Due to its ambitious design and ambitious prices, few upcoming Vancouver real estate developments have been more associated with luxury as CURV has, so much so that it has overshadowed the fact that CURV was also set to include both rental housing and social housing.
Set for 1075 Nelson Street (formerly 1059-1075 Nelson Street) in the West End of Vancouver, near Thurlow Street, the 60-storey CURV was originally proposed to consist of 328 strata units, 50 market rental units, and 102 social housing units. The project is being developed by Montreal-based Brivia Group as the lead developer and Vancouver-based Henson Group as a silent partner.
The project was approved by the City in 2022, with sales launching in 2023, but it has yet to reach the construction stage. Since then, Brivia Group has submitted a rezoning text amendment application that would eliminate all of the social housing units and convert the previously-allocated floor space to market rental, increasing the amount of rental units from 50 to 176.
Notably, Brivia Group submitted that amendment application in June 2023, but it was not published by the City of Vancouver until November 2024 — an abnormal delay by any measure.
In between that, however, City staff brought forth recommendations in September to reduce the social housing requirement in certain areas of the West End, saying that several approved projects had stalled due to economic conditions. Staff recommended the social housing requirement in a few specific areas be reduced from 25% of residential floor space to 20%, while also introducing a new option for developers to pay cash in lieu of providing social housing.
In the recommendations report, City staff said that in those specific areas where it was recommending the change, three projects that had been approved had yet to commence construction and that they were "not viable in the current financial and construction environment." The report did not identify the projects, but the site of CURV falls within the specific area.
As previously reported by STOREYS, the amendments to the West End Rezoning Policy were approved by Council in September 2024. The text amendment application submitted by Brivia Group was then published in November.
The amendments to the West End Rezoning Policy applied to Area 1 and Area 2 (left), which includes the site of CURV (right). / City of Vancouver
$55,000,000
This week, on March 11, Council approved the text amendment application following a public hearing.
The staff report regarding the amendment application reveals that Brivia Group has agreed to pay $55,000,000 in exchange for cutting the 102 social housing units, which translates to approximately $539,216 per unit. Had the developer opted to stick with the original plan, they would have instead been obligated to pay $70,000,000 in community amenity contributions (CACs) that was negotiated by the City in exchange for the rezoning.
According to the City, $20,000,000 (36%) will be payable just prior to rezoning enactment — a step that comes after rezoning approval. The remaining $35,000,000 (64%) will then be payable either upon the issuance of the demolition permit for the site or exactly two years after the rezoning is enacted — whichever comes first.
"The Outstanding Balance will be charged interest from the enactment date of the amending rezoning by-law at prime plus 2%, with interest paid to the City on quarterly instalments until the date that such amount is fully paid," said staff in the report. "For certainty, no building permit will be issued on this project until the deferred Outstanding Balance is paid to the City, plus accrued interest."
Staff also added that if rezoning enactment has not occurred within two years of the day Council approves the application (March 11, 2025), then Council can terminate, rescind, or reconsider the application.
As reported by STOREYS in December, CURV has had difficulty hitting its presale targets, a requirement for construction financing. That is in part due to market conditions, in part due to CURV's ambitious prices, and in part due to British Columbia's Real Estate Development Marketing Act (REDMA), which requires developers to secure construction financing and a building permit within 12 months. CURV is now on its second attempt, but the BC Financial Services Authority recently introduced a change extending the 12 months to 18 months and the change will apply to CURV (upon application).
A new rendering of CURV, next to The Butterfly, in Vancouver. / Brivia Group
Following The Money
At the Council meeting this week, the discussion began with several questions about the $55 million, including what the City can get with that money, where that money will go, and how the City arrived at that figure.
Citing current economic conditions and looming tariffs, Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung first asked staff what the City could do with the $55 million, which is to be allocated towards social housing.
"It actually creates different opportunities," said Dan Garrison, Director of Housing Policy and Regulation. "You might leverage that money, you might use that money to partner with other levels of government. So, instead of building the 100 units or so that we initially envisioned in this project, you might take $55 million and leverage that into, say, 200 to 250 units, if it was a capital contribution to a financed project — or even more if you use that as capital contributions into non-profit developments. There are a number of ways our Housing Development Office can use that funding to leverage it and turn it into more housing."
Kirby-Yung then asked whether the $55 million had to be used in the West End. Garrison said there is no firm requirement, but that Council had previously directed staff, when the West End Rezoning Policy was amended, to prioritize the West End. If there are no viable options there, then the City may look at other locations.
After confirming that CURV was indeed the first project to take advantage of this new cash-in-lieu option, Councillor Peter Meiszner then asked how the City arrived at the $55 million figure and whether it included the land cost as well.
Although the report that was being considered by Council stated that cash-in-lieu payments in such scenarios "reflect the costs the City of Vancouver may incur to deliver such social housing off-site, including land and construction," Garrison said it not include land costs in this particular case.
"It does not include the land cost," said Garrison, who later added the City envisions using the money on land it already owns. "It was an estimate of construction cost — both hard and soft costs. It did not include land in this case."
Following a recess, a resident of the existing rental building voiced concerns about being displaced. Following her comments, after confirming that eligible tenants will have the right of first refusal to the new market rental units at either a 20% discount to city-wide average market rents or their current rent, Council approved Brivia Group's application unanimously.
