The northwest corner of Alma and Broadway will be the new home of a 14-storey highrise after Vancouver City Council approved developer Westbank’s controversial project.

Mayor Stewart Kennedy, Councillors Christine Boyle, Pete Fry, Lisa Dominato, Sarah Kirby-Yung, and Rebecca Bligh voted in support of the project, while Councillors Colleen Hardwick, Jean Swanson, and Adriane Carr voted in opposition.

Westbank’s revised 161-unit tower was approved under the terms of the City’s Moderate Income Rental Housing Pilot Project (MIRHPP) which ensures 20% of the units — in this case 32 — are available to middle income earners making between $30,000 and $80,000 per year. Under MIRHPP, the units will be below market-rental and subject to rent control for 60 years.

During a two-day public hearing and in numerous submissions to the City, local residents were highly critical of the tower’s imposing concrete-clad design and size, saying it was out of context for the surrounding low-rise residential neighbourhood. Others argued it did not meet the qualifications of the MIRHPP, and that it not should not proceed until the city-wide Vancouver and Broadway Plans have been completed.

Supporters of the tower, however, pushed back against neighbourhood concerns, saying that providing affordable rental units on the West Side is more important than “wealthy” neighbours losing their views and natural sunlight.

While affordable housing in the city is a growing concern, Councillor Adriane Carr worried that the height and bulk of the building would set a precedent in the area, particularly with at least two nearby vacant corner lots waiting to be developed. She said adding towers to the low-rise  communities of West Point Grey and Kitsilano would rob the neighbourhoods of their “charm.”

Councillor Jean Swanson, who has supported other MIRHPP developments, said that cracks are starting to show in the pilot project, which should felt should be re-evaluated. “Developers,” she said, are “getting too much.” Under the MIRHPP, developers are exempt from paying for community amenities and infrastructure, which amount to millions of dollars. They also receive waived CAC’s, government funding, and low-interest financing arrangements with BC Housing.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart, disagreed, saying the project will provide 32 “affordable” units, and bring diversity to the neighbourhood, sentiments echoed by Cllr. Kirby Yung, Pete Fry, Christine Boyle, and Rebecca Bligh, who all agreed the tower would bring a much-needed injection of life to West Broadway, which has seen businesses closing. And it creates a more equitable city, one of the goals of the Vancouver Plan.