As the office market in Vancouver has softened, developers have had to adjust their projects accordingly. Where commercial uses are the only option, developers have been pivoting to hotels, but most would undoubtedly prefer to pivot to purpose-built rental, as GWL Realty Advisors (GWLRA) is doing with its project in the False Creek Flats.
The subject site is 1220 Station Street (also referred to as 1296 Station Street), at the intersection with Terminal Avenue. The property is located immediately south of Pacific Central Station and runs along Terminal Avenue parallel to the SkyTrain guideway, one block east of Main Street-Science World Station.
The site was once home to a Party Bazaar store before it became the subject of a 13-storey office proposal in 2018 by Rize Alliance, who named the project The Onyx. The property was then acquired in 2020 by GWL Realty Advisors — a subsidiary of the Canada Life Assurance Company, which is itself owned by Great-West Lifeco. The project was renamed False Creek Station and was set to provide around 270,000 sq. ft of AAA office space to the False Creek Flats, which the City of Vancouver has envisioned as a key employment district.
The project progressed to the point that the previous building was demolished and the site cleared by 2022, but it has remained relatively dormant since then. BC Assessment values 1220 Station Street at $68,939,000, as of July 1, 2024, and the property is held by the owners under 1296 Station Street Properties Ltd.
1220 Station Street in Vancouver, immediately south of Pacific Central Station. / MCMP Architects, GWL Realty Advisors
GWL Realty Advisors tells STOREYS that the False Creek Station office project has been cancelled and the company announced on December 23 that it had submitted a new rezoning application to develop two towers that would reach a height of 28 storeys and sit atop a shared building podium. The rezoning application has yet to be published by the City of Vancouver, but was shared with STOREYS.
The West Tower, at the intersection of Station Street and Terminal Avenue, would provide a 176 rental units, comprised of 35 studio units, 70 one-bedroom units, 60 two-bedroom units, nine three-bedroom units, and two four-bedroom units — an extreme rarity in BC. The East Tower would then provide 164 rental units, comprised of 22 studio units, 70 one-bedroom units, 59 two-bedroom units, 12 three-bedroom units, and one four-bedroom unit.
The two towers would be connected via a 12-storey building podium that would house 63 additional studio units, meaning the proposal is for a total of 403 rental units. Of those 403 rental units, approximately 20% will be provided as below-market rental units. Completing the podium will then be 25,935 sq. ft of office / medical lab space on the third floor, 26,000 sq. ft of retail space for a grocery store on the second floor, and 4,712 sq. ft of additional retail space on the ground floor.
View of the project from along Station Street. / MCMP Architects, GWL Realty Advisors
View of the project from the corner of Station Street and Terminal Avenue. / MCMP Architects, GWL Realty Advisors
The project site is currently zoned FC-2 and GWL Realty Advisors is seeking to amend the existing zoning to "restore the residential use that was removed by the [False Creek] Flats Plan in 2017 due to a no-longer present livability concern created by the former intercity bus station at Pacific Central," which they say was an impediment to past residential development inquiries.
"We are seeking a rezoning of 1220 Station Street to bring a transit-oriented, hospital-supporting, mixed-use project to the False Creek Flats," said Geoff Heu and Michael Reed, both of whom are Vice Presidents of Development for GWLRA in Western Canada, in the rezoning application. "In recognition of the new St Paul's Hospital campus and the site's direct adjacency to the Main Street SkyTrain Station – this project is envisioned to serve as a gateway and be the missing link connecting the SkyTrain to the rest of the West Flats neighbourhood, including the hospital."
"The previous owner received a development permit for an office building on the site, which is no longer viable due to market conditions for office space," the applicants added. "Based on historic absorption rates, the significant increased office capacity created as part of the new St Paul's Hospital more than satisfies over 30 years of office demand for this area of the False Creek Flats. Finally, the proposed rezoning provides over 400 new rental homes (with 20% offered at below market rents), and significant commercial space that directly support the new St Paul's Hospital by providing desperately needed food and retail services to the area, and providing rental housing for hospital staff and emergency responders in direct proximity to the hospital function."
Aerial view of the proposal for 1220 Station Street in Vancouver. / MCMP Architects, GWL Realty Advisors
View of the proposed towers from Pacific Central Station. / MCMP Architects, GWL Realty Advisors
The False Creek Flats Plan approved in 2017 outlined a vision to increase the number of jobs in the district from 8,000 to at least 30,000, but many felt that the vision left too little room for housing. As a result, the Flats has seen few proposals for housing, with one of the lone ones being a proposal by Strand for a site on the north side of the new St. Paul's Hospital. Other housing proposals have been more focused on the area of the Flats south of Terminal Avenue, near future Broadway Subway stations.
Close to GWLRA's site, Greystar has submitted a rezoning application for two rental towers at the McDonald's at 1527 Main Street, although the site is on the west side of Main Street, meaning it is outside of the False Creek Flats Plan area.
This is also the second twin-tower proposal for GWL Realty Advisors, who submitted a development application in November to construct a 28-storey and 29-storey rental tower at 1525-1555 Robson Street in the West End. GWLRA is also developing a 32-storey rental tower at 1055 Harwood Street, also in the West End, and previously developed the 33-storey Vancouver Centre II office tower next door to Scotia Tower on Seymour Street.
