3609-3687 Arbutus Street

Information on PCI Developments’ Secured Moderate Income and Market Rental Proposal for 3609-3687 Arbutus Street on the Arbutus Greenway

Rental Homes Available 2024 – Register Your Interest Here

Introduction

PCI Developments has received approval to construct twin 6-storey rental buildings at 3609-3687 Arbutus Street on the Arbutus Greenway. This project adheres to the City’s family housing requirements and is comprised of market and moderate income rental homes. Notably such moderate income rental housing could be suitable for community members like nurses, teachers, firefighters, police officers, grocery store clerks and more.

The site is bordered by Arbutus Street to the east, 20th Avenue to the north and 21st Avenue to the south. The project will increase secured housing supply with the creation of 116 new homes.

View from Arbutus to Northwest

MIRHPP Salary Range infographic

Community Benefits

The project will benefit the community through the creation of 116 secured, high quality rental housing units with emphasis on family housing with over 35% (46 homes) two & three bedroom homes. Key benefits include:

Increased rental housing stock

The proposal offers more housing choices, with 116 new secured purpose built rental homes of varying affordability levels (market and moderate income homes).

Moderate Income Housing

20% of the residential floor area will be made available at below-market rents to households earning between $30,000 and $80,000 annually. Beneficiaries of this program include health care providers, teachers, firefighters, etc.

LOCATION

The property is located steps from the Arbutus Greenway and is well serviced by transit, including the future Broadway Transit Line. The site is located less than 100 meters from two bus stops that are serviced by the #16 bus route.

Family oriented housing

The proposal will include more options for families with over 35% 2 and 3 bedroom homes.

Resident COURTYARD & ROOFTOP amenity spaceS

The buildings will be connected by a landscaped residents courtyard. Each building will feature an outdoor rooftop amenity area.

Tree retention

The building design has been carefully articulated to maximize existing tree retention and to build around existing trees wherever possible.

Enhanced public realm

The landscape will be enhanced with the addition of new trees and landscape buffering. We welcome input from the community on the plan and any tree species they’d like to see added.

Sustainability

The project will meet or exceed the City’s sustainability targets under the Green Building Policy for Rezoning.

Project Details

PCI Developments, in collaboration with BHA Architecture, have received approval from the City of Vancouver, under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy (2012, amended 2018), to construct purpose built rental buildings at 3609 – 3687 Arbutus Street, in an effort to support the City of Vancouver’s housing goals.

The project site is located on 33,000 square feet of land in Arbutus Ridge, currently hosting five single family residences that PCI has purchased.

The project includes 116 new homes (apartment and townhouse form) housed in twin, 6-story buildings with a central courtyard for residents. The proposal offers both market (92 suites) and moderate income rental homes (24 suites), over 35% of which will be designed as family-oriented homes (2-3 bedroom apartments and townhouses).

The official rezoning application page from the City of Vancouver can be found here.

The following is a detailed outline of the proposal:

Project Statistics
Site Area33,000 sqft. (0.76 acres)
Height6-storeys
Density2.53 FSR
Residential BreakdownTotal UnitsModerate Income Rental HomesMarket Homes
Total Homes116 (100%)24 homes92 homes
3-Bedroom Apartments14 homes (12%)2 homes12 homes
2-Bedroom Apartments32 homes (28%)7 homes25 homes
1-Bedroom Apartments66 homes (57%)13 homes53 homes
Studio Apartments4 homes (3%)2 homes2 homes
Parking BreakdownTotal Spaces
Vehicle Parking74 spaces
Bicycle Parking227 spaces

The Moderate Income Rental is based on provisions of City of Vancouver’s Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program (MIRHPP)

FSR: Floor Space Ratio. Often called “density”, FSR is the number obtained by dividing the floor area of a building by its site area.

Policy

There is a strong demand for rental housing across the City of Vancouver, as evidenced by the 1% vacancy rate in Vancouver and the 1.1% vacancy rate of the Westside/Kerrisdale neighbourhoods (Source: 2019 CMHC Rental Market Report for Metro Vancouver). In Arbutus Ridge, only approximately 20% of housing is secured as rental (Source: CMHC Housing Vancouver Strategy Annual Progress Report and Data Book 2018).

The proposal responds to the City of Vancouver’s housing goals to: “create 20,000 new market rental units by 2027” and the goal that “50% of new homes will serve households earning less than $80,000” Source: City of Vancouver

This application has been approved under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy (2012, amended 2018) and supports the objectives of the Moderate Income Rental Housing Rental Housing Pilot Program (2017). The City of Vancouver defines moderate income as households earning between $30,000 and $80,000 annually. Beneficiaries of this program include health care providers, teachers, firefighters, police officers, grocery store clerks and more. Click here to learn more about these policies.

