A rezoning application for a two-tower redevelopment of an iconic former motel property on Vancouver’s Main Street that has temporarily served as an artists’ lodge will go to public hearing March 13.
Developer Nicola Wealth Real Estate Acquisitions Ltd. wants to build a pair of rental towers on the City Centre Motor Hotel site at 2111 Main St. The buildings will reach 22 and 24 storeys, and contain a total of 446 rental homes.
At least 20 per cent of the residential floor area of what is planned to be a mixed-use complex will be designated as below-market rental units. The project will stretch over a city block between East Fifth and East Sixth Avenues.
“If approved, starting rents for the below‐market units will be 20 per cent less the city-wide average market rents at the time of initial occupancy,” said a city staff report.
“On unit turnover, rents in the below-market units may be reindexed to 20 per cent less the city-wide average market rent by unit type current at the time of unit turnover.”
Seventy-five artist studios
The development will mean the demolition of the 1950s-era motor hotel, which closed in 2021 after it was acquired by Nicola Wealth. Since the purchase, the two-level building was temporarily repurposed into the “City Centre Artist Lodge.”
The 75 artist studios were developed in collaboration with the Narrow Group and the Vancouver Mural Festival. The rooms are work-only studios, and there are no existing residential tenants on site.
But redevelopment will not mean an end to artists on the property.
The developer’s proposal calls for a 5,820-squre-foot “on-site cultural amenity space.”
“This space would allow for a variety of higher impact visual art practices aligned with artist studio class B uses,” the staff report said. “Once constructed to the city’s satisfaction, this space will be conveyed turnkey to the city.”
'Sacred space'
Artist Devon Welter currently rents a studio in the building and said he is grateful to have space to create art. He pays just under $700 a month, he said, noting the affordable rent is appreciated in an expensive city such as Vancouver.
“It’s been a sacred space for me as an artist,” said Welter, standing in the parking lot of the property Monday.
Whether Welter gets an opportunity to move into the new building is unknown, but he doesn’t expect he will need to vacate his studio for at least a year. He is a multi-faceted artist, with skills in drawing, painting, sculpture and video.
“I'm trying to figure out my rent today, ironically, so I take it moment by moment,” he said. “I made art before I had this space. I'll still pursue the ideas I care about. Art for me is like a daily kind of activity, like a meditation.”
'Important city-wide conversation'
Victoria Emslie, director of corporate communications for Nicola Wealth, said in an email the project presents an opportunity to “contribute positively to the neighbourhood through thoughtful urban design, much-needed rental housing and a dedicated arts and cultural space.”
Emslie said the company cannot comment on the specific rental arrangements between the artists and their landlord, the Narrow Group. The lease agreement “was always intended as temporary during the rezoning/entitlement phase of the development,” she said.
“The temporary transformation of the City Centre Motel has highlighted the demand for arts space in the area, the creation of which is an important city-wide conversation,” Emslie said.
“While Nicola Real Estate is committed to the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, the long-term approach to affordable arts spaces is a matter of broader municipal policy. It is encouraging to see the City of Vancouver exploring ways to integrate cultural spaces into new developments.”
Added Emslie: “If approved on March 13, the project will move forward to construction in due course.”
The staff report said the proposed cultural amenity space would be an “affordable, shared, light-industrial, production space” for visual artists to pursue their work.
The new space would add to a network of nearby art spaces in the area, including the James Black Gallery, Red Gate Arts Society, the Beaumont Studios and the Western Front.
The city also has an artist housing and arts production space two blocks north of the site on Main Street, and has plans for a future arts and culture hub at 123 East 6th Ave.
Broadway plan
The proposal falls under the Broadway Plan, which allows towers up to 25 stories.
The plan requires a minimum of 35 per cent family units, including a minimum of 10 per cent to be three or more bedrooms and 25 per cent with two bedrooms. Nicola Wealth’s proposal includes 40 per cent family units in a mix of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units.
Vancouver has exhibited historically low vacancy rates in the last 30 years.
In 2023, the purpose-built apartment vacancy rate was 0.8 per cent in Vancouver.
The vacancy rate — based on the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Market Rental Survey — for Mount Pleasant/Renfrew Heights, is 0.5 per cent. A vacancy rate of between three and five per cent is considered to represent a balanced market.
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