Latest news with #EastVancouver
CBC
17-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Landlords fight City of Vancouver over $1.6M demolition bill for fire-plagued apartment building
The owners of a fire-plagued property in East Vancouver are facing a $1.6 million bill for the building's demolition. The city tore down the low-rise apartment building on East 10th Avenue, near Kingsway last August following a series of blazes. As Jason Proctor reports, the owners have sued to try to stop the city from charging them.
CBC
10-07-2025
- Business
- CBC
Vancouver council approves plan for future of Rupert and Renfrew neighbourhood, including 10K homes
Social Sharing Highrise towers and thousands of new homes are in store for an East Vancouver neighbourhood, after city council voted through big changes Tuesday. Councillors unanimously approved the Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan, a land-use plan that will shape the area now home to almost 31,000 residents. The newly approved plan calls for high-density residential and mixed-use towers up to 45 storeys tall near the two SkyTrain stations and up to 26 storeys tall further away from the stations. The plan estimates it will introduce more than 10,000 new homes to the area, bringing the total number to 22,400 by 2050, according to a staff report presented to council Tuesday. At the same time, staff say, the population of the area will grow an estimated 61 per cent to 49,600. The plan also features "villages" that will prioritize missing middle housing options, such as six-storey buildings and multiplex homes. WATCH | Council approves major neighbourhood plan: Vancouver councillors give Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan green light 10 hours ago Duration 1:50 A neighbourhood in East Vancouver is set to transform over the next few decades after councillors approved a plan on Wednesday to boost housing and jobs near the Rupert and Renfrew SkyTrain stations. Josh White, the city's chief planner, said the plan will allow the community to flourish. "We have SkyTrain infrastructure that's been in place for over 20 years now, and [the area is] arguably underdeveloped around in terms of high density uses, homes, jobs," he said. "And this is an opportunity to really take advantage of that infrastructure, that great connection to the rest of the city and the region." Around 80 per cent of the households in the plan area live in single-family homes, according to the city staff presentation. Only 10 per cent of the area's existing housing stock is rental apartments. More than 70 per cent of the population identifies as a visible minority, according to the report. Coun. Peter Meiszner said the plan will create a "complete community" around the Rupert and Renfrew SkyTrain stations that will allow people to walk to local shops and services and protect employment lands. "We've seen lots of development in communities to the east, adding thousands of new housing units, and now we're going to see the same here in Vancouver, but it's going to have a distinctly Vancouver flavour," he said. "There'll be more open space, there'll be a focus on rental and below-market housing and community amenities." Still Creek to be widened The city has included a capital plan of $1.2 billion for related infrastructure and amenity priorities over the next decade, including for Still Creek enhancement, renewal of Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, new child care spaces, rental housing, water, sewer and drainage, and parks. Still Creek, one of only two salmon-bearing creeks remaining in Vancouver, will be daylighted and widened, which city staff say will help manage flood risk resulting from increased development and climate change. The city will also ban building underground parking within 30 metres of the creek, and underground parkades will be limited to two levels within a larger boundary. Three sub-areas of the plan will focus on employment uses such as offices, laboratories and hotels, as well as include space for distribution, storage and repair industries. Staff estimate the plan will bring 8,000 jobs to the area. Several spots, including the Akali Singh Sikh Society site, Still Creek and Kaslo Gardens co-ops, the Italian Cultural Centre, and Casa Serena, among others, have been designated as "unique sites" that require more focused policy that acknowledge an area's specific context. White said the city now expects developers to apply for rezoning permits to develop buildings under the new area plan.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These Vancouver neighbourhoods could be next up for the 'Broadway plan' treatment
On Tuesday, Vancouver city council will vote whether or not to approve long-term plans to add significant density to two east Vancouver neighbourhoods near the Renfrew and Rupert SkyTrain stations. The Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan is a transit-oriented plan similar in scope to the much-discussed Broadway plan. City staff estimate the plan would add nearly 19,000 residents to the current 31,000 by 2050 — a 61% increase. It would bring 8,000 additional jobs and add another 10,000 homes, nearly doubling the amount of housing in the area. 'Investment priorities have been identified for the next 10-year period and are estimated to cost (approximately) $1.2 billion (in 2024 dollars),' Neil Hrushowy, general manager of planning, wrote in the recommendations to council. The area covered by the proposed plan runs from the southern end of Hastings Sunrise, starting at Parker St. to E. 27th in Renfrew-Collingwood. East-west, it runs from Boundary Road to Kamloops St., one block east of Nanaimo St. Most of the land covered by the plan is currently single-family housing, low-density commercial or light industry. In keeping with the Broadway plan and the province's transit-oriented development legislation, the highest densities will be closest to the Renfrew and Rupert SkyTrain stations. Existing commercial and industrial land in the area, including those closest to SkyTrain stations, will remain non-residential. Additional employment would be supported by accommodating a wider range of commercial and