Zoning

Previous Zoning:

  • RS-1: One Family Dwelling
  • FSR*: 0.35 FSR

Approved Zoning:

  • CD-1: Comprehensive Development
  • FSR: 2.53 FSR

*FSR is the ratio of a building’s total floor area to the area of land upon which it is built.

Rezoning Process

Submitted Application April 30, 2020
City-Led Public Open House (Online) September 8-28, 2020
Report to Council May 18, 2021
Public Hearing & Approval June 22, 2021
Development Permit Application Submission July 2021
Construction Start March 2022
Construction Completion December 2023
Homes Available for Rent January 2024
City-Led Public Open House(Online) Public Input Opportunity

Frequently Asked Questions

The future development is located at 3609 – 3687 Arbutus Street in the Arbutus Ridge neighborhood. The site is comprised of 5 lots which yield a combined site area of 33,000 sq.ft. Each lot currently features a single-family residence.

The project site is at 3609-3687 Arbutus Street, and has been approved under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy (2012, amended 2018), to allow for the development of twin 6-storey secured rental buildings with:

  • 116 homes (92 market and 24 moderate-income rental)
  • 20% moderate income / 80% market rental
  • Over 35% family-oriented homes (2 or 3-bedroom apartments)
  • 74 vehicle parking spaces
  • 227 bicycle parking spaces
  • Internal residents’ courtyard

This application has been approved under the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy (AHCIRP), which was adopted by Vancouver City Council in 2012 and was amended in 2018. The goals of the Affordable Housing Choices Policy are to encourage “the delivery of a generally more affordable housing type.”

To be considered for the AHCIRP, projects must meet one of the following affordability criteria:

  • 100% of the residential floor space is rental housing (this is the criteria that our proposal will deliver on, if approved);
  • Units are sold for at least 20% below market value and include a secure mechanism for maintaining that level of affordability over time (not applicable to this application);
  • Innovative housing models and forms of tenure such as co-housing, when they can demonstrate enhanced affordability (not applicable to this application);
  • A Community Land Trust model is employed to secure increasing affordability over time (not applicable to this application).

This application also supports the goals of the Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program, which was launched by the City of Vancouver in January 2017. This policy encourages development applications where:

  1. 100% of the residential floor area is secured rental housing; and
  2. At least 20% of the residential floor area is made available to moderate income households earning $30,000 to $80,000 per year.

PCI has voluntarily allocated 20% of the residential floor area (24 rental suites) in this development to households earning moderate incomes. The following table highlights the targeted rental range (at project opening) for the homes offered at the “moderate income rental rates”:

Unit TypeRents
Studio$950
1-Bedroom$1200
2-Bedroom$1600

Source: Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program Frequently Asked Questions December 2019

20% will be offered at below market rents for households earning $30,000 to $80,000 annually.

Any prospective future tenants would need to confirm their household income between $30,000 and $80,000 annually. Tenant eligibility for moderate income rental units is verified by the building’s management at initial occupancy and on an ongoing basis.

Sign up using our contact form here to receive more information and register your interest.

There is a strong demand for rental housing across the City of Vancouver as evidenced by the 1% vacancy rate in Vancouver and the 1.1% vacancy rate of the Westside/Kerrisdale (Source: 2019 CMHC Rental Market Report for Metro Vancouver). In Arbutus Ridge, approximately 20% of housing is secured as rental (Source: Housing Vancouver Strategy Annual Progress Report and Data Book 2018).

This development will attract a wide range of residents. A variety of home layouts and tenures are proposed to meet the needs of a wide demographic of residents, ranging from studios to 3-bedroom homes with a focus on family-oriented and moderate income housing. We anticipate this would include teachers, health care providers, grocery clerks, retail clerks.

In order to achieve a greater level of affordability in our city and help to alleviate the low vacancy rate in Vancouver, the current Council has developed programs that incentivize developers to build market rental housing over condominiums at locations well-‐served by transit, like Arbutus Street.

The City of Vancouver has created policies and programs – including the Affordable Housing Choices Interim Rezoning Policy, the Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Program and the new Secured Market Rental Housing Policy that encourage the development of secured rental housing in an effort to increase housing choices in all areas of the city – including the West Side of Vancouver.

The project will meet or exceed the City of Vancouver’s sustainability targets by pursuing the Low Emissions Green Buildings path of the Green Buildings Policy for Rezonings. PCI is committed to meeting all the necessary requirements.

The development team has retained Bunt & Associates as the traffic consultant for the project to conduct a Traffic Impact Assessment. A report was submitted to the City of Vancouver as part of the rezoning application and reviewed by the Planning and Transportation Departments.

A formal rezoning application was submitted to the City of Vancouver in April 2020. On July 22, 2021, Mayor and Council voted to approve the application. Please refer to our Rezoning Process diagram above for details on timing and next steps.

Click here to learn more about the approval process.

Construction would take place over a period of approximately 18 to 24 months, and is expected to start in March 2022.

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