A project slated for Commercial Drive will not be going ahead.
The Kettle Society and Boffo Properties announced on Tuesday that they will not be moving forward with a 12-storey project at Commercial Drive and Venables Street, putting the blame squarely on the city.
“The reason for our decision is simple,” said a statement on the Kettle Boffo Project website. “Given the recent financial requirements placed on it by the City of Vancouver, the project is no longer economically feasible.”
The project was to include 30 units of supportive housing for people with mental illness along with expanded drop-in services, to be financed by the construction of up to 200 units of market housing and 18,000 square feet of retail space.
The city responded on Tuesday afternoon, saying it “offered up to $12 million in grants to allow Kettle to own the Welcome Centre and affordable housing.”
It went on to say, “the developer did not submit a rezoning application which would have been the first step in moving the project forward.”
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The proposed 12-storey development ran into opposition from nearby residents.
The NO TOWER Coalition collected thousands of signatures for a petition against the proposed development.
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The announcement came on a day when the city released new details about its housing strategy that will require 30 per cent of new large developments to be devoted to affordable housing — 20 per cent for low-income options and 10 per cent for moderate-income units.
The city also pledged to build 12,000 units of social and supportive housing over the next 10 years, using the $2-billion property endowment fund announced last week.
- With files from Nadia Stewart
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