Vancouver council approves 28-storey West Broadway rental tower with 58 affordable units

Vancouver city council has approved a 28-storey rental apartment tower that is set to be the tallest building on West Broadway.

Council voted 6-5 Tuesday in favour of the development on Broadway and Birch Street, which will stand 86 metres or 282 feet tall.

Thelot, which formerly houseda Denny's restaurant, sold for $26 million in 2016 to the Jameson Development Corp.

In 2018, council approved a 17-storey mixed-use tower on the site with 153 secured market rental units.

The city thenmade changes to its moderate income rental housing pilot program, which allows developers to apply for taller buildings if about20 per cent of units are set at below-market rates.

In this case, the city saysit would mean 200 marketrental units and58 affordable units, with average starting rents at $950 for a studio and $2,000 for a three-bedroom unit.

Proponents argued the project would deliver much-needed affordable housing in the area.

"I know I was elected because the status quo wasn't working," said Mayor Kennedy Stewart, whose 10-year housing strategy calls for 20,000 new rental units, 4,000 of which fall below market rates.

Critics argued that a building so tall would set a bad precedent for the Broadway Corridor Plan and increase market rates.

"I've been in too many neighbourhoods where onetall building goes in, the rents ... are high, and there's a huge pressure on all the rents in the neighbourhood to go up," said Coun. Jean Swanson, who voted against the project.

Coun. Michael Wiebe argued the units were too smalland not geared toward people earning less than $50,000.

Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung, who voted in favour, said she had to balance concerns about the project with the need for affordable housing.

"Local input is incredibly important. But it's also coming from the luxury of people who have the opportunity to be housed already in this neighbourhood," she said.

"It's really difficult to live in the city now with moderate incomes."