Vancouver’s Broadway densification plan puts homeowners next to proposed high-rises in a bind, critics say

Jennifer Irvine purchased her Kitsilano duplex on Vancouver’s west side eight years ago, but now that her neighbours have assembled their properties to develop an 18-storey tower, she says her leafy picturesque street is undergoing a new form of blockbusting.

Last fall, a company called Havn Development obtained a rezoning permit on behalf of three property owners with a proposal to build a 170-unit rental tower with podium at 2156-2172 W. 14th Ave., between Yew and Arbutus streets. The site currently consists of a detached house and two duplexes, but the city has plans to create a second downtown for the low- to mid-density neighbourhoods within the 500-block Broadway Plan. That includes the approval of high-rise towers in the middle of quiet side streets.