Block-long redevelopment of Vancouver’s Granville strip calls for 523 rental units

Redeveloping Granville St.

Photo: Image courtesy City of Vancouver report.

An artist’s rendering of a redevelopment proposal for a block-long strip of Granville Street between Smithe and Robson Streets.

A revised proposal for a block-long redevelopment of the Granville Street strip that includes upgrading the iconic Commodore Ballroom goes before Vancouver city council Feb. 10 at a public hearing.

Bonnis Properties has applied to rezone 13 parcels of land in the 800-876 Granville St. to build towers of 42 and 38 storeys—connected with a five-storey podium—that will feature 450 market rental apartments and 73 below-market rental studios.

Retention and rehabilitation of the Commodore, keeping four heritage building facades, adding hotel space on levels six to eight of the north tower and allowing commercial uses on the ground floor are included in the design.

A “cabaret-style venue” for live music and a large outdoor patio space is also proposed for the project, which is focused on the east side of Granville Street, between Smithe and Robson streets.

The city-owned Orpheum Theatre is the only building on the east side of that portion of the strip that is not included in the project.

Rental apartments in place of office space

The proposal has been revised since Bonnis Properties floated redevelopment plans before city council in 2022. At the time, the company wanted to build a massive 16-storey commercial building—which resembled a cruise ship—on the same strip.

At the time, then-director of planning Theresa O’Donnell called it a “complicated” proposal. It was also controversial because of the scale and mass of the building, which would reach a height of 260 feet and hover over the strip of predominantly low and mid-rise buildings.

“Should a development of this magnitude be allowed, the historic character of a fine-grained urban streetscape as well as its pedestrian-friendly sense of place found on Granville Street may permanently be lost,” said a staff report that went before council in July 2022.

Staff pointed out at the time that the proposal “significantly deviates” from the city’s heritage policies, the single-room-accommodation bylaw and the height and form provisions of the downtown official development plan.

SRO vacant since 1975

Fast forward to February 2026 and the plan has shifted from office space to rental apartments, while still pursuing the preservation of the Commodore and the facades of the long-vacant State Hotel, Cameron Block, Allen Rooms and Service Building.

In 2022, property owner Kerry Bonnis spoke to council and Lodestar Media about how keeping only the façade of the State Hotel would assist in upgrading the Commodore.

Gutting the single-room-occupancy (SRO) building would allow freight and regular-sized elevators and a loading area to be built on the State Hotel site and connect it to the Commodore.

The same would be done to the building on the north side of the Commodore, but include space large enough for transport trucks containing music gear to park. Parking for the public and bikes would also be added.

The development would allow the lobby of the Commodore to increase in size.

“This would give the infrastructure for the Commodore to work for years, and then also provide for increased wheelchair access down to the Commodore bowling alley,” Bonnis said at the time. “There are a lot of seniors bowling, and we need to have those lifts.”

'Much-needed affordable housing'

Tenants have not lived in the State Hotel since 1975. Bonnis and his brother, Dino, bought the 1910-era building more than 20 years ago. The SRO was damaged in a fire in the 1970s and was in poor condition.

Bonnis said they approached the city about renovating the hotel for affordable housing, but were told by a planner that it wouldn’t be possible in the entertainment district. Various businesses, however, have operated on the ground floor of the building.

The position of the city on not allowing housing on the block has since changed.

“Following a thorough assessment of the application, staff have determined that the proposal to replace 73 aging, vacant SRO rooms with self-contained secured below-market rental units would provide much-needed affordable housing in one of the limited areas within the Granville Street Plan where residential uses are permitted,” the staff report said.

The public hearing begins Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. in the council chamber at city hall.