Downtown Eastside to Introduce New Vancouver Micro Lofts - Small Condos at 18 West Hastings Street - Affordable Vancouver Rental Housing

Vancouver Micro Lofts Coming to Downtown Soon!

Small condos also known as downtown Vancouver Micro Lofts will soon be coming to town. Providing new and affordable housing, thirty of these Vancouver micro lofts will be built by the same team that built the Woodwards Gastown high-rise condo and mixed use development. On Monday, the announcement will be made about the creation of 30 micro lofts for downtown Vancouver Eastside by Reliance Properties Ltd. And ITC Construction Group. The redevelopment of the downtown Vancouver Eastside real estate district wil be made at 18 West Hastings. Currently, the historic Burns Block complex is on site and the redevelopment will consist of a redo of the six storey Burns Block in the Vancouver micro lofts or small condos. The micro lofts of Vancouver will consist of 270 sq ft units and will represent the smallest rental units in the entire units. It is compared as being two parking stalls at two hundred and seventy square feet, meaning that these tight spaces will do away with modern doodads and other things not required for daily living. The official launch and announcement of the Vancouver Micro Lofts coming to 18 West Hastings Street will be this coming Monday, January 25th, 2010. With the launch of 30 new affordable rental housing units in the downtown Eastside of Vancouver, the area will gradually redevelop into a liveable and sustainable community says the development team. By cutting out all the non-essentials that usually go into the construction and pricing on new pre-construction condos, these new Vancouver Micro Lofts at 18 West Hastings Street will have minimal features that are not essential for daily living, providing more affordable spaces. The initial designs will be released soon, and according to some analysts, the 270 sqft micro lofts will contain beautiful bathrooms and kitchens as well as built in beds. In addition, these downtown Vancouver micro-lofts will also have over height ceilings. While the project was originally passed by Vancouver City Council back in 2008, no movement has been made as the construction team was busy working on the Woodwards Gastown project.

More about Micro Lofts in Vancouver Eastsid

With much research having been done on the viability and liveability within a micro loft in downtown Vancouver Eastside, many people have compared these compact living spaces to those that have successfully been built and integrated into cities within Asia as well as Europe. In many cases, a lot of people are not willing to give up on the amount of living space they have be cause of comfort and reliability of storage. However, with property prices and rental rates still skyrocketing in downtown Vancouver, these Vancouver micro lofts in the eastside of downtown will provide affordable rental housing for those who require a better price point but can sacrifice space. The vacancy rates are at all time lows and a typical bachelor suite now goes for roughly $950 per square foot. These new Vancouver micro lofts will be slightly smaller, but will provide a more affordable rental rate for those interested. Let’s see how the grand opening announcement of this 18 West Hastings Vancouver micro loft project and its reaction will be on Monday before making judgement calls.

Tallest Vancouver Condo High-Rise Towers Coming Soon to Downtown Vancouver Real Estate Market - Landmark Highrise Condominiums Coming Soon!

Tallest Condominium Towers Planned and Passed by City Council

Vancouver city council has passed proposals for four new massive downtown Vancouver condo high-rise towers, one of which will surpass the height of the current tallest Vancouver condominium tower, the Shangri-La condominium hotel building. This comes on January 13th, 2010, admist one of the biggest building booms during the past decade and shortly after the global economic problems that plagued the Vancouver real estate market for much of 2009. Having rebounded sharply in the last 6 months of 2009, the Vancouver real estate market has been on the march upwards as homebuyers are trying to buy property before the expected HST that comes into play in July 2010 in addition to a likely increase in mortgage rates later in the year. City Council passed a proposal to build the tallest Vancouver condo tower near Georgia and Seymour Streets. This building site could accommodate the tallest Vancouver condominium tower at two hundred and thirteen metres height (213 metres). The current tallest Vancouver highrise is the Shangri-La Hotel Condo that stands at 201 metres (two hundred and one) and it stretches up sixty one stories. Recently completed in late 2008, the next closet tallest Vancouver condo highrise is that of the Wall Centre in central downtown Vancouver real estate market, which is only 152 metres in height. As of mid-January 2010, Vancouver City Council has passed the proposed buildings at four different sites that will forever change the landscape and skyline of the downtown core, without altering view corridors as much as possible. The January 5th 2010 report from the Vancouver Planning Department states that the higher building policy (for height restrictions to be lifted) is the only way that Vancouver can expand and meet homebuyer and rental demands. The Vancouver Central Business District east of Georgia Street to False Crek in addition to south down to Burrard Street to the foot of the Burrard Street Bridge was mentioned as the possible sites for higher and taller Vancouver condo highrises to be built.

