Sometimes the approval process takes so long that the development landscape changes and developers have to revise their projects. The latest example of this happening is a project by Vancouver-based Reliance Properties, who recently submitted a new rezoning application for a project they had applied for back in November 2023.
The subject site of the project is 904-920 Davie Street, at the intersection with Hornby Street, and is immediately east of Reliance's multi-tower Burrard Place project, meaning Reliance controls the entire block of Hornby Street between Davie Street and Drake Street.
The 904-920 Davie Street site, which Reliance together refers to as 902 Davie, currently consists of three low-rise commercial buildings that were all originally constructed before 1975. The three buildings are occupied by a 7-Eleven, Popeye's Supplements, and a mixed martial arts studio named District Warrior.
BC Assessment values the properties at $6,664,900, $10,667,900, and $6,299,300, respectively, for a total valuation (dated to July 1, 2024) of $23,632,100. The properties are beneficially owned by Reliance Properties through 904 Davie Holdings Ltd. and Rattenbury Enterprises Ltd.
The 904-920 Davie Street (902 Davie Street) site in Vancouver. / Neil M. Denari Architects, Bingham + Hill Architects, Reliance Properties
In November 2023, Reliance Properties submitted a rezoning application for 902 Davie and proposed a 29-storey mixed-use tower with 179 condos, 36,708 sq. ft of office space, and 4,716 sq. ft of retail space.
That application was withdrawn in February 2025 and a new rezoning application was submitted with a proposal for a 32-storey tower that would reach a maximum height of 348 ft. The tower includes 244 condos and 11,329 sq. ft of retail space for a total proposed density of 13.3 FSR — only a slight increase from the previous proposal's 12.91 FSR.
The 244 condos will have a suite mix of 40 studio units, 113 one-bedroom units, 62 two-bedroom units, and 29 three-bedroom units. The rezoning application notes that potential amenities include a fitness centre, yoga and dance studio, sauna and steam room, theatre room, music room, co-working space, meeting space, a lounge, a multipurpose room, a golf simulator, and even an indoor rock climbing facility.
A rendering of the proposed tower from along Hornby Street. / Neil M. Denari Architects, Bingham + Hill Architects, Reliance Properties
A rendering of the proposed tower from the corner of Hornby Street and Davie Street. / Neil M. Denari Architects, Bingham + Hill Architects, Reliance Properties
Los Angeles-based Neil M. Denari Architects and Vancouver-based Bingham + Hill Architects are serving as the architects of the project, which remains a tower above a podium, although the latter has been redesigned slightly since the previous proposal.
"In continuing the metaphor of nature, has there been anything more apparently 'natural' to Vancouver development than the Podium/Tower building type? With urban street-wall mass demanded on the lower levels, filled with diverse programs and slim towers above, this typology follows incredibly clear urban and economic logics," the applicants state in their application. "As a mixed-use project, 902 Davie has, at least on paper, the same sort of ambition to define both street level urbanity and the skyline."
"While 902 Davie works completely within the given limits of the zoning envelope, we have nonetheless sought to evolve the simple podium/tower relationship," they added. "To achieve this, we have 'floated' the perforated mass for the most part on columns, which in combination with strategic moments of sloping façade surfaces, gives the building a highly particularized relationship to the street. As the mass of the tower merges with the podium at the Hornby/Davie intersection, with a façade pattern that covers both elements, the discrete nature of each creates a singular whole."
Renderings of the 32-storey tower proposed for 904-920 Davie Street in Vancouver. / Neil M. Denari Architects, Bingham + Hill Architects, Reliance Properties
An overview of the full block bounded by Burrard Street, Davie Street, Hornby Street, and Drake Street in Vancouver. / Neil M. Denari Architects, Bingham + Hill Architects, Reliance Properties
Speaking on the new rezoning application, Reliance Properties Director of Development Joanna Kwan said in a rezoning letter of intent addressed to the City that after the original application received approval from the Urban Design Panel in April 2024, they began the negotiation process for community amenity contributions (CACs) with the City in July 2024, but no agreement had been reached as of May 2025 and the market for strata office space has slowed down in that time.
Reliance expressed interest in replacing the office space with additional residential space in January 2025, upon which the City recommended the previous application be withdrawn and a new one be submitted, with the understanding that the new application would not have to go through the Urban Design Panel process again.
After publishing the rezoning application this week, the City of Vancouver will be hosting a Q&A period for the project from Wednesday, October 15 to Tuesday, October 28.
Elsewhere in Vancouver, Reliance Properties sold the seven-storey office building at 1190 Melville Street in late December and has been trying to sell the heritage BC Securities Commission Building at 402 West Pender Street and the Uniglobe Building at 1199 West Pender Street. In partnership with Texas-based Hines, Reliance is also currently developing a 32-storey office tower at 1166 West Pender Street, which is the only new AAA office tower currently in the pipeline in Vancouver.
