Vancouver council to consider two city‑land projects adding 1,869 rental apartments

Vancouver council will hold a public hearing on Feb. 3 to consider two city-led rezoning applications that together would add 1,869 rental apartments on city-owned land, including a 1,089-unit mixed-use proposal near the Burrard Street Bridge and a 780-unit proposal near Main and Terminal Avenue.

Vancouver council will meet Feb. 3 for a public hearing on two rezoning applications submitted by the City of Vancouver that would place new rental housing on municipal land. The proposals fall under a 2024 rental housing policy for city-owned sites and are advanced by the Vancouver Housing Development Office. One proposal would add 1,089 rental units in a mixed-use pair of towers near the Burrard Street Bridge. The other would add 780 rental units in towers at Main Street and Terminal Avenue, on a site currently used as a parking lot across from Science World. Key details: - Total proposed rental units: 1,869 (1,089 at the Burrard/Pacific site; 780 at the Main/Terminal site). - Burrard/Pacific site: mixed-use development with a connected 40-storey (west) and 52-storey (east) tower; addresses listed in staff materials include 1402–1462 Burrard St., 1401–1451 Hornby St. and 900 Pacific St. - Main/Terminal site: mixed-use proposal with 42- and 25-storey towers linked by a six-storey podium; the site is across from Science World and now serves as a parking lot. - Staff say both projects would be secured as 100 per cent rental tenure and include ground-floor commercial space, and rezoning under this policy is exempt from community amenity contributions. - Covenants would be registered to prohibit stratification or separate sale of individual units, and rent increases during each tenancy would be capped at the Residential Tenancy Act annual allowable increase. - A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Feb. 3 in the council chamber at city hall; planning and design will move forward unless council directs otherwise. Summary: If council approves the rezoning applications, the two projects would add 1,869 rental apartments in central Vancouver and proceed under the city-owned lands rental housing policy adopted in 2024. The public hearing on Feb. 3 is the next formal step in council’s consideration of these city-led proposals.