industrial uses on these lands, and in mixed-use developments along major streets like E. Broadway, Renfrew and Rupert. Similar to the Broadway plan, the plan envisions four key land use types: Rapid transit areas: Towers up to 45 storeys close to SkyTrain stations Villages: Four to six storey mixed-use buildings at key intersections, like Renfrew and E. 1st or Nanaimo and E. Broadway Multiplex areas: The remaining residential areas would also include options for small-scale businesses like corner stores or shops Employment lands: Office, labs, hotels, light industry (eg: film studios, warehouses) and big box stores near SkyTrain stations and along Still Creek There are also plans to develop the site of the former B.C. Liquor warehouse at E. Broadway and Rupert. The site is owned by the First-Nations-owned MST Development Corporation in partnership with Aquilini Investment Group. Early plans put forward for public discussion in fall 2024 showed nearly a dozen towers on the site, some as high as 60 storeys. They included a mixture of residential, retail, office and industrial space as well as child care, affordable housing and public spaces. The site is one of 15 properties designated as 'unique sites' in the plan, where larger sites that deliver a 'significant public asset' could receive special accommodations. Other sites include the First Avenue Marketplace shopping mall, the Akali Singh Sikh Society Gurudwara and Skeena Terrace, where over 19,000 new social housing units have been proposed. The plan also calls for enhancing Still Creek, one of the last salmon-bearing streams in Vancouver. 'Widening and enhancing the Still Creek corridor is critical for managing flood risk resulting from increased development and climate change,' Hrushowy wrote. Much of the existing commercial and industrial land around Still Creek is built on a floodplain, according to the report. The plan also includes an option to expand the creek enhancement into a larger restoration project that could see an ecological corridor running from the Renfrew Ravine at Renfrew and 27th St., through Still Creek and north to Skeena and E. 1st. It also includes additional child care spaces, new artist studios and workspaces, and expanding Renfrew Community Centre, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House and the local firehall. More than 1,900 new social housing units being proposed for this east Vancouver neighbourhood 'This is just the beginning': First Nations' real estate megaprojects game-changing for Metro Vancouve @njgriffiths ngriffiths@
CBC
20-06-2025
- CBC
Man charged with sexual assault of 14-year-old girl arrested and released twice in weeks before alleged attack
A Vancouver woman is telling a frightening story about a man who allegedly terrorized her at her East Vancouver home back in March. The woman also says the same man — a repeat sex offender who was on probation — should not have been walking the streets two months later when he is alleged to have sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in a public washroom. John Frederick Field, 62, was taken into custody by Vancouver police at the woman's East 1st Avenue home on March 26 and released within 24 hours. On May 28, Field was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting the 14-year-old as part of what the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) described as a "crime spree" that took place in the Oakridge neighbourhood. CBC News confirmed the identity of the East Vancouver woman through court documents and has agreed to only use her first name — Danielle — because she fears for her safety. "I can't even imagine if I didn't have a dog and I didn't wake up and he did break into my house, like, the kind of trauma I would be dealing with," she said. Danielle said she was asleep in her third-floor apartment on March 26 when her dog started barking at the back patio door around 4:30 a.m. "As soon as I got out of bed, that's when I started to hear someone tap on my window. And at first the tapping started pretty gently ... then as I came out of my bedroom and got my housecoat on, I saw him through my kitchen patio door," said the 28-year-old. "He's just standing there looking at me … so I got closer to the door and I realized, oh, this is a stranger. And then as I screamed, realizing that I didn't know this person, he started walking toward the door and started banging on the door. "I grabbed a knife that was on my kitchen counter. My dog was barking — he's freaking out. The guy's still banging on the door and he's screaming at me." Danielle said she called police just as the man started throwing her patio furniture — two chairs, a lounger and a table — off the deck. "He definitely seemed like he was intoxicated on some kind of substance. I could not understand what he was screaming. He was just very belligerent." Police arrived quickly, climbed the fire escape to the patio and put the man in handcuffs, according to Danielle. Charged June 4 VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison said Field was taken to jail but released after signing an undertaking agreeing to, among other things, stay away from Danielle and her home, and to appear in court on April 28 to potentially face a charge. "After transporting him to jail and holding him in jail for a period of time, it was the assessment that our authority to further detain him was limited by the Criminal Code," said Addison. "We believed we had compelling evidence that a crime occurred and that the person arrested committed the crime. That's why we compelled that person to return to court on April 28." Addison said VPD investigators filed a charge assessment report to Crown on March 27. He said the VPD's high-risk offender unit was also brought in, and they contacted B.C. Corrections with the information about Field's arrest. "We provided information to Corrections should they choose, at their discretion, to take further action related to the fact that he was on probation," said Addison. CBC reached out to B.C. Corrections for comment but did not hear back by deadline. Damienne Darby, communications counsel for the B.C. Prosecution Service, said the matter was returned