Chinatown condo development

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Good morning,

Nate with you today. Personally, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind the past few weeks with travel and various work and social commitments. But it’s all good stuff and there’s plenty to be excited about on the horizon. 

I’m excited to share that I’ll be speaking as part of an event this weekend at the Russian Hall in Strathcona, a unique food-based event where myself and Deb Chachra, a brilliant academic with lots to say about energy and infrastructure, will be discussing and imagining possible futures for Vancouver. 

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous – while I do have a theatre background, I haven’t done much public speaking or presenting since high school (besides being a drama queen and a soap box warrior in my regular life 👑). But Deb and the team from Simon Fraser University who are hosting the event have been incredibly helpful and supportive, so I’m sure it will all go swimmingly. 

Spots are nearly filled up, but if anyone has a burning desire to eat cabbage rolls and chat about Vancouver’s future, there may be a few places remaining. You can get all the information you might need here. 

But enough of my shameless plugs, let’s get on to today’s stories!

— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout

As always, you can send your tips, leads, and story ideas to Nate at [email protected].

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free. 

WEATHER

Wednesday: 11 🌡️ 6 | ☁️

Thursday: 8 🌡️ 7 | 🌧️

Friday: 8 🌡️ 7 | 🌧️

CHINATOWN

Locals concerned about gentrification as contentious condo development greenlit in Chinatown

A development in Chinatown, which has been contested for over a decade, got its final go-ahead from the city this week. 

The site is an important cultural location in Chinatown where people gather, dance, and play mahjong, and a market-rate condo development exacerbates the gentrification already being felt in the neighbourhood, said Jade Ho, a community organizer in Chinatown who has been part of opposition to the 105 Keefer project for a decade.

“For the community, this was a catalyst fight,” Ho told Vancity Lookout, describing the proposed development as one element of the “sweeping gentrification” in Chinatown that’s seen tall new apartment buildings go up along Main Street over the last 15 years, while affordable grocery stores and culturally appropriate small businesses are pushed out.    

Despite continued opposition, the city’s development permit board unanimously approved revised plans from development company Beedie to construct a nine-storey building with 111 condo units, retail shops, and underground parking. The plans also call for an interior courtyard, which will be publicly accessible during daytime store hours, and a social services centre.  

The site in question is currently a vacant lot situated on the corner of Keefer and Columbia streets. It’s a central nexus on the south side of Chinatown in close proximity to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, the Chinese Cultural Centre, Andy Livingstone Park, and the city-owned Chinatown Plaza.  

The site, which was previously referred to as 105 Keefer, though the official address is now 570 Columbia, sits directly in front of the Chinatown Memorial Monument and public square. The monument – currently festooned with Remembrance Day wreaths bearing the names of elected officials and Chinese cultural and business organizations – was erected in 2003, and features statues of a railway worker and World War II to commemorate the sacrifices made by Chinese Canadians. 

The square is currently undergoing a redesign process led by the city, and Beedie’s plans indicate that a service road cutting between the square and 105 Keefer will be removed. The city has yet to release its preferred design option for the updated square, but its presence is a significant factor in the site's importance. 

The site has a contentious history. After acquiring the site in 2013, Beedie applied to rezone 105 Keefer for a 12-storey residential building, which was denied by city council in 2017. Later that year, the city’s development permit board denied Beedie’s application to develop a nine-storey building on the site, a proposal that was in line with area zoning at the time. Senior city staff on the permit board denied the application due to design elements that didn’t match the area’s cultural context or interact appropriately with the nearby plaza space. 

Gil Kelley, the city’s former GM of planning who stepped down abruptly in 2021, refused the application due to the design issues at “such an important site.”  If they were to reapply, Beedie’s project team would “really need to listen to and engage the community more deeply than they have so far,” Kelley remarked at the time. 

That rejection led Beedie to take the city to court for judicial review. The 2022 BC Supreme Court ruling described the city’s decision as “highly unusual,” and the judge ultimately ruled that the city must reconsider the development, saying the board’s reasons for its 2017 decision were inadequate.   

In that context, the approval this week was ultimately the expected outcome, Ho said. 

The project has received public support from prominent Chinatown organizations, including business groups, the society that oversees the neighbouring Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens, and the long-standing Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver. 

In 2023 an open letter from those groups in favour of the project pointed to the benefit of adding housing without any displacement and that “more feet on the street will help reverse the descent of the district into further street disorder,” according to a report from CBC. 

Almost all the organizations that signed the open letter in support of the project were opposed to it back in 2014, Daily Hive reported in 2023. However, “much has changed since then and today, we stand united in support for this project, and for the continued renewal of Chinatown; this important, historic, and cultural jewel in our City,” Chinatown BIA president Jordan Eng stated in the letter.  

