It will be another few years until buyers take occupancy at 105 Keefer, in the heart of Vancouver's Chinatown, making it a 13 or 14-year undertaking from the time of its initial proposal – one of the city’s longest-ever timelines for a condo development to come to fruition.A decade in, the development saga of 105 Keefer, in the heart of Chinatown, will soon enter the phase where the developer can start selling pre-sales, expected this fall.
But 105 Keefer isn’t your typical development because Chinatown is a historic community with a population of seniors especially vulnerable to the risk of gentrification. As well, there is a movement afoot, largely mobilized by second and third generation Chinese Canadians, to preserve Chinatown as a culturally significant community, an important National Historic Site of Canada.
“We are hopeful to get a development permit in the next few months, probably early fall realistically. And we are looking to transition to a sales launch this fall.”on board to take over the design, although the basic features of the development are unchanged. They’ll deliver a nine-storey building with 117 market-rate condo units, with retail at ground level.There have been other changes in the last seven years, including a new city council and new faces on the permit board.
As for bringing Cheng into the picture, he says it made sense because of his understanding of the complexity of Chinatown. “Given Jim’s reputation and his history in Chinatown, he’s well respected many of the community leaders down there, and while respecting what the previous architect had done, we felt it was the right time to make a pivot.”
“So, I said to my client, ‘why don't we incorporate these things like Shanghai Alley and all that into the plan, into the DNA of the architecture? So, they agreed. And we came up with a courtyard in the middle, and we came up with passages that would connect... And the community loved it. We now have unanimous support. Before, they were unanimously against the project.