Three towers with 847 social housing units proposed for Marine Drive SkyTrain station

Construction begins on three towers with 649 rental homes next to SkyTrain Marine Drive Station in Vancouver

Construction begins on 575 rental homes on former Denny's site near SkyTrain Marine Drive Station (RENDERINGS)

Massive second phase redevelopment proposed for Marine Gateway

26-storey rental housing tower proposed for Langara-49th Avenue SkyTrain station

Vancouver City Council approves First Nations-led Langara Family YMCA redevelopment with housing, but no replacement pool

Major office towers proposed next to SkyTrain Marine Drive Station

This is a joint partnership between the non-profit organizations of Kiwanis Club of Vancouver and the Soroptimist International of Vancouver. Kiwanis offers initiatives that support the well-being of children, while Soroptimist’s efforts focus on empowering the lives of women and girls.

Over half a century ago, both organizations partnered together to achieve Southwynd Place, which was completed in 1976 as a three-storey building with 90 units of social housing for seniors.

Existing condition:

Future condition:

Their proposed redevelopment to renew this aging property calls for growing the number of social housing units by almost 10-fold to a total of 847 homes, including 255 units rented at below Housing Income Limits rates and 592 units above Housing Income Limits rates. The City of Vancouver’s definition of a social housing project is a project where at least 30% of the units are affordable to incomes at or below the Housing Income Limits, with the remaining 70% of the units subsidizing the cost of the affordable housing component.

There would be four buildings, including three high-rise towers and one mid-rise building. The tallest building would be Building Three at the southwest corner of the site, closest to the SkyTrain station and bus exchange, reaching a height of 312 ft with 32 storeys.

The other buildings would reach 273 ft with 28 storeys (Building Four), 195 ft with 20 storeys (Building Two), and six storeys (Building One).

This project would be achieved in two phases, with the first phase being the northern half of the site, entailing Building One and Building Two. The southern half of the site, entailing Building Three and Building Four, are the second phase. There would be 323 units built in the first phase, while the larger second phase would generate 524 units.

The smaller component of Building One within the first phase would contain 123 seniors’ social housing units, including 90 replacement units for the property’s existing senior residents.

Overall, across all four buildings, the 255 units rented at below Housing Income Limits rates include 143 units for seniors capable of independent living, 35 units for workforce housing, and 77 units for single-parent families.

The 592 social housing units that would be rented above Housing Income Limits rates entail an unspecified mix of affordable, below-market, and market rental housing units. Altogether, the project’s housing mix is said to promote intergenerational living.

“The revenue generating uses will disproportionately service the construction debt and will thereby cross-subsidize the affordable component to solidify the long-standing tenure of affordability,” reads the proposal’s rationale for its significant project size entailing homes for a wide mix of incomes.

Moreover, the project’s size and uses are aligned with the funding and low-cost financing requirements of Vancity Credit Union, Federation of Canadian Municipalities, City of Vancouver, the provincial government’s programs such as BC Builds, and the federal government’s Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. The non-profit organizations are still in the process of seeking financial support from the municipal, provincial, and federal programs.

“We are aiming to be proactive with the financing approach and structure, but the financing will be confirmed through a parallel process to the City’s regulatory approval process with the lenders identified in this package who are currently at the table. The final requirements and affordability will be determined with this confirmation from lenders,” reads the application.

Kiwanis and Soroptimist are working with Purpose Driven Development, GBL Architects, and Gauthier Landscape Architects to realize this project.

The project’s overall unit size mix is 294 studios, 297 one-bedroom units, 233 two-bedroom units, and 23 three-bedroom units. Residents would have access to ample shared amenity spaces, including rooftop areas on Building One, Building Two, and Building Four.

At ground level, all four buildings would be woven into a pedestrian-only public realm, including a mid-block public plaza that doubles as a north-south pedestrian route between the laneway to the north and Southwest Marine Dr.

To address the site’s steep slope issues, the plaza is accessible by a grand staircase and public elevator from Southwest Marine Drive. Some plaza areas would have a boardwalk surface made of recycled materials such as composite wood to ensure durability and slip resistance.

Other ground-level outdoor spaces include a children’s play area, landscaped spaces, and a dedicated senior’s outdoor amenity.

Three underground levels would contain 207 vehicle parking stalls and 1,266 secured bike parking spaces.

The total building floor area would reach over 579,000 sq. ft., establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 6.99 times larger than the size of the lot.

This project’s size and uses are supported by the City of Vancouver’s 2021-enacted Marine Landing Policy Updates, which enable more building density and height for affordable and rental housing projects near Marine Drive Station.

These City policy updates were triggered by the Ashley Mar Housing Co-operative redevelopment, a similarly sized social housing and rental housing project now reaching completion, with market rental housing uses subsidizing the cost of renewing the affordable housing component of the site. In partnership with Intracorp Homes and Oxford Properties, the new 649-unit Ashley Mar complex with 32-storey, 27-storey, and 16-storey towers will reach completion next to the station later in 2025.

Construction is also underway on Chard Development’s redevelopment of the nearby Denny’s restaurant site into 32-storey and 28-storey towers with 575 rental homes. The Cascades, the name of this complex, will reach completion in 2026.

Furthermore, these redevelopments are also supported by the provincial government’s new transit-oriented development legislation.

Soroptimist is also in the process of building its new 13-storey “Housing for Women by Women” social housing building at 546 West 13th Ave. near SkyTrain’s Broadway-City Hall Station, replacing their previous 1932-built building at the site. It is expected to reach completion in 2026.

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