Douglas Quan, May 28, 2017
VANCOUVER — In this city of towering glass, it could easily have been overlooked as “just another condo.”
But a proposed 12-storey condominium in the heart of Vancouver’s iconic Chinatown has stoked a red-hot debate unseen in this city for years, pitting those who believe the development is needed to revitalize the neighbourhood against those who fear the project will further erode the area’s unique character. Read more…
NATHALIE BAKER, May 13, 2017
If you’d like to understand why the housing-affordability crisis continues in Vancouver, look no further than the recently posted City of Vancouver staff report in support of the rezoning of 105 Keefer/544 Columbia streets.Read more…
by Melody Ma, May 26 2017
2nd Storify page by Melody for the Twitter updates on hearing.
by David Wong
Wanyee Li, May 18 2017
Chinatown advocates are once again readying themselves for a fight to protect their way of life in a corner of the neighbourhood that holds special meaning to the community. The proposed 12-storey condo would be built next to the Chinese-Canadian memorial at 105 Keefer St.. But many current Chinatown residents won’t be able to afford to live next to the very memorial dedicated to them and their families, said advocate Beverly Ho, with the Chinatown Concern Group. Read more…
By Melody Ma, May 24, 2017
A Storify page with Melody’s Twitter updates on 105 Keefer Public Hearing.
ANDY YAN, May 25, 2017
With the proposed rezoning of 105 Keefer and the prospective mass rezoning of the entire neighbourhood, Vancouver’s Chinatown faces a critical crossroads in its 130-plus-year existence — which paths will be chosen by Vancouver City Council over the next series of months. Planning and development in Chinatown is not the exception, but it has historically set the rule for the entire city.
The fight against the freeways in Chinatown in 1960s and ’70s is a founding myth of modern Vancouver. While seen by some civic and industry leaders of the day as a necessary means of economic revitalization and keeping the city “competitive,” an inner-city freeway proposal was defeated by a broad bottom-up coalition of citizens. These activists fought from the streets of Chinatown and Strathcona to the chambers of city hall and established a different urban vision for the city beyond freeways. Vancouver has been drawing livability dividends from that citizen-driven decision ever since. Read more…
by FRANCES BULA, Jun. 14, 2016
The lot near the corner of Keefer and Quebec streets is no historic gem. Once the site of a garage, it is now covered with gravel and a smattering of parked cars.
But it has turned into a Waterloo for Vancouver’s Chinatown, with a wide range of groups viewing whatever is built there as the indicator species for the future of this small historic neighbourhood. Read more …
City of Vancouver
The City of Vancouver has received a revised application to rezone 105 Keefer Street and 544 Columbia Street from HA-1A (Chinatown Historic Area) District to CD-1 (Comprehensive Development) District. Read more …
By JOHN ACKERMANN, May 15, 2016
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – An open house is being held tomorrow for a controversial development proposed for one of Vancouver most iconic neighbourhoods, while those opposed will be holding a block party just steps away. Read more …
By ERIC SZETO, May 11, 2016
As an activist for many years on behalf of Chinatown seniors and cultural issues, I believe the most recent development proposal for 105 Keefer Street, across from the Chinese Cultural Centre and Dr. Sun Yat-sen Chinese Garden, presents a positive balance of social and economic as well as cultural benefits for this community. Read more …
