Press Release: UNITE HERE Local 40 Urges Council to Prioritize Housing Affordability over Hotel and Developer Profits
Vancouver, BC – UNITE HERE Local 40, the union for hospitality workers, is raising concerns about three proposals before Council on May 5 that fail to address Vancouver’s urgent affordability crisis for modest- and lower-income residents.
Two proposals will go to public hearing, while a third will bypass a public hearing entirely.
“Fast-Tracking Rezoning” – A Citywide Giveaway to Developers:
City Hall is proposing a mass rezoning of 2,348 properties across Vancouver to fast-track 6-8 storey market rentals and hotels – with no requirement for below-market housing. Key corridors like Main Street, East Hastings, Fraser Street, Victoria Drive, West 4th, West 41st, Dunbar and others would be upzoned. The likely result: higher land values and rents, increased speculation, and displacement of renters, small businesses and workers.
Despite already approving thousands of hotel rooms, the City is offering incentives to hotel developers and would allow these projects to bypass public hearings, regardless of local area impacts.
These changes are explicitly designed to improve “project viability” for developers, while local area residents are largely left out of the process.
Cambie Street Project: No Affordable Housing, Minimal Public Benefit:
A proposed 29-storey tower at 888–896 Cambie would include 246 hotel rooms and 165 market rental units – but not a single unit of affordable housing. The applicant proposes to demolish a heritage building and would grant the developer a massive density increase (from 5.0 to 19.5 FSR) in exchange for just $1.38 million in community amenity contributions.
With average downtown market rents requiring incomes that exceed $90,000 -$150,000, these units will be out of reach for most Vancouver residents.
888 W 8th Hotel – No Public Hearing:
The third proposal, a 16-storey hotel, will bypass a public hearing altogether despite potential impacts on the quiet, residential street. If approved, this will be the third hotel project approved within walking distance of the area.
Council has approved projects with over 3,000 hotel rooms and nearly 4,000 more in the pipeline. Despite adopting a policy adding 10,000 hotel rooms by 2050, hotel approvals are moving so quickly that Council is on track to reach that number years – if not decades – ahead of schedule, all while the affordability crisis goes unaddressed.
Homes not Hotels:
This is a fundamental misalignment with what should be the city’s top priority; affordability. Many tourism workers cannot afford to live in the city they serve.
“These proposals double down on hotels and high-priced rentals, while doing nothing for affordability,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40. “Council should decide: are they governing for residents, or for developers?”
UNITE HERE Local 40 is urging Council to reject these proposals.
CONTACT: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785