'It feels like a cash grab': Vancouver residents speak out against Broadway Plan high-rise development

A group of Vancouver residents are speaking out against a proposed 18-storey high-rise development for W 14th Street and Yukon.

“It doesn’t feel like the most appropriate thing for this area,” said Graeme Webber, a resident who lives in the neighbourhood. “It feels like a cash grab.”

Signs in the neighbourhood posted on lawns read ‘Save 14th & Yukon’. The 100+ unit building was proposed as part of the city’s Broadway Plan to add more density along the new Broadway subway line. The neighbourhood currently boasts primarily detached homes or small apartment buildings approximately three-stories high.

“Densification is important,” said Webber. “But it's already a densely packed neighborhood.”

Webber says he’s concerned that public services wouldn’t be able to handle an influx of residents. He tells CTV News that his son is currently on a waitlist to attend a nearby kindergarten.

“As it is right now, we have to drive twenty minutes to get my kid to his elementary school,” said Webber.

Eleanor Clark offered her support to the group, despite living several blocks away. She tells CTV News that another Broadway Plan development near Birch and 13th Street will eventually force her to move.

“It’s happening everywhere,” said Clark. “I think they need to actually talk to people – talk to people that live in houses that are being destroyed, or four-story walk-ups that are being destroyed, and find out their stories and what it means to be displaced.”

The Broadway Plan was approved in June 2022 and aims to transform a large section of Broadway into a second downtown.

“I recognize change is difficult,” said Lisa Dominato, Vancouver City councilor.

Dominato wouldn’t comment specifically on the development at 14th and Yukon, as the proposal still has to go before a public hearing, but she speak on the Broadway Plan’s vision.

“We are trying to be responsive to what we’ve heard year after year after year is the issues of housing need, addressing the lack of the rental vacancy in the city, the inability to live here, to address affordability,” said Dominato.

Dominato acknowledged that federal funding is needed to improve infrastructure, adding how City staff are currently reviewing the Broadway Plan and a new report is expected in the coming months.

“We're working collaboratively with the province, with the federal government to advocate for more infrastructure dollars to support the housing. They go hand in hand.”

This comes as Council approved its first Broadway Plan high-rise on Thursday after a lengthy public hearing. The building is set for East 10th and St. George.

For Webber, he hopes the city takes a close look at what makes sense for each neighbourhood.

“We’d like it to be done more thoughtfully, more intentionally and not just trying to maximize density and put the smallest units in the tallest buildings possible,” said Webber.