Beedie was “extremely pleased” with this week’s decision and is “invested in preserving Chinatown's character and ensuring its future as a safe and vibrant community,” Curtis Neeser, Beedie’s executive vice president of residential development, told Vancity Lookout moments after Monday’s ruling.  

“This project won't address everyone's concern across the board… the topic of gentrification is such a big topic, and we've heard that, and we are concerned about it also, and we want to be a positive contribution to Chinatown,” Neeser said, adding that there isn’t a timeline for when Beedie expects to break ground on the development. 

“These homes are not for Chinese youth or Chinese seniors, because none of us can actually afford it… there's no way we can afford market housing,” Ho said, following the decision. 

Remi Landry Yuan agreed, saying there’s a need for more affordable housing, and what’s being proposed is not in line with the community that’s in Chinatown right now. Yuan is a board member with Chinatown Today, a group that shares past and present stories of the neighbourhood and community. 

“We have a lot of people living in social housing and people living in SROs. We have youth who can't afford these types of units. We don't want to just have an empty lot the way it is now, that's not helpful for us or for anyone. We want something, but it [should be] for the people who are there right now,” Yuan told Vancity Lookout. 

The 2017 rezoning application that was denied by the city did include a proposal for 25 units of social housing earmarked for seniors, but those units were removed from the application that was eventually approved.

Yuan was part of the large group of speakers and organizers who showed up at City Hall this week to speak against the proposal. In total, more than 100 people registered to speak to the permit board, which had to add an additional hearing date due to the number of speakers. This final stage of city permitting, a decision on the revised building plans, was limited to technical design issues. 

“A big part of [organizing] is helping community members of all ages understand what this process even is,” Yuan said. “The big question for this development is not the technical aspect, but it's a matter of how it impacts the community socially.” 

Despite the outcome, Ho said the continued organizing around the project has been meaningful and energizing. 

“Every single time when we organize around 105 Keefer, you see the community coming back together in such strong and collective care for each other. Our campaign is really intergenerational. It's really helping us to be able to build stronger relationships with each other,” Ho said.  

“It shows that there's fire in Chinatown,” Yuan added. 

“We know that our goal is not just this one building. Our goal is to defend our neighbourhood … to make sure that Chinatown is truly affordable for people to be able to stay and live there,” Ho said. “I think this just motivates us to build something even stronger.” 

Next month, Ho said she and others plan to support Downtown Eastside residents at the public hearing on significant changes being proposed to zoning rules there. “Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside, we are not divided. We actually are one neighbourhood together,” Ho said. “To build solidarity and support each other whenever it's needed is really important.”

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

5%

The percentage by which park board fees could increase to meet City Hall’s directive to increase non-tax revenues. That increase would apply to things like recreation lessons and programs, event permitting, golf and pitch and putt, and admission to VanDusen Gardens and the Bloedel Conservatory. Read more. [Park board]

THE AGENDA

🏠 For the second year in a row, Vancouver has missed its target for net new homes built under the provincial Housing Supply Act. This year, just over 4,800 new homes were built, representing roughly 90 per cent of its goal. However, this year did see an improvement from last year, where the city only met 80 per cent of its goal. Read more. [Daily Hive]

🏀 Frustrated parents are speaking out against council’s rezoning of basketball courts at Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary School to allow for the development of a six-storey rental housing development. While some of the 87 rental units would be used to house VSB staff, parents say that the school is already over capacity, and without the basketball courts, the only available land adjacent to the school for portables is currently being used as soccer fields. Read more. [CBC]

⚠️ B.C. will test its emergency alert system just before 2 pm later today, Wednesday, Nov. 19. Vancouverites can expect to see and hear the alert test on their cell phones, as well as on live TV and radio. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

🏬 They’ve discussed fee increases and service cuts, but the City of Vancouver is now looking at installing digital billboards at high traffic areas like the Oak Street and Ironworkers Memorial Bridges, Expo Boulevard, West 4th and Granville, and a number of other locations. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

💰 According to a new Angus Reid poll, most Canadians think ticket prices for the upcoming Vancouver FIFA World Cup are too expensive, and a majority would treat having tickets as an opportunity to make money by selling them for a higher price on the resale market. Read more. [CTV]

👮 Vancouver police are investigating a Monday afternoon stabbing at Granville and Helmcken. The victim died in hospital and no arrests have been made. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

🛑 The Stanley Park seawall is closed between Third Beach and Prospect Point for maintenance work until Friday, November 28. Read more. [Daily Hive]

🚦 Traffic on the Queensborough Bridge has increased significantly since the opening of the new Costco Business Centre on Friday. Read more. [City News]

🎰 Two Metro Vancouver residents have been charged with fraud for allegedly scamming local casinos out of $45,000. Read more. [City News]

🚨 Vancouver Police are warning the public that a high-risk sex offender, Shaun Deacon, has been released from custody and will be living in Vancouver. The VPD says that Deacon, age 60, will be serving a sentence on a Long Term Supervision Order for possession of and accessing child pornography and poses a high risk to children, especially young boys. Read more. [VPD]

🚓 File this one under ‘meta’: Vancouver Police are also asking the public to be vigilant against scammers posing as the Vancouver Police. Read more. [City News]

🍝 Four Vancouver restaurants have been named among the ‘best new restaurants in Canada’ by Air Canada, including Vancity Lookout favourite Nero Tondo. Read more. [Daily Hive]

HOME OF THE WEEK

Today we’re heading over to Dunbar to check out a three-bedroom, three-bathroom home.

