Some changes are envisioned for the future Curv tower project in downtown Vancouver’s West End, which is billed to be the world’s tallest Passive House green building.
In June 2020, Vancouver City Council approved the rezoning application to achieve the project at 1059-1075 Nelson Street, located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Thurlow and Nelson streets, replacing old low-rise apartment buildings.
This was approved as a 586 ft tall, 60-storey, mixed-use residential tower, containing 102 units of social housing on the lower levels (25% of the building’s floor area), 50 units of secured purpose-built market rental homes within the middle levels, and 358 luxury strata market ownership condominium units within the upper levels.
However, Montreal-based developer Brivia Group has now returned to the municipal government with a revised rezoning application to amend the building’s uses, reconfigure the interior floor plans, and make slight revisions to the exterior design. The overall form of the building will remain the same.
Presumably due in part to the current poor market conditions for strata units as a result of the sustained high interest rates, coupled with growing construction costs and challenging construction financing, the developer is looking to convert the floor area originally intended for social housing into secured purpose-built market rental housing to improve the project’s financial viability and to enable construction to finally advance.
2024 revised concept for the Curv tower at 1059-1075 Nelson Street, Vancouver. (IBI Group/Brivia Group)
There will no longer be an on-site social housing component; instead of providing 102 units of social housing, the total number of market rental housing units will grow from 50 to 174.
Furthermore, the social housing obligation of the project — an in-kind community amenity contribution (CACs) — will now be achieved as a cash CACs payment to the City, which will enable off-site social housing.
During the 2020 rezoning process, it was indicated that the provision of 102 units of social housing within the tower carried an in-kind CACs value of $70 million. The number of strata homes will remain the same at 358 units.
As well, in conjunction with the pivot to more rental housing, the rezoning amendment seeks to eliminate the balconies on the building’s east and west frontages to help achieve the Passive House green building certification targets.
With the enclosed balconies now adding to indoor living space, along with other changes, the building’s total floor area grows from about 427,00 sq ft to about 456,000 sq ft.
The building’s total floor area ratio (FAR; a measure of comparing the size of the building’s floor area to the land area it sits on) will grow from 24.7 during the 2020 rezoning to 26.4 in the amendment. The project’s architectural firm is IBI Group.
Brivia Group initially submitted its rezoning amendment application in June 2023 to seek these changes, and this will now be up for public consultation. It was reported in October 2023 that 100 of the condominium units (28% of the total number of condominium units) were pre-sold for an average of over $2 million each, after pre-sales were initially launched in May 2023.
Artistic rendering of Curv. (Brivia Group)
Artistic rendering of Curv. (Brivia Group)
In recent years, the municipal government has revised its policies under the West End Plan to improve the financial viability of stalled housing projects.
This includes the previous move of providing developers with an alternative path of building projects along the Thurlow Street corridor with market rental housing and including a below-market rental housing component, instead of the only established framework of strata condominiums with a social housing component and CACs. Over the past five years, this move has pushed stalled projects forward, catalyzing a significant number of secured purpose-built rental housing units.
Then in September 2024, Vancouver City Council made further changes to the West End Plan by reducing the inclusionary social housing requirements from 25% of the residential floor area to 20% or one-for-one replacement of the existing rental housing, whichever is greater. Also, a new cash-in-lieu option has been introduced to reflect the costs for the municipal government to generate off-site social housing projects, including the cost of land and construction. Both of these changes will be introduced on an interim basis for at least years until December 31, 2026.
When complete, Curv will tie with The Butterfly as the city’s third tallest building. The Butterfly, developed by Westbank, situated toward the eastern end of the same city block, reached completion this year.
However, as both buildings are built on the highest elevation point of the downtown Vancouver peninsula, they will appear taller in the skyline from a distance than their actual structural height. For example, Curv will appear as a 724 ft tall tower, as its site is 139 ft above sea level.
2024 revised concept for the Curv tower at 1059-1075 Nelson Street, Vancouver. (IBI Group/Brivia Group)
2024 revised concept for the Curv tower at 1059-1075 Nelson Street, Vancouver. (IBI Group/Brivia Group)