A controversial Vancouver housing development is facing some uncertainty.

Unless city council amends a proposed community plan, advocates say that the proposed project at Commercial Drive and Venables Street isn’t going to be financially feasible.

The development is a partnership between Kettle Society, a nonprofit helping people with mental health issues, and Boffo Properties.

The project involves three towers of 12, 10, and eight storeys. The plan calls for about 200 condo units, and 30 supportive housing units for people with mental illnesses.

The development is planned on four properties: one owned by Kettle, two by Boffo on both sides of Kettle’s land, and a parking lot north of the three properties, which is owned by the City of Vancouver.

Critics have opposed the development because of its scale. The No Tower Coalition has suggested a more modest project of four storeys, with the city donating its land to Kettle.

On June 25 this year, city staff released a draft of a community plan for Grandview-Woodland, which covers the area bounded by Clark Drive, Nanaimo Street, East 12^th Avenue, and Burrard Inlet.

The draft plan sets out policies for sites such as the Kettle-Boffo development location. These include a height limit of nine storeys.

Kettle executive director Nancy Keough was one of the first speakers who addressed council Wednesday (July 27) about the Grandview-Woodland community plan.

Keough told councillors that the reduction of the development’s height will create a “financial gap” for the project.

Keough urged councillors to adopt a “minor amendment” to the community plan. She said that with 12 storeys, the project will just get to a break-even point.

Jill Atkey of the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association spoke ahead of Keough, and she also warned councillors about a “financial gap” if the development is capped at nine storeys.

Joanne Graham, executive director of the 127 Society for Housing, came after Keough, and she likewise spoke in support of the Kettle-Boffo development.

The development is proposed on a 0.3-hectare site.

The proposed Grandview-Woodland plan states: “It is recognized that future redevelopment of this overall site could occur in a consolidated manner that incorporates several properties (and could possibly include the City‐owned land) or it could occur through a number of independent developments.”