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Two rental housing towers eyed for Kingsway near Fraser Street in Vancouver

ByStan S.

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Nearly four years ago, a rezoning application was approved to redevelop the southeast corner of the intersection of Kingsway and Carolina Street — situated on the southernmost border of the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood of Vancouver — into a six-storey, mixed-use building with 80 secured purpose-built market rental homes.

But the project — which was one of the larger rental housing proposals in Metro Vancouver at the time, prior to the current wave of proposals — did not proceed as planned.

As it turns out, this is because the project was being redesigned for a much larger mixed-use rental housing concept under the prescriptions and stipulations of the City’s Broadway Plan.

A new rezoning application has been submitted to redevelop 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., which entails a larger development site than the original concept — growing the available footprint by 50 per cent to over 30,000 sq. ft. The project is just west of the prominent intersection of Kingsway and Fraser Street.

The original north site entails old low-rise commercial buildings, including a former funeral home building, while the addition of a south site includes a surface vehicle parking lot and low-rise residential and commercial buildings.

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

Site of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

Site of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Google Maps)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

Site of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

Cancelled 2020/2021 concept:

602-644 Kingsway Vancouver

Current condition (top) and 2020/2021 cancelled concept (bottom) of 602-644 Kingsway, Vancouver. (Studio One Architecture)

2025 revised concept:

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

Under the new application, local developer Bonnis Properties has partnered with architectural firm Perkins&Will to pursue a 167-ft-tall, 14-storey north tower and a 276-ft-tall, 25-storey south tower.

The proponents are pursuing a new concept with two high-rise towers, after determining that a project with three towers would not meet the minimum tower separation requirements from an adjacent lot on Kingsway.

There will be a total of 327 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 120 units in the north tower and 207 units in the south tower. Based on the Broadway Plan’s requirement of setting aside at least 20 per cent of the residential rental floor area for below-market units, there will be 66 below-market rental homes and 261 market rental homes.

The unit size mix is established as 152 studios, 47 one-bedroom units, 105 two-bedroom units, and 23 three-bedroom units.

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

The north and south towers will be physically connected on the second level by a pedestrian bridge over the laneway that separates the two sites, enabling continuous shared amenity spaces between both buildings. Expansive indoor and outdoor amenity spaces will be found on the second level — including landscaped outdoor areas on the base podium rooftops — along with outdoor amenity spaces on the rooftops of both towers.

The rooftop of the north tower’s podium also features a 2,900 sq. ft. childcare facility for up to 20 kids, plus outdoor play space.

Down below, about 19,400 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space spread across the ground levels of both buildings will activate the street frontages and a new public plaza. This triangular-shaped plaza space — a public space element passed down from the original concept — will be achieved by repurposing a 70-ft-long segment of East 15th Avenue and median that parallels Kingsway.

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

The floor plates of both towers rising above the podium are curved to strategically place the structural columns along the perimeter of the floor plates, which serves to optimize the views from the residential units and enable a more efficient unit layout. The exterior design is defined by a 40-60 window-to-wall ratio, with protruding balconies protected by steel picket guard railings.

Four underground levels at the north tower site will accommodate 141 vehicle parking stalls, while two underground levels at the south tower site will provide over 600 secured bike parking spaces.

Altogether, the project will generate a total floor building floor area of over 257,000 sq. ft., establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is 8.5 times larger than the size of the lot.

The site is well served by frequent bus routes along Kingsway, Fraser Street, and Main Street, and about a 15-minute walk from SkyTrain’s future Mount Pleasant Station (intersection of Main Street and East Broadway).

Under the Broadway Plan, high-rise tower developments are generally permitted along Kingsway between Main Street and Fraser Street, and along Fraser Street between East Broadway and Kingsway. There is now a growing cluster of high-rise tower developments in the area, including the recently approved tower projects of rental housing replacing the Kingsway parking lot of Mount St. Joseph Hospital to the west and the Kingsway/Fraser strip mall to the east.

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

602-644 Kingsway 603-617 East 16th Avenue Vancouver Bonnis Properties rental housing

2025 concept of 602-644 Kingsway and 603-617 East 16th Ave., Vancouver. (Perkins&Will/Bonnis Properties)

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