CD-1 Rezoning – 1527 West Hastings Street and 836 West Cordova Street (Cohen Block / Army and Navy Site) – Michael Green Architecture — Public Hearing, February 10, 2026
← Public Hearing February 10, 2026
Summary
- Michael Green Architecture applied to rezone two non-contiguous former Army & Navy department store sites — a 39-storey tower on West Hastings (519 rental units) and a 20-storey tower on West Cordova (219 rental units, 179-room hotel) — connected by a pedestrian skybridge; 20% of residential floor area across both sites is secured at below-market rents, with a deeper affordability split (70% at 20% below CMHC average, 30% at 50% below).
- BC Indigenous Housing Society is the intended operator of the 108 below-market units on the Hastings site; a 2,500 sq ft ground-floor retail space on Hastings will be offered at below-market rent to a nonprofit social enterprise for a minimum of 10 years; the laneway between the two sites will be activated with retail and public throughway.
- Staff noted the applications do not fully comply with existing policy — Victory Square allows rezoning but the proposed height and density exceed guidelines, and there is no rezoning enabling policy for the Gastown Historic Area; heritage conservation is limited to facade retention only. Staff nonetheless recommended approval on the basis that public benefits and the redevelopment opportunity outweigh the policy departures.
- Speakers in support (majority) included BC Indigenous Housing Society CEO, Gastown and Hastings Crossing BIAs, Destination Vancouver, neighbouring residents and businesses, and community service organisations, who emphasised housing need, neighborhood revitalisation, heritage respect, and the Cohen family's century-long community legacy.
- Two speakers raised concerns: one unhoused resident worried about displacement of Osborne shelter residents and called for a higher proportion of deeply affordable units; another nearby resident opposed the project unless non-market housing percentages were increased to include shelter-rate units, and questioned whether retail would be accessible to low-income residents.
- Council approved; members acknowledged the policy departures but supported the balance of benefits — below-market housing at deeper-than-typical affordability, indigenous housing partnership, heritage facade retention, hotel and retail activation, and the significance of the Cohen family's stewardship of the site for over a century. Councillors also noted the need to address what will happen to current Osborne shelter occupants when construction begins.