October 19, 2017

How to build an apartment building in RS-1

From Jake Fry:
Eight good-sized three-bedroom apartments.

I lived across from this for a number of years  and it disappeared into the streetscape of single-family homes.
(Other contributions welcomed.)
 
 

Posted in

Support

If you love this region and have a view to its future please subscribe, donate, or become a Patron.

Share on

Comments

  1. We need more of these less intrusive buildings in Vancouver.
    Does the math work with a $3M to $4M 50 – 66 foot lot price ie a land price of $375,000 to $500,000 per 3 BR ? Or only in cheaper parts of E-Van sub $2M?
    Assuming build costs of $300/sq ft plus $100 for soft costs, delays and permitting I arrive at 875,000 to $1M per 1250 3BR if two of those per floor. 8 x 1250 sq ft = 10,000 sq ft on a 50 x 130 lot or roughly 1.5 FSR. Doable: yes. More housing: yes. Affordable: not really.
    That’s why you usually see land assembly of more than one lot and a higher FSR.

  2. This intersection. Quebec and 27th.
    https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Quebec+St+%26+E+27th+Ave,+Vancouver,+BC/@49.2472444,-123.1033188,3a,75y,56.18h,89.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sV_jxu5NyszZofdwND1vvJw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x548673f71c1613ad:0x1ac1d7a9e4c64684!8m2!3d49.2472586!4d-123.103241
    Apartment block on one corner, single family next to it and across the street. Spin street view around and at the end of that dead end street is a townhouse complex and a small park connection through to James St.
    All fantastic, complex and liveable and yet totally contrary to current planning. Hmmmmm

    1. The Quebec and Sophia streetscapes are unusual. I suspect small time builders took up the land just before WWI at the eastern boundary of the old CPR land grant (Ontario St) and didn’t have to follow the rules the CPR planners put down within their land. The result? Diversity!
      The zoning bylaw kicked in over 40 years later and has barely budged south of 16th Ave despite orders of magnitude population growth.
      One thing that came within a hair’s breadth of being realized was an 8-lane freeway from the Georgia-Dunsmuir viaducts to Richmond. To build it they were prepared to mow a I-block wide swath between Quebec and Ontario streets … thousands of homes and apartments would have been destroyed. That is hard to imagine today, and we can remember Art Philips for killing it.

      1. The article picture isn’t 27th/Quebec, my street view link is just another example of apartments within residential areas that work.

  3. “How to” in the internet age? Just put up a leafy quaint photo. In the Trump age, it’s called fake news.
    That streetview sample on the corner is a 3-storey with 12 units, built in 1913 on the eve of the WW1 for $10k, it was deemed unaffordable in its early years. Land (only) currently assessed at $2.3m. Transacted in 2012 for $193k/suite.
    It is woefully in non-compliance with current regulations, e.g. only has off-street parking for four (4) vehicles. To replicate today is very difficult, infeasible in many locations. Then there’s the grey hairs and hipsters screaming change in character.

    1. Fake news? It’s a photo of an actual thing. Just cause you don’t like it doesn’t make it fake.
      The point, should you care to understand it, is exactly your last sentence. While this is contrary to current regulations and policies, people love it. So what does that say about our current regulations and policies?

Subscribe to Viewpoint Vancouver

Get breaking news and fresh views, direct to your inbox.

Join 7,284 other subscribers

Show your Support

Check our Patreon page for stylish coffee mugs, private city tours, and more – or, make a one-time or recurring donation. Thank you for helping shape this place we love.

Popular Articles

See All

All Articles