A 30-storey tower that includes a Marriott hotel and more than 200 housing units is proposed on the Columbia Theatre site.
Kirsten Robinson, a senior development planner with the city, said the mixed-used development proposal includes 95 hotel rooms, a hotel lounge, 216 stratified residential dwelling units, and a retail space on the Front Street side of the building.
A staff report states the ground floor of the building facing Columbia Street would contain an auditorium/multipurpose venue, a theatre lobby, a coffee bar and the residential entrance. Hotel uses would be concentrated on the building’s third to tenth floors, while residential uses would be on floors 11 to 30.
Under the current proposal, the Columbia Street facade would be retained and restored, including the restoration of the theatre’s marquee (it’s not currently on the building). Other heritage elements would be removed and reconstructed, including the Front Street façade and heritage-protected interior design elements, including the atmospheric ceiling, plasterwork, and murals.
Where possible, original doors, windows, balconies, and other features would be retained and rehabilitated, said a report to council.
The House of Comedy currently operates in the Columbia Theatre. Instead of a theatre, the project plans to include an auditorium.
“Marriott International has expressed interest in the hotel to be operated as part of their collection of boutique hotels,” said the report. “The auditorium is proposed to be operated by the hotel as a multi-purpose venue.”
The applicant has offered to enter into a community use agreement, which would allow community associations and non-profit organizations to rent the space at a 30 per cent discount to the market rate, subject to availability, up to a maximum of 100 hours per year.
Revised plan
At a July 15 workshop, staff sought council’s feedback and approval to proceed with work related to heritage revitalization agreement and special development permit applications for the site at 530 Columbia St.
When council considered a preliminary application review related to the Columbia Theatre site in January 2019, the plan called for the full retention and restoration of the heritage building and auditorium. That plan called for a 75-room hotel in a 22-storey tower.
Demian Rueter, the city’s manager of development planning, said the applicant has revised its thinking on a couple of key issues. As a result, staff wanted to ensure the proposal meets council’s expectations and strikes the right balance between the policy objectives and the community benefits that would be obtained.
At Monday’s workshop, staff sought council’s feedback on various aspects of the proposal, including: the revised approach for addressing heritage aspects of the Columbia Theatre; the hours, affordability and approaches being considered for community use of the auditorium; and the provision of a hotel, heritage components and community use of the auditorium as benefits.
Staff also sought feedback about whether council supported the height and density proposed.
According to a staff report, the proposed 30-storey tower would be the tallest building in the Columbia Street Historic Precinct.
Parking and family-friendly housing
A staff report said the proposal includes several benefits to the community, including provision of new housing units and 95 hotel rooms that may help revitalize Columbia Street and the downtown. It noted that construction of the tower and underground parking would require “significant demolition and reconstruction” of the protected heritage building.
According to the report, a three-level parkade is proposed. A total of 57 off-street vehicle parking spaces are proposed (39 commercial and 18 resident)
“The applicant has indicated that, given the site size and other constraints, car elevators, stacking systems, and valet service would be required,” said the report.
At Monday’s workshop, staff also sought council’s feedback on the family-friendly housing units being proposed.
Staff noted that the current proposal does not comply with the family friendly housing policy, which requires 20 per cent of units to contain two bedrooms and 10 per cent to contain three bedrooms. Eight per cent of the proposed residential units would contain two bedrooms; no three-bedroom units are planned.
According to the staff report, the applicant has indicated that these relaxations are required to make the proposal feasible; without them the project would not proceed.
Rueter said the developer has indicated that it is challenging to sell larger units without providing any associated parking.
Coun. Ruby Campbell questioned if “creative” parking solutions could be found for the hotel, such as valet parking or parking on the Front Street parkade, in order to allow more two- and three-bedroom units to be included in the tower.
Rueter said all of the building’s parking would be a valet type of model.
“There'd be a sort of a stacked system underground and you'd have to call to get your car out,” he said. “There’s a certain amount that you need to make a hotel functional to the operator, and there's the need to provide some parking for marketability. There's just some concern that there might be really difficult to sell those (larger) units without any parking associated with them.”
Impact on neighbours
The staff report noted that the mid-block site may impact development of adjacent properties due to tower separation requirements.
“Based on analysis provided by the applicant, design adjustments, such as introduction of a zero lot line condition above the third storey on the west elevation, could improve adjacent development potential by allowing more development on the podium levels,” said the report. “However, this may result in fewer hotel rooms where windows are limited. Consolidation with adjacent properties could improve tower siting which may benefit the entire block.”
Rueter said staff are trying to comprehensively look at what the block might look like over the longer term and trying to make sure neighbouring sites have as much future redevelopment potential as possible.
“Right now, the adjacent neighbours are not at the table so we're trying to have to work with the developer to try to refine the design so that we're able to still have some developability in that area,” he said.
Robinson said the Army Navy site (located on the east side of the Columbia Theatre) is a larger site, so its redevelopment opportunities are less of a concern. She said the heritage properties to the west, including a heritage-protected bank, would be more challenging for construction of a tower.
Next steps
After providing staff with feedback about the proposal at the July 15 workshop, council unanimously supported a recommendation instructing staff to process the proposed heritage revitalization agreement and special development permit applications for 530 Columbia St.
Several council members expressed support of a hotel on Columbia Street. No one expressed concerns about the height of the proposed building.
Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said she doesn’t think a 30 per cent reduction in the cost to community groups renting the auditorium is sufficient, noting a lot of organizations don’t have funding for venue rentals.
“I really like the idea of the of the hotel keen on that. I'm not particularly bothered about the height of it, but I am looking at more in terms of community benefit,” she said. “I would personally love to see it retained as a space where people can put on shows and theatre and comedy shows and art and all that, as opposed to something that has a much more limited usage.”
Coun. Ruby Campbell said she was struggling with the number of family- friendly units proposed in the project but recognizes it is tied to parking.
“I know that's part of the negotiations here,” she said. “We are in a situation, and we'll continue to be in a situation, where we have more families living downtown. And they need space. We need to be able to have three bedrooms for those families.”
Coun. Daniel Fontaine said he believes a hotel is a good thing for the community, but questioned if dollars for amenities such as parks and recreation facilities could be provided if the city were to consider a building of higher than 30 storeys.
Rueter said costs tend to get more expensive the higher a project goes, as it can generate the need for things such as additional elevator bays.
“This is quite a dense development that's being proposed,” he added. “As you saw in the stats, 18.8 FSR (floor space ratio) is very, very high for the region. This is a very constrained site.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said he thinks the proposed heritage approach is a positive way of looking at how the city can preserve and improve the area’s unique streetscape.
“Overall, I'm pretty positive about it. … I do see the public benefit in us restoring the space, I do see the public benefit in us having a hotel downtown,” he said. “It's not the kind of housing that fills all of our housing needs, but we need to make sure that is a form of housing, we do still need downtown.”
The July 15 preliminary report to council is the first step of a process that also includes ongoing staff review of the plan, studies from the applicant, applicant-led and city-led consultation, and a public hearing.