The house is nice, the nearby schools are good, but it’s the photos that have us questioning what’s going on…

The staging is confusing, giving off that uncanny valley feeling that suggests it’s maybe AI, but then why does one photo have an unmade bed? Whose sole countertop appliance in a kitchen completely devoid of colour is a red stand-up mixer? Why are you sitting that close to the TV? And how did they manage to take that photo in the washroom without the photographer being in the picture?

As you can tell, we’re a bit confused. But the photos might be worth checking out for yourself.

VANCOUVER ARTS GUIDE

Performance

Eric Cheung is bringing the world premiere of his dance performance and multimedia show Contra to the Scotiabank Dance Centre on November 28-29. Tickets start at $31, and the trailer looks like nothing you’ve seen before. [The Dance Centre]

The Georgia Straight is highlighting six must-see shows for the upcoming holiday season, and with a range from dance to comedy to puppetry to Motown, there’s something for everyone. [Georgia Straight]

Art

St. Paul’s Foundation’s Lights of Hope is back again this year, kicking off on November 27 with a fireworks display, food trucks and free hot chocolate. [Daily Hive]

The Polygon Gallery is hosting an exhibit of the photography of Lee Miller, a renowned and groundbreaking high fashion model turned photojournalist. [Stir]

Music

On December 7, all nine ensembles from the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs - more than 500 singers! - will perform Christmas with the Bach Choir at the Orpheum. Ticket information is coming soon. [Vancouver Bach Choir]

Robert Plant (yes, of Led Zeppelin) is performing tonight at the Vogue Theatre, with Saving Grace featuring Suzi Dian. A few tickets appear to still be available on resale sites, so good luck. [Postmedia]

Movies

Two Oscar contenders, nine feature films, and nearly 20 Canadian and Turkish short films will be screened as part of the Vancouver Turkish Film Festival, taking place at the VIFF Centre next Thursday to Sunday. [Vancouver is Awesome] 

Over at VIFF, you can catch a number of movie repeats from the main festival this fall. And for more Hollywood fare, Jay Kelly by Noah Baumbach is worth checking out.

A few movies at the Rio we’re excited for include Richard Linklater’s Nouvelle Vague, an ode to Jean Luc Godard’s unforgettable movie Breathless. There’s also the haunting Requiem For a Dream.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Chef’s Choice Chinese Cuisine makes the case for the best dim sum in Vancouver

There are moments when you know a restaurant is simply sublime. In this case, it was the first bite of a white and black speckled sesame ball, a soft crunchy exterior giving way to a jet black sesame paste, still warm and dripping, that smelled and tasted of light peanut butter. I still think about that sesame ball months later. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. 

I’ve always thought there are two types of people in Vancouver — those who prefer brunch, and those who prefer dim sum. Count me and my friends in the latter, as we stumbled into the much-acclaimed Dynasty Seafood House one weekend morning in late August desperate for a table. 

Arguably Vancouver’s best dim sum restaurant, you can always expect a minimum 30 minute wait when you show up. Unfortunately, that day’s one-hour wait held no appeal, so we left, forlornly searching for any other spot nearby.

To read the review and subscribe to our free restaurant review newsletter, click here.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Prime Minister Mark Carney visited New Town Bakery in Chinatown last week. It’s not clear what he ordered, but we hope it was the steamed BBQ pork buns or the sesame balls. [Noms Magazine]

• Here’s what 14 “interesting” Vancouverites want for Christmas. (Nobody asked us but all we want here at the Lookout for Christmas is your continued readership). [Vancouver Magazine]

• This new startup is trying to help people cut through the noise and find good local restaurants. [BC Business]

• Employ to Empower is hosting Make Change Market on Thursday, featuring low-income artists and creators. [Vancouver is Awesome]

GAME TIME

Today’s Wordle is taking Vancouver by storm! You may know it as a different term, but this is what it’s called by most people. Can you work out what it is?

PHOTO OF THE DAY

I wouldn’t typically describe downtown Vancouver as pretty, but the combo of these rays of sun and the fall colour of the trees are divine. This shot must have been taken a couple weeks back because we’re in that season anymore sadly.

STORIES THIS WEEK