Public consultation is in full swing for Vancouver’s Broadway Plan, a city initiative aiming to increase density and affordable rental options along the Central Broadway corridor.
The Broadway Plan intends to add 30,000 housing units to Central Broadway, spanning from Clark Drive to the east and Vine Street to the west between 1st Avenue and 16th Avenue, increasing the area’s population 64 per cent from 78,000 current residents to approximately 128,000 by 2050. Details of the plan’s “refined directions” were released earlier this month.
The densification plan was triggered by the Broadway Subway Project, a 5.7-kilometre extension of the SkyTrain Millennium Line that will run underneath West Broadway to Arbutus Street, creating six new subway stations. Subway construction began earlier this year and is slated for completion in 2025. As part of the project’s provincial and federal funding strategy, the City of Vancouver is mandated to provide new transit-focused development along the corridor.
Residents in the Fairview, Kitsilano and Mount Pleasant neighbourhoods can expect to see a significant change in the landscape. The proposed plan would permit tower heights ranging from 30 and 40 storeys near the new subway stations along West Broadway and allow for construction of 20- to 30-storey buildings within a three-block radius.
The city estimates roughly one-quarter of Vancouver’s purpose-built rental units currently lie within the Broadway Plan area. That number is expected to increase under the proposed plan, as low-density zoning areas will see new six-storey market rental buildings, along with strategic placement of new 12- to 18-storey towers containing below-market rental homes.
“These places will accommodate new rental apartment options over time with strengthened tenant protections for existing renters to enable new affordable housing choices supporting transit-oriented neighbourhoods,” the city outlined in its plan summary.
Upgraded and expanded public parks and open spaces are also outlined in the Broadway Plan, and retail areas surrounding the new subway stations will see wider sidewalks to allow for restaurant patios, as well as increased safety and accessibility. As a result, West Broadway would be narrowed to four travel lanes to accommodate the changes.
The Broadway Plan has been in the works since 2018 and city council originally anticipated seeing a draft plan last year, but the project faced delays due to COVID-19 and the need for additional consultation.
Members of the public are invited to provide feedback via online survey through November 30. The Broadway Plan’s final round of public consultation will take place during the first quarter of 2022, with city council expected to vote on the plan in the second quarter.
