GWL Realty Advisors broke ground Wednesday on their upcoming 21-storey rental apartment tower at 1500 Robson Street in the city’s West End.
The new building will add 128 purpose-built rental units to a neighbourhood experiencing extremely low rental vacancy rates.
One-third of the building will be made up of two- and three-bedroom units suitable for families.
Amenities will include a fitness centre, yoga and lounge rooms as well as a rooftop patio with an outdoor fireplace, seating area and dining space. The entire penthouse floor of the tower has been set aside as a common area for all tenants. The building will also be pet and cyclist friendly.
Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart attended this morning’s groundbreaking ceremony.
“Developments like this one at 1500 Robson are adding much-needed supply to the downtown rental market,” says Mayor Kennedy Stewart. “In order to alleviate the housing shortage in our city, we need more of all types of housing – especially purpose-built rental. By incorporating larger units suitable for families into the design, this new tower at 1500 Robson will also help diversify the housing mix in the Lower Robson neighbourhood.”
GWL Realty Advisors says the Lower Robson neighbourhood has some of the highest land costs in the city, with new developments tending to take the form of luxury condominiums, like Landmark on Robson. This new tower breaks with the trend by being a purpose-built market rental tower from an institutional developer that intends to hold and manage the building on a long-term basis.
It’s the first project on the Robson corridor to be approved under the new West End Community Plan and is in line with the City’s policy of increasing rental housing density in the area.
The building is expected to be finished in early 2021. Architects are IBI Group.
