Condo Plans for 105 Keefer Street, Chinatown, Causes Uproar Among Locals

Beedie Living’s proposed 105 Keefer St development | Photo Credit: SCD via Vancouver Sun

In Chinatown, construction company Beedie Living is pushing for a condominium project that has been met with protest from local residents.

This is the sixth time the plan is on the table to be considered by the Vancouver Development Permit Board; the last time it was rejected was in 2017. This past December, Beedie claimed that the Permit Board denied their plan unfairly, acting in bad faith. A judge dismissed these ideas but wrote that he did believe the Permit Board’s reasoning for denial was poor. He ordered the board to reconsider.

One of the earlier plans included 25 units of social housing, with more floors than the new plan. The new proposal is a nine-storey condo, complete with a seniors' cultural space, a street-level retail space, and three levels of underground parking. The 105 Keefer Street plan is to be built on a long-vacant parking lot that has been owned by Beedie Living for ten years. The property is the “most important site in Chinatown,” community advocate Fred Mah told the Vancouver Sun.

Those who are opposed to the 105 Keefer Street project believe that the condominium would be out of place in Chinatown and clash with its character. Additionally, the 111 units of housing would be set at market price — which they say is much too expensive for the locals, especially seniors. This plan would also speed up the community’s gentrification. It is unlikely to help Chinatown’s recent surge of trouble, which is caused by different problems, including COVID-19, racism, and crime.

On the other hand, the president of Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Area, (BIA), Jordan Eng, told Global News: "There's no displacement of current residents, it’s been a vacant parking lot for 50 years. It’s part of keeping the neighbourhood alive and vibrant and active.”

CBC News reported that the Vancouver Development Permit Board would allow the project if the project fulfilled some conditions — including concealed machinery, outdoor seating, the involvement of Chinatown artists, and implements showcasing the cultural significance of nearby locations. Andrea Law, a member of the Permit Board, thinks that the plan should be accepted, but not until it’s changed to address “the many concerns through conditions” and “the cultural fit in the neighbourhood,” she said to CBC News.

The Vancouver Tenants Union (VTU) is also opposed to the project. Jade Ho, an organizer with the VTU, remarked that this change will “exacerbate gentrification in a neighbourhood that is already increasingly unavailable for low-income seniors and residents.”

Though she doesn’t live in Chinatown, Ho said that she keeps in close contact with its residents. “We do exist, we live here, and we want to thrive with the rest of the neighbourhood,” she declared to Global News. The VTU also claims that Beedie bribed the Supreme Court to have the Vancouver Development Permit Board reconsider. 

Photo Credit: Ben Nelms/CBC

In June, the VTU wrote a strongly worded article stating that Beedie “demonstrated his ill-gained power and contempt for the poor by purchasing a reversal of the 2017 ruling from the highest court”. They wrote that, by turning a blind eye toward financially-low Chinese immigrants, Beedie was contributing to racism and prejudice.

Lily Tang, an 80-year-old Chinatown resident, opposes the project. She spoke to CBC in Cantonese, saying, “We are not against constructing this building, but it’s looking at our needs.” Her husband, Kim Tang added, “I want them to respect Chinatown, our ancestors, and their blood and sweat so they can rest in peace.”

On the other hand, Beedie managing partner Rob Fiorento said that the 105 Keefer condo would help to restore Chinatown’s success. According to him, the company will “remain committed to working with [their] neighbours and community partners on a safe and vibrant Chinatown.”

BIA President Jordan Eng claims that the majority of Chinatown’s residents and stakeholders are for the condo plan. To support Eng’s assertions, Beedie commissioned a poll on the opinions of Chinese speakers in Vancouver and the riding containing 105 Keefer Street. Only eight per cent of respondents had heard of the controversy at all; of those, 43 per cent supported the proposal, 17 percent of people were opposed, 22 per cent had mixed feelings on the subject, and 18 per cent said that they did not know.

However, when Vancouver City Hall hosted another public meeting, the vast majority of attendees were opposed to the idea of the new condo. Similarly, when the Vancouver Development Permit Board met on May 22, most people in attendance were opposed as well.