Just what is “Unused Development Potential” Anyway?
At the May 1st Commission meeting, the Historic Trust talked about the economic necessity of the proposed development. The deal was presented as the only way to generate the capital needed to fund desperately needed repairs to the Providence Academy site and improvements to the grounds. It was presented as a necessary compromise.
But is it?
The Commission brought up the idea of selling the unused development potential of the site as a way to raise capital instead. But what is that? Well, it’s a bit of preservation geekery, but it’s also pretty amazing.
When the City created the Academy Heritage Overlay District, it built in some basic protections for the site, but it also gave one very powerful tool. You see, every property in Vancouver has a development potential, the biggest building that can be built on the site. That potential is established by limits on building footprint and building height. If you build a building smaller than that, you’ve left some of the development potential unused: unused development potential. Because of the open spaces and historic buildings, the academy site has a lot of unused development potential. For most sites, the only way to make use of that unused development potential is to expand your building or to demolish it and build a new one. This is why we are seeing single story buildings in downtown being replaced by such large buildings; that unused development potential was going to waste.
But on the Academy site, the City has made it so that unused development potential doesn’t have to go to waste. It can actually be sold. The owners of the Academy can sell the unused development potential from the Academy site to another property owner. That property owner can then build a bigger building on another site than the code would normally allow. They can add value to their site by buying the unused development potential from the Academy site. The owner of the historic site can sell some or all of the unused development potential. They can sell it to one other property owner or multiple other property owners. It’s a resource, and it could be a valuable resource.
The reason that this is so powerful is that it helps the Academy in two ways. The first is obvious, it generates capital to preserve the historic building. But the second is important too. Once that unused development potential has been sold, it’s gone. It can’t be used on the historic site. This eases the development pressure on the site. Like the pressure to build the biggest building possible even if it dominates the Academy or blocks the important views of the Academy. Or the pressure to build on the open spaces that connect the Academy to downtown. Or to build on the open spaces that are part of the architectural and historical significance of the site.
A lot of development has gone up in Vancouver in the four years the Historic Trust has owned the Academy. That’s a lot of possible buyers that have come and gone, a lot of opportunities to raise capital for the restoration of the Academy that did not require “compromise” and that have been wasted.
When the Commission asked Mr. True why the Historic Trust was selling off land instead of selling off the unused development potential, he had to ask what they meant. It was very unsettling to see that the organization entrusted with the preservation of so many of Vancouver’s most important historic buildings (Providence Academy, Officer’s Row, the Barracks) didn’t even seem to understand the historic preservation tools they had available for that task, that they were going to “compromise” the site when they might not even have to.
So, there’s a source of capital out there for the restoration of Providence Academy that doesn’t require compromising the architectural and historical nature of the Academy building or site. A source of capital that doesn’t require cutting the Academy building off from downtown. The only way to know how much would be to try. But Mr. True said the Historic Trust didn’t even try it because they chose to focus on “activating” C Street.
But, what does “activate C Street” even mean? We’ll talk about that in another post.
And don't forget to sign the Petition if you haven't already!
And don't forget to sign the Petition if you haven't already!
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