22-storey mixed-use tower with rental housing and retail proposed near future Arbutus SkyTrain station in Kitsilano

The cluster of future high-rise rental housing towers in Kitsilano near SkyTrain’s future Arbutus Station continues to grow.

A new rezoning application calls for the redevelopment of 2225 West 8th Avenue, which is about one block west or a four-minute walk from the future subway station and 99 B-Line bus exchange.

Currently, this mid-block site is occupied by a 1967-built, three-storey building with 47 apartment units.

Through the rezoning, Prospero International Realty and Five Mile Holdings are looking to turn the site into a 224-ft-tall, 22-storey, mixed-use building.

2225 west 8th avenue vancouver rental housing

Site of 2225 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver, in relation to its walking distance to SkyTrain’s future Arbutus Station. (Google Maps)

Existing condition:

Site of 2225 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Future condition:

Artistic rendering of 2225 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Prospero International Realty/Five Mile Holdings)

There will be a total of 193 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 155 market rental units and 38 below-market rental units, following the City’s Broadway Plan’s prescription of requiring at least 20% of the residential rental uses be set aside at below-market rates.

The unit size mix is 69 studios, 59 one-bedroom units, 49 two-bedroom units, and 16 three-bedroom units, which includes three two-bedroom townhome units and one three-bedroom townhome unit. The townhome units will front the laneway.

Residents will have shared amenity spaces on the seventh level — indoor space that opens up to outdoor space on the base podium’s rooftop — and on both indoor and outdoor spaces on the tower rooftop.

Artistic rendering of 2225 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Prospero International Realty/Five Mile Holdings)

The building includes neighbourhood-serving commercial space, which will activate the West 8th Avenue frontage. Three retail/restaurant units — each just over 1,000 sq ft in size — will total nearly 4,600 sq ft of commercial space.

The proposal slightly deviates from the Broadway Plan’s baseline prescriptions, as it calls for an additional tower floor of residential units (21 storeys instead of 20 storeys) and a taller base podium (six storeys instead of four storeys), but its floor area ratio (FAR) density is within the area plan’s constraints. Additional density of up to 0.3 FAR is permitted by the Broadway Plan on top of the baseline limit of 6.5 FAR if a retail space component or childcare facility are included.

Artistic rendering of 2225 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. (GBL Architects/Prospero International Realty/Five Mile Holdings)

The building will generate a total building floor area of about 163,000 sq ft, establishing a FAR density of a floor area that is 6.78 times larger than the size of the 24,000 sq ft lot. GBL Architects and landscaping firm Durante Kreuk are the project’s design firms.

Three underground levels will accommodate 46 vehicle parking stalls and 560 bike parking spaces.

A handful of similarly sized high-rise rental housing tower proposals are situated in the immediate area on adjacent properties and blocks. Prospero International Realty and Five Mile Holdings also have similar applications located elsewhere within the Broadway Plan area.