Oxford Properties plans to develop a large life sciences laboratory building in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant area.

The property is located at 11-15 East Fourth Avenue near Ontario Street, a few blocks west of Main Street and within walking distance of the existing Main Street/Science World and Olympic Village stations and the future Emily Carr station. (The stations are part of the Lower Mainland’s SkyTrain light rapid-transit network. The Main Street/Science World station is on the Expo line; the Olympic Village station is on the Canada line; and the forthcoming Emily Carr station will be part of the extended Millennium line.)

Oxford has submitted a development application to replace an existing industrial building with a nine-storey building that would comprise approximately 163,000 square feet.

The proposed development would include 78,000 sf of office spaces, 78,000 of industrial space tailored for laboratory use, and 6,800 sf of retail premises at street level.

Designed by Chernoff Thompson Architects and B+H Architects, the building is designed to accommodate the growing demand for life sciences facilities in the city.

“The project vision is to develop a market-leading, sustainable, commercial-industrial building to support the research and development needs of life sciences tenancies,” states the development application.

“The proposed building has been designed with purpose, to meet the unique needs of life sciences tenancies, while responding to the critical shortage of purpose-built lab space required to support the growth of the life sciences community in Vancouver.”

Oxford is asking the city to loosen its industrial zoning policy for the Mount Pleasant area slightly.

“The building will better support the city’s innovation economy than a fully policy-compliant development by creating space for an underserved market, aligning with best practices for lab and R&D facility design, and consistent with other approved developments in the [city’s designated] Mount Pleasant Industrial Area,” states the zoning application.

Upon completion, the building is expected to house corporate tenants that could generate between 500 and 750 jobs, contributing to the growth of Vancouver’s life sciences industry.

Rendering: City of Vancouver/Chernoff Thompson/Oxford Properties