by Crown to VPD "...as we were unable to conduct a charge assessment based on the material provided." "A request for urgent follow-up was made by the charge assessment Crown," she said. Addison said that on April 18, Crown asked VPD for more information about the incident, including transcripts of Danielle's statement to police and 911 call, photos of the home and for area CCTV video to be gathered. On June 4, VPD resubmitted its updated report to Crown and the following day Field was charged with trespassing at night. But by that time he was already in custody for the alleged crime spree of May 28, where police say Field attacked the 14-year-old girl, assaulted another woman and robbed a bank. He is facing five related charges: sexual assault with a weapon, unlawful confinement, assault, robbery and carrying a concealed weapon. Other investigations prior to alleged sex assault CBC News has learned that Field was arrested on May 6 for shoplifting from the Lululemon store at Pacific Centre. A charge of theft under $5,000 was sworn on June 11. CBC News has also learned police were looking for Field in the weeks leading up to the alleged attack on the 14-year-old in relation to two other incidents in downtown Vancouver. Danielle said the encounter at her home left her so shaken she broke her lease early to move to a different place. "I started not being able to sleep. I didn't even really like sitting on my patio anymore. I didn't like walking around my neighbourhood," she said. "Even if he didn't remember my face, I remember him and I just didn't want to ever run into him again." Field's scheduled bail hearing on June 12 was adjourned to June 26. None of the current charges against him have been tested in court. Sex assault history According to court records, Field has a long string of convictions dating back to his time as a young offender. In September of last year he was convicted of sexually assaulting a medical technician during a heart test in 2023. At sentencing, Justice Geoffrey Gomery noted Field had been assessed for a possible dangerous or long-term offender application, but Crown prosecutors elected not to pursue a designation that would have seen him locked up indefinitely. Field's sentence was 30 months, but he was given advanced credit for the year and a half he had already spent in custody awaiting trial, meaning he only had three months and a day left to serve. Gomery also noted that when Field sexually assaulted the medical technician in 2023, he was on parole from an 18-month sentence he received for a similar sexual assault of a different health-care worker in 2018. He was also convicted of sexual assault in 1989. In 2022, Field was the subject of a Canada-wide warrant when he failed to return to a halfway house after receiving statutory release from the maximum-security Kent Institution in Agassiz, B.C. At the time, VPD deemed him a "high-risk sex offender" and a significant risk to the public. He was arrested four days later by Surrey RCMP.
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
East Vancouver Safeway redevelopment approved despite affordability concerns
A rendering of the towers proposed for a site in East Vancouver. (Credit: Perkins & Will architects) A plan to build more than 1,000 units of rental housing on the site of an East Vancouver Safeway got the greenlight from city council Wednesday – despite concerns that none of the units will be affordable. Rezoning of the site adjacent to the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station was approved by a majority after a public hearing that saw over a thousand written submissions and drew hundreds of speakers. The approval marks an end to a years-long back-and-forth over plans to build housing near the busy transit hub. Coun. Peter Meiszner, with the mayor's majority ABC party, voted for the project. Explaining why, he echoed the sentiment of its proponents – namely that finally building a 'significant' number of new rentals on a site currently occupied by a grocery store and a parking lot would be a net positive. 'Would I like to see more affordability? Yes. But right now, there's no affordability on the site because there's no homes on the site,' he said. 'So, I think, on balance, that this project is supportable.' The current iteration by developers Westbank Projects Corp/Crombie REIT calls for three towers of 44 storeys, 38 storeys and 37 storeys, respectively. None of the 1,044 rentals will be affordable or below-market. To be classified as affordable, rent for a unit must not exceed to 30 per cent of household income. A below-market rental is one that is 10 per cent less than the average rent reported annually by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The developers of this project are proposing 10 per cent of the units will be 'secured at city-wide average market rents' based on CMHC data for the year in which the occupancy permit is issued, according to the report. Coun. Pete Fry, with the Greens, abstained from Wednesday's vote. A number of other recently approved projects that bring significant density, he noted, have pledged to deliver 20 per cent below-market units. 'We've driven all these projects to deliver on public benefits and affordable housing, and this particular project represents a shift away from those expectations that we've opposed on all those other developers,' he said. The median income in the Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood is around $55,000, Fry said. The rental rates provided as examples in the staff report on the development said the 'average household income served' would range from around $65,000 for a studio to $141,000 for a three-bedroom, if the units were rented out this year. 'We're not delivering the affordability for people who need it,' Fry said. 'I can't give this project my support.' The lone councillor who voted against the rezoning was COPE's Sean Orr, who voiced similar concerns over a lack of affordability. 'We do need homes here, but we need bold action,' he said. In addition to the rentals, the development will include a replacement grocery store, additional ground-level retail spaces, a city-owned daycare, and a public plaza.
