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All three major housing types condominiums, purpose-built market rental housing, and social housing exceeded their annual targets for the year.
Over half (53%) of the new Vancouver housing approvals over the year were for purpose-built and social housing doubling the number since 2019. As well, over 350 new below-market rental homes were approved, an increase of fivefold over the previous year.
Nearly half (48%) of the units were approved under the Moderate Income Rental Pilot Program, entailing 928 market rental homes and 233 below-market rental homes.
These are the number of approved units for each home type in 2020, and how the performance meets against annual approval targets:
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When city hall pushes back against an attempt to turn an old parkade into hundreds of rental apartments, is that a red-tape-choked bureaucracy exacerbating a housing crisis?
Or is that a case of conscientious, diligent urban planners holding the line against private interests to serve the public good?
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The answer isn’t easy, but this is the kind of debate some people including the mayor want to see playing out in public more frequently.
O’Donnell is a relatively new addition to the city, as she first took on the role of deputy director of the department in March 2019.
Prior to her time in Vancouver, she served various roles with the City of Dallas over the span of nearly two decades, including the director of planning, interim assistant city manager, and chief resilience officer.
She was also the director of planning and development for Las Vegas, Nevada and Arlington, Texas.
Theresa O’Donnell (City of Dallas)
“On behalf of City Council, I’m beyond thrilled to welcome Theresa O’Donnell as our new director of planning, a role that has never been more critical as we start building back from the COVID-19 pandemic and renew our focus on delivering housing that works for residents,” said Mayor Kennedy Stewart.
“On behalf of Vancouver City Council, I’m thrilled to have Paul Mochrie take on the critical role of Vancouver’s City Manager at precisely the moment when our city needs someone of his professionalism, talent, and dedication to the community,” said Mayor Kennedy Stewart in a statement.
“Over the past two years, I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Paul and have seen how much respect he has amongst our staff team. Paul’s attention to detail and relentless focus on making our city work for everyone will be crucial as we build back from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger than before.”