The 4 Tallest Vancouver Condo Highrise Proposals Passed

In addition to the tallest 213 metre condo highrise proposed for the Georgia/Seymour Street area of downtown Vancouver real estate market place, the Vancouver City Council also passed plans for three other new condominium tower developments that will be quite tall as well. There is another proposed tall Vancouver condo highrise at Georgia Street and Beatty Street. This second downtown Vancouver condo highrise landmark building will be approximately 152 metres in height, the same as the Wall Centre Vancouver tower. The third highrise proposed by City Council will be at the end of Georgia Street and will most likely get to 130 metres (one hundred and thirty metres in height), which will make it one of the top five tallest Vancouver condo high-rise towers in the city. The last proposed and planned tower building in downtown Vancouver will be a 122 metre high-rise proposed for Burrard Street on the other side of the city. The recent change in planning policy will see certain height restrictions lifted to create more of a ‘dome skyline’ policy. The cascading heights of these towers will allow the current view corridors to remain intact, while also increasing density of the urban core. The downtown Vancouver dome skyline policy takes into effect right away with these planned tallest Vancouver condo highrises, mainly across Georgia Street and Burrard Street. Many other tall skyscrapers may be in the works as well. The Vancouver dome skyline policy is based on creating more space for renters and homeowners to live within the urban core, and with many restrictions required from the developers’ standpoint, Vancouver City Council believes that this is the right course of action.

Green Standards, Liveability and Sustainability Key to the Domed Skyline Vancouver Building Strategy

As with many new building policies, the downtown Vancouver domed skyline strategy will create the possibility of more creative architecture, striking landmark buildings and higher density within the downtown core. However, Vancouver City Council stated very rigorously that the proposed tallest Vancouver highrise condo developments must adhere to very strict Built Green standards in condo building construction in addition to create liveable and sustainable condominium homes that will help protect the environment and retain its value long term. The Vancouver domed skyline building strategy will also require developers to create space for hybrid vehicle power stations in the underground parking, and also apply for LEED or Built Green certification. All of these features will help to create more liveable and sustainable downtown Vancouver condo homes for purchasers and renters for future generations. So Vancouver, you got what you wanted! Four massive downtown Vancouver condo highrise towers will be coming your way in the next couple of years!

Downtown Vancouver Dome Skyline Policy Won’t Block Views of North Shore Mountains

With a long standing policy of protecting ‘view corridors’ Vancouver City Council has repeatedly disapproved downtown Vancouver highrise condo towers that would even remotely block views of the North Shore mountains and water. However, during the past few years, City Council has become more lenient on building heights, with the construction of the Wall Centre and Shangri-La Vancouver. Now, it seems, the city council has adopted the downtown Vancouver dome skyline policy which allows for taller Vancouver condo highrises to be built in the downtown core. Apparently this Vancouver dome skyline policy will still help protect the view corridors of the North Shore mountains and beyond. Indeed, this is a shift in building policy, but in the end, the placement of ‘special buildings’ through the dome skyline policy will help beautify the Vancouver skyline. These taller Vancouver condo highrises will become part of the view and beautiful skyline. The proposed condominium highrise landmark towers within the new Vancouver dome skyline will be between 122 metres and 152 metres and will be built along sites at the foot of Georgia Street and Burrard Street in addition to Georgia/Seymour and Georgia/Beatty, along some of the most dense and built out corridors in the downtown stretch. These tall Vancouver condo highrise proposals will be the first extra tall dome skyline policy projects in the city that will protrude the current view corridors. However, with exceptional architecture, sustainable Built Green construction and the possibility of affordable rental housing, the Vancouver dome skyline policy will likely be passed very soon to give an architecture statement to the city skyline. Without eroding the view corridors all that much, the downtown Vancouver development community and building developers are all for this added density on their sites. Some City Councillors have even proposed that one of these 4 tall Vancouver condo highrises will become an office tower, bringing back more office space to downtown that has been recently converted into residential buildings. Another of the 4 new proposed Vancouver highrise landmarks may become a part office and part residential condo building. In addition to the development of these very tall Vancouver condominium towers, the city expects developers to add to the services and amenities of the community, including affordable rental housing, daycare, parks and heritage preservation and the approval of any new pre-construction Vancouver condo development will have to come with these developer perks. Some City Councillors say that downtown Vancouver real estate market can accommodate another thirty thousand (30,000) residents under the current zoning of the sites. Right now, over 100,000 or one hundred thousand people call downtown Vancouver home. Another City Councillor has proposed mid-rise buildings throughout the city core including the business district, while increasing the height of new Vancouver condo buildings towards downtown East around the Chinatown, Crosstown and Gastown areas. Last year, there were city staff who called for the development of two 91-metre condominium towers in Chinatown next to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese gardens. Some of the areas around downtown Vancouver Chinatown real estate district along Pender Street have already been rezoned to accommodate for higher low-rise and mid-rise condo buildings during the past year.

