If approved and built, this new high-rise mixed-use rental housing tower would become the new tallest building at SkyTrain Joyce-Collingwood Station in Vancouver.
A new rezoning application calls for the redevelopment of a land assembly of four single-family houses built between 1927 and 1963. The development site is located at 4975-4997 Joyce Street — about half a city block north of the transit hub.
Local developer Sightline Properties is calling for the construction of a 398-ft-tall tower with 39 storeys.
This would be substantially taller than the immediate area’s tallest building of the 2021-built, 293-ft-tall, 30-storey Joyce strata market ownership condominium tower at 5058 Joyce Street by Westbank, and the future 315-ft-tall, 36-storey rental housing tower at 5055 Joyce Street (former YMCA site), which is also by Westbank and currently under construction for a 2025 completion.
Sightline Properties’ project would also be taller than Intracorp Homes’ future 30-storey and 33-storey rental housing towers, reaching up to 344 ft, for the site of 3362-3384 Vanness Avenue, which is immediately south of the station. Intracorp Homes’ rezoning application was approved in early 2024.
Location of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
In their new rezoning application to the City of Vancouver, Sightline Properties acknowledges that their proposed height and density exceeds the prescriptions and stipulations of the City’s 2014-approved Joyce-Collingwood Station Precinct Plan, which calls for mid-rise building heights for the site.
The Joyce-Collingwood Station Precinct Plan’s general height restrictions for the area plan’s tallest permissible sites — lots closest to the transit hub — enable towers of about 290 ft to 300 ft. According to the area plan, City staff’s rationale a decade ago for mandating such height limits was to match the height of the prominent Telus “The Boot” office tower on the City of Burnaby side of Boundary Road. Recent condominium towers built on the City of Vancouver side of Boundary Road, namely Wall Centre Central Park, also match the height of “The Boot.”
However, this aesthetic policy of limiting the area’s future building heights to the height of “The Boot” is not shared by the City of Burnaby’s staff and elected officials. In late 2023, Burnaby City Council provided a preliminary approval for PC Urban’s Central Park Commons proposal of adding five towers up to 63 storeys — about twice the height of the existing “The Boot” landmark office tower — on under-utilized infill sites on the large Telus campus lot. These mixed-use residential towers with 2,500 homes would immediately surround “The Boot,” which is located one kilometre west of Joyce-Collingwood Station.
The City of Vancouver’s building height restrictions within the Joyce-Collingwood Station Precinct Plan are strategically intended to match the height of the Telus “The Boot” office tower in the City of Burnaby. (City of Vancouver)
Artistic rendering of Central Park Commons at the Telus Boot at 3777-3791 Kingsway in the City of Burnaby. (Arcadis/PC Urban)
Artistic rendering of Central Park Commons at the Telus Boot at 3777-3791 Kingsway in the City of Burnaby. (Arcadis/PC Urban)
“Sub-Area J2 allows the option to build a mid-rise condo development, we have chosen to propose a taller rental development that would bring a greater range of rental housing options and unit mix to this area. The request for additional density helps to support adding more rental units and housing opportunities,” reads Sightline Properties’ rezoning rationale for their project at Joyce-Collingwood Station.
“We are confident that this site can support taller buildings the scale compliments the tall buildings existing or proposed for this immediate area. The proximity to a major transit station also supports the increased rental density and the ability to move more people throughout the city, using public transit. More rental density means that we can offer more family units — increasing the rental stock in this area.”
There would be a total of 408 secured purpose-built rental homes, with 90% of the units set aside for market rental rates and the remaining 10% for below-market rental rates. The unit size mix is 112 studios, 156 one-bedroom units, and 140 two-bedroom units.
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Residents would have access to shared indoor and outdoor amenities on the first level, including a dog “spa” room, an outdoor dog run, and garden, as well as two bookable guest suites in the first level’s mezzanine. The entire seventh level would be dedicated for amenity uses, including large entertainment and fitness gym rooms, and a large outdoor terrace. Residents would also have access to a large outdoor amenity deck on the tower rooftop.
It is noted that a major portion of the project’s secured bike parking requirements would be accommodated above ground, with the entirety of the second level and a small portion of the first level’s mezzanine dedicated to such uses. This is in addition to the placement of some of the secure bike parkade rooms within P1 and P2 of the underground levels. Altogether, the project would provide 618 secured bike parking spaces across multiple levels.
Six underground levels would accommodate 183 vehicle parking stalls.
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
In addition to the primary use of rental housing, the project would set aside 3,700 sq ft of commercial space on the ground level for three retail/restaurant units, which would serve to activate the building’s Joyce Street frontage.
The proposed total building floor area is 262,000 sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio (FAR) density of a floor area that is 18.89 times larger than the size of the 13,900 sq ft lot. This nearly quadruples the Joyce-Collingwood Station Precinct Plan’s prescription for a density of 5.0 FAR from a new mid-rise building for the site, which is within the provincial government’s designated Transit-Oriented Area for the transit hub.
“The site and the neighbourhood within which it is located is quickly growing and developing into a transit-oriented neighbourhood with greater density and supportive unit mix,” reads the application, which is designed by Ciccozzi Architecture and Loci Landscape Architecture & Urban Design.
“We feel that our proposal successfully responds to the objectives outlined in the Joyce-Collingwood Station Precinct Plan. Our proposed Level 1 commercial spaces and commercial plaza help to create an active and vibrant shopping along Joyce Street and support existing and future commercial spaces within the neighbourhood. We feel that our commercial plaza encourages a tenant, like a small grocer, to occupy the south corner of the CRU and contribute to the physical and social connections within the neighbourhood.”
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
In late 2023, the Wanson Group submitted a rezoning application to redevelop low-rise buildings mainly occupied by small business at 4902-4946 Joyce Street — just across the street from the Sightline Properties development site. In accordance to the area plan, the site also has mid-rise building height limitations, with the developer proposing to build a 12-storey, mixed-use condominium and retail building to align with the area plan’s restrictions.
Just to the south of the transit hub, a rezoning application calls for the redevelopment of low-rise retail buildings at 5163-5187 Joyce Street into a 309-ft-tall, 32-storey, mixed-use condominium tower with retail/restaurant uses and a new location for the neighbourhood’s Vancouver Public Library branch.
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)
Artistic rendering of 4975-4997 Joyce Street, Vancouver. (Ciccozzi Architecture/Sightline Properties)