Land Flipping

An eye-catching new condo tower has been proposed for a North York site that has a development history going back to the late 1990s, but has long sat vacant. The latest plans filed on behalf of a numbered company — 1000967286 Ontario Ltd. — call for the land to be intensified with a 35-storey building.

The site was first eyed for development over 25 years ago, when the formerly larger parcel containing a 17-storey apartment was split in two, making the vacant lands to the east their own separate lot with the goal of developing an 11-storey residential building on the new site. Between then and 2007, subsequent applications brought the height up to 16 storeys with 150 units, which was then approved by City Council that year. Now, the new owner is seeking a Zoning Bylaw Amendment to more than double the previously approved height, resulting in a total of 331 condo units and 244,491 sq. ft of gross floor area.

Vancouver was once set to become the home of the world's tallest wood frame tower, a 40-storey high-rise called Canada's Earth Tower that would also meet Passive House standards and put Vancouver on the map in terms of sustainable architecture. That project is now no longer moving forward, however. (Things are also not looking great for the Vancouver tower that was set to become the tallest passive house structure in the world.)

Canada's Earth Tower was being developed by Delta Land Development and was set for 1745 W 8th Avenue in Vancouver, which is now the subject of a new rezoning application that was published by the City this week, and which is now owned and being redeveloped by Vancouver-based Amacon.

Construction remains ongoing on the Broadway Subway, but the new Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station is already standing out from the other upcoming stations in terms of transit-oriented development. The new station will be located on the eastern side of Thornton Street just north of Great Northern Way, around which PCI Developments and Low Tide Properties are already planning three towers.

On the western side of Thornton Street is 375 E 1st Avenue, a 2.55-acre site also known as "Lot P" that is owned by Vancouver-based real estate developer Onni Group, which beneficially owns the property through Onni Developments (375 GNW) Corp. under Onni 375 GNW Holdings Corp. BC Assessment values the property, currently vacant, at $122,729,000 in an assessment dated to July 1, 2024.