controversial vancouver tower project pivots from market rentals to medical lodging
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the developer of 2538 birch st. is seeking to amend zoning for the 28-storey mixed-use building.
nick procaylo
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10109964a
the developer of a controversial 28-storey tower on west broadway that was intended mostly for market rentals is set to sell the project to a new owner, who wants to convert 200 units into lodging for medical travellers.
despite receiving a low-cost loan from the province in 2023 to build the tower at 2538 birch st., the site of a former denny’s restaurant, jameson development corp. was not able to avoid financial pressures and put the project under creditor protection.
it has now agreed to sell the almost-completed project for $235 million to first peoples group, an indigenous advocacy firm, which is hoping to turn what were going to be 200 market rental units into hotel-like units for indigenous patients and their families coming to vancouver for treatment.
“priority will be given to first nations health authority patient travel programs, but it will be open to other medical travellers as well,” said george morrison of the fp group.
the sale of the project and its conversion to a hotel come at a time when more purpose-built rental projects are being completed while demand for them is dropping due to reduced immigration and international student restrictions, as well as a weaker economy.
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for the past six months, first peoples has been working with jameson as it finishes construction of the tower to customize some of the rooms and spaces in the building, said morrison.
jameson approached the city in late november with a proposal to change the rezoning bylaw to allow for 200 hotel-like units instead of 200 market-rental units.
the building will be known as the first people’s patient travel lodge and operated by a non-profit group, the dunna’eh house of healing.
the building at 2538 birch st.
nick procaylo
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10109964a
morrison said there will be a “community centre feel” with on-site nurses as well as other services to address different health needs from mental to dental, as well as drop-in child care for parents receiving medical treatment and programs to ensure food security.
he said that nightly rates will be in line with predictable ranges set by the first nations health authority’s programs, likely between $325 to $365 a night.
“there has been a struggle for many years for our first nation patient travellers. we saw some from the yukon and across b.c. trying to find hotels and other places to stay, and rates that were sometimes going to $750 a night,” said morrison.
he added that rates would be stable and not spike during special events such as concerts or peak travel seasons.
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the original project included plans to devote 58 units for people with moderate incomes, and that has not changed. the city, which provided development cost levy waivers valued at about $3.1 million, said in an email it will continue to review the project and determine any implications to the waivers during the rezoning amendment process.
“while our original project would have been a big success, when first peoples group and dunna’eh house of healing society approached us to work with them to create first peoples patient travel lodge and maintain the 58 below-market workforce housing units, we knew it was an opportunity we could not pass up,” said tony pappajohn, jameson’s president.
“it’s about reconciliation in action and supporting both indigenous and non-indigenous medical travellers.”
the original project was narrowly approved by the city in 2020 after the size of the project increased from 17 storeys to 28 storeys. there was heavy community opposition at the time due to the building’s size.
there are now many projects in the pipeline along the broadway corridor that are in earlier stages of being built and are slated to be even taller.
in 2023, the b.c. ndp government gave the project $164 million in low-interest financing from an affordable housing program to underwrite the project.
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“we’re taking action to help boost housing supply for people in vancouver, and this new development adds much-needed stock at both market and affordable levels,” ravi kahlon, then the minister of housing, said at the time.
the sale price of $235 million includes consideration of that b.c. housing loan, which morrison said the developer, jameson, would pay back to the government.
despite the sale price of $235 million working out to be about $910,000 for each of the building’s 258 units, morrison is confident about the benefits of securing the units in this central location.
“who knows what it would have cost for us to build this and the time it would have taken,” he said.
sean nardi, a member of the fairview/south granville action committee who was opposed to the size of the original project, said that after all these years, the end result is “a measly 58 suites to battle housing unaffordability.”
he added that “affordable rentals for medical tourists are a good thing, but what happened to those 258 rentals that vancouver badly needs?”
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