Broadway Plan updates approved, 41,500 new homes on deck over 30 years

VANCOUVER — Vancouver City Council has approved updates to the contentious Broadway Plan which will see 41,500 new homes added to its roster.

Currently, under the plan, there are 139 projects in the development pipeline, which include 15,372 market-rental housing units, 3,549 below-market rental and social housing, 1,403 strata homeownership units and over 7.4-million-square-feet of job space.

With the updates, over the next 30 years, the Broadway Plan area could see 41,500 net new homes, accommodating up to 64,000 additional residents; 45,000 net new jobs; and 3,000 new hotel rooms, states a release.

Council also adopted the Broadway Public Realm and Streetscape Plan, and the Civic District Plan.

The public realm plan sets targets for the Broadway Plan area to increase public space by 25 acres, including 13 acres of additional parks and park-like spaces, and reallocate at least 11 per cent of road space for public spaces, wider sidewalks and seating areas.

The Civic District plan involves reimagining the area around city hall as a “vibrant, inclusive community hub. Developed with public input, this features new public plazas, revitalized green space and tree provision, and mixed-use buildings to meet the evolving needs of the city, residents, and businesses,” the release adds.

The Broadway Plan’s 30-year vision is intended to be flexible as new opportunities and challenges arise. Change will happen incrementally across the 500 blocks of the Broadway Plan area, the city states.

The plan was first approved in 2022. Since then new provincial legislation on Transit Oriented Areas (TOAs) has required updates.

As a result some changes were needed to fully meet the new requirements.

Council has approved the following changes:

Increased building heights and densities in certain areas to meet or exceed legislated minimums.
Removal of tower limit policies mainly within 400 metres of SkyTrain stations, to comply with legislated height requirements. Existing policies on tower separation, minimum site frontage and setbacks will continue to regulate the number of towers per block and encourage a range of building types.