Grosvenor has acquired the Oakridge Transit Centre (OTC), one of the largest undeveloped sites in Vancouver, with plans to turn the 14-acre site into a new 1.5 million square foot, mixed-use community.
The project will feature approximately 17 buildings ranging in size from four to 26 storeys and 1,630 homes, including strata, market rental, affordable rental and social housing.
More than 20 percent of the homes are designated as affordable housing, from city-owned social housing to moderate income rental housing. The development will also deliver a new childcare facility, two-acre public park and improvements to local pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.
“This is a unique opportunity to acquire and develop a rarely available development site, one of the most significant in Vancouver,” says Michael Ward, senior vice-president and general manager, Grosvenor’s Vancouver office. “The acquisition allows Grosvenor to utilize our expertise in building exceptional communities and bring a significant amount of new housing, both market and non-market, new retail, community amenities and public realm benefits to the Oakridge neighbourhood. We look forward to building an integrated, sustainable and high-quality community at this prime Vancouver location.”
Grosvenor’s development will follow the master plan that was designed by Vancouver architect, James Cheng, and approved by the City of Vancouver in 2020. Notably, more than 40 per cent of the site will be set aside as publicly accessible spaces, including a two-acre public park and shops running parallel to Oak Street.
“This is an incredible site at the heart of Vancouver that will become a serene, walkable, self-sustaining community with significant green space,” says Cheng. “This project is all about connecting to nature, with greenways, green roofs and a major publicly-accessible park – all designed for a sustainable, walkable lifestyle in a safe, central location that is close to everything.”
Cheng previously worked on the Grosvenor Ambleside. He added, the vision for OTC, he says, is to create a community around a park, a finely scaled neighbourhood with gentle density and an internal greenway system that will provide a calm, healthy central hub for residents and the neighbourhood alike.
In addition to a 69-space day-care, retail, park and public plazas, Grosvenor will deliver more than 180 market rental, 45 moderate income housing units and 175 social housing units. This is in addition to the 1,120 residential strata homes and 24,000 square feet of commercial space.
The project is multi-phased with a 10-year timeline and will meet Grosvenor’s net zero carbon commitments, as well as LEED Gold certification.
