes include built-in speakers, motorized blinds and home automation systems. Heating and cooling can be remotely controlled by wi-fi. The developers are also offering a 24-hour concierge service, separate storage lockers and fully enclosed, two-car garages to all residents at 1335 Howe.

 “On the south side of the building where all the sun is we’ll have an outdoor pool, hot tub, cabanas and loungers,” says Jensen. “On the north side, there’ll be an outdoor patio with a kids’ play area, barbecue and dining area. Between the two, encompassing an entire floor of the building, we’ll have a fully equipped gym, meeting rooms and a lounge and party room.”

“With the distinctive design of the building, there are wrap-around patios on every other floor, but it’s important to note that the patios in every home are very large,” Jensen adds. “They provide 250 to 500 square feet of deck space per home. Downsizers are sacrificing their yards when they make that move to a condo, but we’re able to offer plenty of outdoor space to lounge, barbecue and entertain.”

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.

Alabaster’s Yukon Residences takes prime city location

Shawn Conner
The Vancouver Sun

Yukon Residences

Project Address: 450 West 59th Ave, Vancouver

Project Size: 32 garden flats (511 to 1,626 square feet) and townhomes (1,410 to 1,640 square feet)

Bedrooms: one, two and three (garden flats); and three and four (townhomes)

Price: from $600,000 (garden flats) and from $1.7 million (townhomes)

Developer: Alabaster Homes

Architect: Formwerks Architectural Inc.

Interior designer: Area3 Design

Contact name: Winston Chan, sales manager

Sales phone: 604-558-5850

Sales centre: 301 — 1788 W. Broadway

Centre’s hours: 1 p.m. — 4 p.m., Mon — Fri

Website: alabasterhomes.ca/yukon-residences

Completion: early 2019

Alabaster Homes knew it had something special in a piece of land near Cambie Street on West 59th Avenue in Vancouver. The question was: How best to highlight the project, which fronts Winona Park?

For housing, the developer decided on a mix of townhomes and ground-level garden flats. And when it came to the exterior, Alabaster decided to go with a classic Victorian look.

“It was an interesting situation, because we have this really prominent location on the park, but also we wanted it to feel intimate, like each home is an individual residence as well,” said Yosh Kasahara, Alabaster’s director of sales and marketing.

“Having the cadence and repetition of the Victorian architectural style helps give that feeling for each home.”

One of the most striking features of the red-brick exterior is a prominent octagonal bay and half-dome roof. Placed at the corner of Yukon and 59th and designed by Formwerks Architectural Inc., along with Alabaster, the towering bay gives Yukon Residences an eye-catching look.

Homes are divided among four buildings. While the townhomes fronting 59th Avenue have entrances off the street, those fronting Yukon have their main entrance off a secured courtyard. The garden flats facing Yukon have entrances streetside, facing Winona Park.

Perched at the top of Winona Park, the site slopes from north to south. The townhomes have rooftop decks that are between 250 and 300 square feet and offer views of the park and points east and south. On a clear day, Mount Baker is visible, Kasahara says. A privacy screen separates the decks; a glass guard rail extends the patio walls, while maintaining unobstructed views. Other features include a natural gas hookup and weather-resistant composite decking material.

A hatch on the townhomes’ top floor accesses the deck. The master bedrooms are also on the top floor. Ensuites include dual vanities and (in most, but not all of the townhomes) a separate bath and shower. Floor tile is porcelain and extends up the walls for what Kasahara calls “a spa-like experience”.

The three townhome plans are differentiated by square footage as well as closet space on the top (third) floor and number of bedrooms on the second floor; some have a den or media room instead of a fourth bedroom. The largest floor plan, A, features a Juliet balcony accessed from the master bedrooms via french doors to take advantage of the view of the park.

The kitchen, living and dining areas are on the main floor, which also has a powder room. Main floor features include engineered hardwood and crown moulding. Kitchen features include integrated appliances, a double-door fridge, a Bertazzoni Italia gas range, Hansgrohe fixtures, quartz countertops, shaker profile cabinetry and a marble tile backsplash in a chevron pattern “to give the kitchen that textured warmth”.

 “When choosing interior design style for this project, we didn’t want to go too modern,” Kasahara said. The developer went with what he calls “transitional design — that bridge point between traditional and contemporary”. The colour schemes are “dark” and “light.”

The townhomes are three- and-four-bedroom units, ranging between 1,410 and 1,640 square feet, while the garden flats have a wider range, from 511 to 1,626 square feet.

“We know that there are a lot of people in this neighbourhood and surrounding neighbourhoods who are looking to downsize,” Kasahara said, “and other than living in a big condo building or highrise, there really isn’t a good, suitable housing form for people in that situation to move into.”

The three-bedroom garden flats “are very spacious, have very generously sized living areas and bedroom, so people can comfortably move in without feeling they have to sacrifice something,” he said.

The one-bedrooms “look like a typical one-bedroom condo, but you have this walk-up patio that goes directly on to either the park or courtyard,” said Kasahara. The one-bedroom garden flats have a smaller appliance package than the townhomes or other garden flats.

The two-bedrooms “are much more generously sized. It might be something a downsizer would choose.”

The larger two- and three-bedroom garden flats also have stairs that leads down to a basement level, which includes a cellar and access to the parking area underground.

For the flats with direct access to the parking, an enclosed garage for additional security and storage is an option.

All homes but the smallest garden flats come with two-car parking. Townhome residents can access the two-level underground lot through an elevator.

“This is quite an unusual feature for a project of this scale, and for townhome projects in general,” Kasahara said.

Those looking to stay in Metro Vancouver will find Yukon Residences centrally located. Equidistant from two Canada Line stations (including the shops and restaurants of Marine Gateway), and not far from Richmond, UBC and YVR, the location has been resonating with prospective buyers, Kasahara says. The project is also near Sir Winston Churchill Secondary and a number of community centres, including the Marpole Oakridge, Sunset, and Hillcrest.

“Alabaster Homes had a vision to build something special on this piece of land,” he said in a follow-up email. “It’s not often that you find a site that is centrally located, on transit, and fronting on to a park. Yukon Residences is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

© 2017 Postmedia Network Inc.