Recently, Vancouver City Council greenlit a new social real estate task that will be carried out utilizing a series of tools introduced, recently, by the Government of Canada.The job
is set for 3122 SE Marine Drive, at the intersection with Kerr Street near the Fraser River and River District.The Land The 3122
SE Marine Drive home, which BC Assessment worths at $1,392,000, was moved to the City of Vancouver as part of the rezoning requirements for 3125 Pierview Crescent, the surrounding site where Surrey-based West Fraser Developments Ltd. has built a seven-storey building with 89 market rental units.Council enacted rezoning for 3125 Pierview Crescent and 3122 SE Marine Drive on July 5, 2022; the latter was then transferred to the City in July 2025 to meet West Fraser Developments’social housing responsibility. BC Assessment’s site suggests the site was moved for$ 1,930,000. According to the City, the site is currently an undeveloped dirt site and “faces a variety of obstacles “preventing it from being developed, consisting of a downward slope towards the Fraser River.”After the Property was supplied to the City it
formed part of the City’s Vancouver Affordable Real estate Endowment Fund( VAHEF)to be turned into social real estate and advance the City’s social housing targets,”said City staff in a current council report.” The Home’s small size and sloping terrain, along with the maximum allowed floor location of 13,029 sq. ft., set out in the current zoning conditions, provides obstacles to viably establish social real estate on the Home following traditional advancement methods.”The Project To figure out how to utilize the website, the City and CMHC co-funded an architectural expediency research study, which eventually
concluded that a multiplex job from the federal government’s Housing Design Catalogue would be viable.The Real estate Style Catalogue was published by the federal government in March 2025 and provides a series of standardized styles for a variety of multiplex sizes
, with the hope of facilitating quick approvals and cost savings for contractors.< img alt=" "height= "1200"src="// www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201200%201200'%3E%3C/svg%3E "width=" 1200"/ > A rendering of the “BC Fourplex 01 “concept from the Real estate Style
Catalogue.( CMHC)The idea picked for the Marine Drive job is”BC Fourplex 01,”and the prepare for the site includes 3 different, mirrored fourplexes for an overall of 12 units, with surface parking at the southern end of the site.The staff report states there will be six one-bedroom systems and six three-bedroom units, with a gross flooring location of 11,601 sq. feet and a flooring space ratio of 0.88– acceptable under the existing zoning.The Funding According to the City, the task has actually an overall approximated cost of $8.5 million, however the City has
secured full
funding from a variety of sources.Last year, the Government of Canada re-opened applications for the Affordable Real Estate Innovation Fund(AHIF ), a$580 million program intended for tasks that showcase brand-new funding designs and innovative building techniques.City personnel state that they obtained capital funding from the AHIF in September 2025 and got conditional approval from CMHC in December for$4 million.The Affordable Housing Innovation Fund needs projects to provide 30 %of units at leas that are less than 80%of the mean market lease for their provided location– and this below-market rent should last a minimum period of 25 years. Projects must likewise attain a minimum of a 10%decrease in energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions compared to local structure codes.The staying$4.5 million will then originate from the Housing Accelerator Fund, from which the City secured$115 million in December 2023(and then received a$4,375,000 efficiency benefit in March 2025). Recently, Vancouver City Council approved the allotment of $4.5 million from
the Housing Accelerator Fund towards the project.The Shipment Due to the fact that of the size of the project, the job will be straight delivered by the City of Vancouver’s Non-Market Real estate Advancement department as, essentially, a pilot project for the Housing Style Catalogue.An architectural team and building and construction manager will be retained for the job, with the City and
CMHC providing oversight and documenting the shipment procedure in order to develop an extensive case research study, which itself will serve as a resource for other towns or industry stakeholders.Prior to building and construction being finished, a Request for Proposal process will likewise be started to find a third-party operator. The City notes that it also owns 3150 SE Marine Drive– an undeveloped site across the street that needs a projected 2 years to be readied for advancement into social real estate– and that they might pick a single operator
for both sites, for efficiency.The City intends to begin construction on the 3122 SE Marine Drive social real estate multiplex job in less than 12 months, and to finish construction by Q4 2027.