Vancouver city council has approved Holborn Group’s major downtown mixed-use development application that calls for hundreds of multi-residential units and hotel rooms.

Council voted 7-3 to approve the rezoning application for the multi-block project, which is linked to a separate 272-unit social housing development planned at 388 Abbott St. that the city will receive. The governing ABC Party councillors, along with Mayor Ken Sim, toed the party line and voted in favour of the project.

The newly approved proposal covers 36 properties bounded by Georgia, Seymour, Dunsmuir and Richards streets, with one privately owned language school excluded from the site.

Coun. Mike Klassen said during the council meeting that the project represents a major investment in Vancouver at a time when citizens need confidence in the city’s future.

“It will create homes, employment, public amenities and a stronger downtown for generations to come,” he said.

Klassen was among several councillors who touted the public benefits of the project, adding that the Abbott Street building will contribute to the revitalization of the poverty-stricken Downtown Eastside.

Coun. Peter Meiszner said the building on Georgia Street will build on the revitalization of that area of downtown created by the opening of The Post mixed-use project.

“This is going to bring new energy to a part of downtown that really needs it,” he said.

The downtown development includes 1,546 new homes, a 920-room hotel, more than 70,000 square feet of conference space, a large public plaza and a publicly accessible observation deck. The hotel tower is proposed to reach 1,034 feet, making it the tallest building in Western Canada if constructed as planned.

Council was advised that compliance with federal aviation requirements could require the hotel tower to be reduced by about 88 feet following concerns raised by Nav Canada. City staff said the shorter tower would still be the tallest building in Vancouver, while Nav Canada indicated it will continue working with the developer and other authorities as the project advances.

“While height naturally attracts attention, it’s more important to consider whether this project contributes positively to the city over the next 50 to 100 years,” said Klasssen,

Meiszner said he could not think of a better spot for Vancouver to have its tallest building.

“This is at the centre of downtown, this is connected by two rapid-transit lines and there are buildings being built nearly as elsewhere in the Lower Mainland, in places like Burnaby and Surrey or even Burquitlam (a relatively small area that straddles Burnaby and Coquitlam,” he said. “It’s never made sense to me that right now the tallest buildings in the Lower Mainland are not in downtown Vancouver.”

Opposition councillors argued the proposal should be delayed until the city’s Higher Buildings Policy review is completed in 2027. Concerns were also raised about Holborn’s record on the delayed redevelopment of the Little Mountain social-housing project and the demolition of a historic Dunsmuir Street building in 2025 after it fell into disrepair.

Coun. Lucy Maloney lauded the beauty of the design and public benefits but contended that Holborn did not have “the social license to operate after the Little Mountain project’s delays and demolition of the Dunsmuir Street building.

More than 300 people registered to speak during the public hearing, and the city received more than 270 written submissions, Daily Hive reported. Supporters said the project would revitalize downtown with new housing, hotel capacity and tourism amenities, while opponents argued the associated social housing should be incorporated into the Georgia Street development rather than concentrated in the Downtown Eastside.

Pictured: Holborn Group’s newly approved major mixed-use redevelopment project in downtown Vancouver.

Rendering: Henriquez Partners