This is part of a series called “Richmond under Construction” highlighting development in the city.
The neighbourhood along Garden City Road near Walmart may become denser with two developments currently under review.
The proposed developments with a total of 479 residential units will replace around 14 homes in the area.
GBL Architects Inc. has filed applications for two sites that sit side by side on Garden City Road between Alexandra and Odlin roads. Both applications are for one four-storey office building and two five-storey residential buildings over a common parkade.
A development permit application is currently in circulation for the first site, a 2.68-acre development site spanning from 9080 to 9180 Odlin Rd. and 4420 to 4440 Garden City Rd.
According to a city staff report from 2019, 174 residential units are being proposed for the site with nine affordable housing units, 15 modest market rent-controlled units and 17 market rental units.
The parkade is expected to have 224 parking spots for residents and 164 for commercial parking.
The site, which covers six lots, originally had six single-family dwellings that have all been demolished.
The report states that 44 out of the 49 bylaw-sized trees on the lot will be removed, some due to poor condition and others due to the nature of the soil. The developer will have to include 88 trees in its final landscape plans to replace the trees that get removed.
The developer will also be contributing $194,146 to the city's public art reserve fund, according to the report.
GBL applied to rezone the area from single detached to mixed-use employment-residential in 2018, and this is pending final approval. Its development permit application submitted in 2020 is currently in circulation.
Its rezoning application was not referred to the Richmond School District as it did not involve a density increase that would generate more than 50 school-aged children, which would typically take around 295 multiple-family housing units, according to the report.
Meanwhile, its rezoning application for the second site, which will span from 4460 to 4562 Garden City Road and 9071 to 9151 Alexandra Road, is also currently in circulation.
According to a sign on Garden City Road, 305 residential units are being proposed with 37 market rental units, 19 modest market rental units and 14 low-end market rental units.
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