Holborn Group signed an agreement October 25 with the City of Vancouver and the B.C. government to build a 50-unit social housing building on a 6.2-hectare Little Mountain site before Holborn gets rezoning and approval to build an estimated 1,800 market housing units.
The new building will be part of what will eventually be 234 units of social housing on the site, which is bounded by East 33rd Avenue, East 37th Avenue, Main Street and Ontario Street.
Historically, 224 social housing units were on the site, although most of those units have already been demolished. Only about four families remain in social housing units on the site, Holborn Group president Joo Kim Tiah told Business in Vancouver after the announcement of the social housing deal.
The city passed a policy framework for the site in June.
"We are in the process of submitting our rezoning application and we hope to do that by the end of the year," Tiah said. "Then the rezoning, depending on how well it goes, could take anywhere from six to 18 months."
The rezoning process could involve some heated public hearings because some neighbours oppose the density that the project would create and want more amenities as compensation.
Construction on the stepped towers, which would be up to 12 storeys, would then take up to two years.
Tiah's other major project in Metro Vancouver is the under-construction, Arthur Erickson-designed twisting tower on Georgia Street that was once dubbed the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
"It's not called the Ritz Carlton anymore," Tiah said. "We haven't given it a marketing name yet. I'm in the process of tying up a hotel operator."
