New Vancouver neighbourhood house lined up in long-drawn-out Little Mountain redevelopment

Here’s another installment in the long-delayed redevelopment of what was once the oldest social-housing site in Vancouver.

The developer of Little Mountain has moved to deliver a “major community hub” on the 6.2-hectare property east of Queen Elizabeth Park. Holborn Properties Ltd. has applied to construct a six-storey building that will host a new neighbourhood house and child-daycare facility.

From its origins as a multifamily residential site, Little Mountain is envisioned to become a mixed-use neighbourhood, and this is a major component of the plan.

The neighbourhood house and child-care centre will be on the first two floors of the building. Above these will be social-housing units. The proposed development at 150 East 36th Avenue also includes a community public plaza.

According to a design-rationale document submitted by Holborn and its design company, Stantec, to the city: “A new plaza is planned in front of the neighbourhood house and it is expected to be a place for people to congregate and socialize.” After construction, the building’s ownership will be transferred to the City of Vancouver.

A city staff report to council in 2016 stated that the developer will provide the building to the city “in ‘turn-key’ condition, fully finished and equipped”.

The report noted that the building was estimated to cost $26.2 million.

“If the value of the construction and finishing of the building exceeds $26,200,000, the applicant will be required to provide any additional funding,” according to the report.

The neighbourhood house will replace the aging Little Mountain Neighbourhood House on Main Street north of King Edward Avenue. The child-care facility will have 69 spaces; the social-housing component of the building will have 48 units.

The new park will be maintained and operated by the city’s board of parks and recreation.

“The need for a new and expanded Little Mountain Neighbourhood House and childcare were identified through an areawide amenity review as part of the policy planning process,” the 2016 staff report said. The report was prepared in connection with Holborn’s application to rezone the Little Mountain site, which council granted in 2016.

Little Mountain was built by the federal government in 1954. It used to have row houses and walk-up apartments and contained 224 social-housing units.

The federal government eventually transferred Little Mountain to the B.C. provincial government. In 2008, Holborn signed a deal to purchase the property from the province; in 2009, demolition began. It took about five years after the demolition before the first social-housing development in the neighbourhood was built and occupied in 2014.

Another four years passed before Holborn filed an application in 2018 to develop a second building, also for social housing. Also last year, the city built temporary modular housing in Little Mountain.

In February 2019, Holborn applied to develop an eight-storey mixed-use building with 126 condo units, the development’s first market-housing project so far.

Holborn is anticipated to take several years to fully redevelop the former public-housing site. The company finished Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver ahead of Little Mountain.

Holborn is supposed to develop a total of 14 residential and three mixed-use buildings for Little Mountain. The plan covers 1,573 new homes, including 282 social-housing units.

With its drawn-out redevelopment, Little Mountain has become an example of what can go wrong when governments dispose of social housing.