HERITAGE REVITALIZATION & THE SUSTAINABLE CITY: LESSONS FROM VANCOUVER

Michael Geller Architect AIBC, FCIP, RPP Adjunct Professor, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver,

Canada www.gellersworldtravel.blogspot.com www.michaelgeller.ca

Vancouver is striving to be the greenest city in the world by 2020

Initiatives include Green Transportation, Green Economy, Climate Leadership and Green Buildings

Green buildings are energy efficient and encourage green forms of transportation like walking and biking

‘Vancouverism’: towers above townhouses along the north shore of False Creek

However, the Greenest Building Is One That Already Exists

How Vancouver encourages protection

and preservation of heritage buildings Heritage Registry & Designation Heritage Conservation Areas Density incentives for developers

Heritage Revitalization Agreements Transferable Heritage Density Bonuses Density for Sale: Density Bank

The goal is to use private money to the extent possible, rather than government funds

Heritage Registry & Designation

Vancouver has 2,150 registered heritage buildings, 131 parks and trees, and additional monuments and archaeological sites.

Owners compensated for any possible loss in property value, perceived or real.

Also compensated for rehabilitation and ongoing obligations of the designation.

Compensation can be in money but - most often - through bylaw relaxations, density bonuses, etc.

Heritage Conservation Areas

The City has designated four Heritage Conservation Areas

Zoning regulations and design guidelines preserve and protect their historic character

These regulations ensure that new development in these protected areas is compatible with the area character.

Chinatown, one of four Heritage Areas

Gastown Historic Conservation Area

• The birthplace of Vancouver in 1886• Given restricted site area, property owners allowed to sell

density• One innovative development filled in space between buildings

with glass structure

Yaletown Heritage Conservation Area

• Yaletown: “Where next begins”• Warehouse area converted to retail/residential with loft apartments• Property owners allowed to add floors to increase density• Some new high-rise buildings designed to reflect historic character

Transferable Heritage Density Bonuses

Under this program, if a developer agrees to rehabilitate a heritage building, the City will allow an increase in density.

In some cases, it will not be possible to add more development to the site where the heritage building is located.

In these instances, the city may allow the developer to transfer the bonus density to a separate site

Historic CPR Railway station

• Vancouver’s Urban Design Panel rejected this proposal by Adrian Smith, one of the world’s top architects

• Sometimes new projects just don’t fit. This site could not accommodate the available heritage density

Heritage Revitalization Agreements Density bonuses and

transfers secured by binding agreements negotiated between the City and heritage property owner.

The terms of the agreement supercede land use and zoning regulations and may vary use, density and siting

Establish timing and financial conditions

The Sylvia Hotel and apartments

A creative highrise design : half the tower is a copy of the hotel, while the other half is a very modern design

Tudor Manor: new tower rising out of middle of a heritage building

Pacific Heights Cooperative:apartments behind heritage buildings

City Square: a new glass shopping center wrapped around heritage

buildings

Woodwards: a comprehensive mixed-use redevelopment of a

heritage store

• A popular development even though little of original building remains

• Famous ‘W’ sign served as design inspiration for high-rise tower

• Mix of uses includes condominium and low-income housing, offices, retail university, and public space

Banking density for sale Sometimes not possible to

accommodate density on site. Vancouver allows developers

to ‘bank’ unused density for sale to others

Buying and selling transferable density is a transaction between two private property owners. The City is not involved in negotiations.

An imaginative idea; however the program has not worked well

Summary and Conclusions As government subsidies

dwindle, cities are increasingly dependent upon private sources of financing to restore and preserve their many seriously deteriorated monuments and buildings

While Vancouver developers use to avoid heritage properties, today they are viewed as profitable financial opportunities

I hope this presentation has given you something to think about and inspired you to visit Vancouver. Please contact me at

geller@sfu.ca