Press Release: City Hall set to Consider New Developer Giveaways Amid Affordability Crisis
Vancouver, BC – While hospitality workers and working families are feeling squeezed by the lack of affordability in Vancouver, City Council will consider proposals at its upcoming regular Council meeting and Public Hearing on June 2 that may continue a troubling trend: developers receive additional benefits, flexibility, and exemptions, while affordable housing and community benefits are negotiated downward.
Hidden Hotel Incentive Buried in Bill 16 Update
One of the Public Hearing items is presented as a technical update to comply with provincial Bill 16 requirements on density bonuses and inclusionary zoning. However, tucked inside the report is a significant new incentive for downtown hotel developers.
The proposal would allow hotel projects to receive up to 20% additional floor area for private commercial amenities such as hotel pools, fitness centres, business centres, conference facilities, meeting rooms, and other private spaces.
Last year, Council exempted many hotel amenity spaces from Community Amenity Benefit calculations. This latest proposal would allow hotels to build larger while providing less public benefit in return for local residents.
City Hall has provided no evidence that the incentive is necessary. Council has already approved projects with over 3,200 hotel rooms, with thousands more in the development pipeline. If approved, the measure could allow larger hotel developments without delivering affordable housing, childcare, community facilities, or other public benefits.
“This proposal is being slipped into what is supposed to be a technical Bill 16 compliance update related to zoning for affordable housing,” said Zailda Chan, President of UNITE HERE Local 40. “Instead, City Hall is considering yet another unnecessary incentive to hotel developers that shortchanges us on community benefits.”
UNITE HERE Local 40 is urging Council to reject the bonus incentive for hotel developers.
West Side Tower Proposal Falls Below Social Housing Requirements
Council will also consider a revised rezoning application for 1745 West 8th Avenue. The proposal increases the number of market strata units from 421 to 441 while reducing the number of social housing units from 107 to 98.
Despite seeking significant increases in height and density, the developer is proposing less social housing than City policy requires. The result is a social housing component that falls below the 20% minimum contemplated under the Broadway Plan’s inclusionary housing framework. If Vancouver is serious about affordability, Council should not waive its own affordable housing requirements.
UNITE HERE Local 40 is urging Council to send the application back to staff and require compliance with the full 20% social housing target.
Regular Council Meeting Raises Additional Concerns
Council’s Regular Council meeting earlier that day contains several additional items that continue the pattern of prioritizing developer interests over affordability and public accountability.
Among them:
- 1500–1580 West 3rd Avenue: the applicant proposes a 17-storey hotel on scarce industrial land despite city staff acknowledging conflicts with existing planning policies and surrounding development.
- Expanded exemptions to the Empty Homes Tax: This would expand exemptions and provide another retroactive tax break for developers, even as the number of completed-but-unsold housing inventory climbed to 745 units.
Council will also consider 13 residential rezoning proposals, seven of which may result in tenant displacement from 158 existing rentals. Ten of the projects would not provide Community Amenity Contributions, despite the City’s ability to negotiate them.
Vancouver residents have heard promises that rapid approvals, increased density, and developer incentives will improve affordability. Yet working people are struggling with expensive housing and living costs while public benefits are increasingly negotiated away.
City Hall should be fighting for stronger affordability requirements, meaningful community benefits, protection for existing renters, and greater transparency, not creating new loopholes and incentives for developers to build unaffordable housing and luxury hotels.
CONTACT: Michelle Travis, [email protected], 778-960-9785