Jillian Skeet hasn't been thinking much about her family's imminent departure from their Vancouver rental.

“I’ve been avoiding it,” the mother of two boys admitted in a phone interview with the Georgia Straight.

A self-employed writer and consultant, Skeet said she’s still hurting over the fate of Marine Gardens, the place she has called home since 2003.

“I have fought for so long for this complex,” she said.

In February, council approved in principle an application to rezone the property at the corner of Marine Drive and Yukon Street, a leafy complex of 70 affordable and family-oriented townhome rentals. Concord Pacific is planning to build two condo towers of 21 and 27 storeys and a seven-storey mid-rise containing apartments for rent.

“Everything that made Marine Gardens special is being destroyed,” Skeet said. According to her, all the trees and greenery will be gone to make way for the new development.

Tenants have been given the option to move back once the project near the Canada Line’s Marine Drive station is done. For residents wanting to return, Concord Pacific is providing a 20-percent discount on starting rents for the smaller apartments it will build. All tenants, regardless of whether they plan on going back to Marine Gardens, will receive one month free rent plus a cheque for the equivalent of up to four months’ rent. Skeet pays less than $1,100 for her three-bedroom townhome.

Without the markdown, a three-bedroom apartment will go for $2,100 a month. Rents are subject to annual increases allowed under the Residential Tenancy Act, starting from the public hearing on Concord Pacific’s rezoning bid.

A 2013 notice released by the city indicated that the project will have 70 units of “affordable housing”. When council heard the rezoning application in February, a city-staff report that recommended the project referred to these replacement rentals as “market rental housing”.

Skeet related that her neighbours have started moving. One bought a condo in Surrey. A family relocated to Richmond. “It’s getting quite empty,” Skeet said about the once tight-knit community.

Recently, Skeet and her remaining neighbours received notices that they have until May 31 to indicate if they’re returning or not. Skeet acknowledged that the move-out bonus “eases the pain of getting out of here”.

“It helps to get us out, but in Vancouver’s housing market, it’s short-term assistance,” she said.

According to the notice, the rezoning is expected to be enacted by council on June 23, which will constitute final approval of the application.

The Marine Gardens redevelopment is also included in the May 20 agenda of the Urban Design Panel, which advises the city on major rezoning and development applications.

Concord Pacific declined to be interviewed.