Vancouver permit board conditionally approves controversial Chinatown condo project

The Vancouver Development Permit Board has voted to conditionally approve a condo project at 105 Keefer Street in the city's Chinatown district.

The Beedie Group's project — a nine-story, 111-unit tower — was first proposed in a different form in 2014. After numerous iterations, the development permit board rejected the proposal in 2017.

However, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled in December that the board should take another look at its decision. After numerous hearings within the last month, the board decided to approve the project with certain conditions.

The conditions include screening to conceal machinery, the provision of outdoor seating, and a requirement developers involve the Chinatown arts community. The conditions also state that the final building should complement the cultural significance of its neighbours, including the Chinatown Memorial Square.

Beedie's proposal for the site, currently a parking lot adjacent to the Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden, was controversial, with community groups arguing it would not fit within the character of the neighbourhood and would increase the pace of gentrification in the historic district.

However, while the project did not see much support from Chinatown residents in 2017, this year, seven Chinatown groups issued a joint letter urging its approval.

They included the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Garden Society, the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Vancouver, the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association (Chinatown BIA) and the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation.

In a statement, the Beedie Group's Rob Fiorvento said the approval was an "important and positive step forward" as the city tries to revitalize Chinatown.

"We support the DP Board's recommendation to review architectural enhancements to further represent the character and culturally historic neighbourhood," he said in a statement.

No affordable housing included

Beedie's original proposal for the site — opposite the Chinese Cultural Museum — included 25 social housing units in a 12-storey building, but it was rejected by council in June 2017.

The updated proposal, which passed with conditions on Monday, includes no social housing and is instead exclusively market-rate mixed-use housing.

That was the proposal that was rejected by the permit board in November 2017, with the board concluding then that the project did not satisfy contextual needs for the area, even though it met zoning requirements.

However, the B.C. Supreme Court found that the board did not do enough to explain its "apparently unprecedented" decision to reject the tower, which led to the proposal's reconsideration.

In the interim, Vancouver had a change of council and a new-look permit board. The board does not adjudicate policies like rezoning but looks at significant developments and makes recommendations on how projects should change to fit planning goals.

Andrea Law, a member of the board, said Monday that the calls for the board to include affordable housing as a requirement for any project approvals fell outside its purview.

"I don't support the rationale that just because it was refused, it should be therefore refused again," she said.

"I feel strongly that approving this development permit, while addressing the many concerns through conditions and addressing the cultural fit in the neighbourhood, is the right decision," she added.

'Singularly appalling moment'

The board's meetings on 105 Keefer saw hundreds of speakers, and despite the support of influential Chinatown groups, there was also fervent opposition, including from seniors residing in Chinatown and groups like the Vancouver Tenants Union.

Jade Ho, an organizer with the Vancouver Tenants Union that opposed the "widely despised" condo project, said Monday's decision marks a "singularly appalling moment" in a city which continues to prioritize "profit over people."

"The decision that they made today is going to exacerbate displacement and it's going to accelerate gentrification in a neighbourhood that is already increasingly unlivable for low-income seniors and residents," she said.

The VTU says the community will continue to fight against the condo proposal and alleged that the Beedie Group "purchased" the Supreme Court's decision to have the board reconsider the project.

Vince Tao, another organizer with the union, said that Chinatown has been "kicked around by a racist government" for over a century.

"This is just another chapter in that dark history," he told CBC News. "It's no surprise that it's Chinatown, it's the Chinese residents, many of whom are working-class people on fixed incomes, that are not being listened to.

"Ten years of resistance, 10 years of vocal opposition to this project is being overpowered by one stroke."