City Council Passes Sustainable West End Vancouver Rental Buildings and New Condo Developments – Rezoning of the West End Real Estate Market

Vancouver West End Condo Developments and New Rental Buildings

The short term incentives by the government have spurred a new generation of rezoning of the Vancouver West End real estate market place. Back in December 2009, Vancouver City Council approved the redevelopment of the building at 1215 Bidwell Street in West End Vancouver rezoning project, and there are currently three other sites that will possibly apply for rezoning of their land as well. As part of the Vancouver Short Term Incentives for Rental program, the Vancouver West End condo developments will become some of the most anticipated, hated and debated new rental and market buildings in the entire city. Starting with 1215 Bidwell Street, essentlly, many people will lose their rental homes during the process of the rezoning, reconstruction and eventual completion of the site. With many of these rezoned West End Vancouver properties, the end result will include both rental units as well as market units that will be sold to homeowners. Currently, there is much discussion as to what the new rental prices for the rezoned and completed rental units will be once 1215 Bidwell Street Vancouver condos will be completed. Will it be affordable for people to rent there? Or will they be reserved for high-end and prominent people who want to and can pay to live in the West End Vancouver community? Rental housing is more affordable than the purchase of strata titled units according to the Vision Vancouver councillor, Louie. With the Vancouver Short Term Incentives and Rental program in full effect, also known as STIR Program, there are many people who debate whether or not this is good for the city. The STIR Program or the Vancouver Short Term Incentives and Rental program will waive development cost levies and reduce development fees, meaning that part of the construction costs for the developers will be subsidized. Part of this STIR Program is to create more liveable and newer Vancouver West End rental stock. However, many people against the STIR Program and the rezoning of 1215 Bidwell Street Vancouver rental housing believe that the developers are there to make profit, and therefore will create high-end rental units and charge a lot more for rents once completed. Most people believe this will be the case at 1215 Bidwell Street. With the STIR Program in full effect, many West End Vancouver condo residents who rent right now are afraid that affordable housing in this area will likely disappear sooner rather than later because of the Vancouver Short Term Incentives and Rental program, making it even tougher for people who need affordable housing to find anything decent.

Other Rezoning Vancouver West End Condo Developments Coming 2010

The other sites that will likely be rezoned in the Vancouver West End real estate market during 2010 are located at the following site addresses: 1401 Comox Street, 1754 Pendrell Street and 1245 Harwood Street. All of these sites currently have West End Vancouver affordable housing, and will be rezoned to become both rental and market unit condo developments. Most likely like 1215 Bidwell Street rezoning project, the new West End Vancouver rental units will be more expensive then the current ones, but newer (obviously). The 1401 Comox Street Vancouver rezoning application will likely be a twenty two storey (22 stories) all rental condo building with one hundred and ninety three units (193 West End rentals) under the new STIR Program. The Vancouver Short Term Incentives and Rental program will likely see another application from 1754 Pendrell Vancouver with a proposed ninety storey (19 stories) tower in the heart of the city. This will likely be a part rental (10 West End rentals) and part market condo (34 condominiums for sale) proposal. Not much is known about this proposed application from STIR yet. Lastly, 1245 Hardwood Vancouver rezoning project in the West End real estate market will likely come up during mid-year, and therefore, not many details have been released either. The 1215 Bidwell Street Vancouver rezoning project will see a 20 storey building with 98 market condos for sale and the addition of 49 rental units. This rezoning project has already been approved by Vancouver City Council. As you can see, there will be many other West End Vancouver rezoning projects coming up which will transform the landscape of the rental market and available new condos in the area. Either way, much of this is required in a community that has deteriorated and hasn’t seen many new condos or rentals with the exception of renovation projects here and there.