In the months following the City of Vancouver’s approval of the land use policy statement, residents at Pearson had heard no news about the redevelopment. Then in September there was a memo.
The revised plan looks quite a bit different. In this new plan, VCH might sell up to 85% of the land. VCH has put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for redeveloping some amount of the land. This RFP does not commit VCH to sell any of the Pearson Dogwood Lands. It seems that they are seeing what what kind of offers they get before they commit to a specific plan.
Through the RFP, companies can apply to develop only the Dogwood land, or apply to develop both the 16 acres around GPC and the 6 acres around Dogwood. They need to fulfill the vision and plans such as the transit station and both market and accessible non-market housing. The RFP deadline is October 28, 2014. View all 37 pages on BC Bid (www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca) by browsing for Opportunities By Organization for the Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizen Services.
VCH would keep ownership of approximately 3.2 acres, where the current Farmers on 57th urban farm currently exists. On this land, VCH would build a “150 bed residential care home, a community health centre, an expanded YMCA, and a new therapeutic pool”. The 150 bed residential care home is also known as the New Dogwood Facility. See VCH news for more details.
Residents at George Pearson Centre are uncertain where exactly they will be living and how the services will look, but many are hopeful.
