City council’s unanimous decision Tuesday to reject Paragon Gaming’s proposal to build the largest casino in Western Canada is likely to have wider implications for the development of northeast False Creek.
City of Vancouver director of planning Brent Toderian told council before the vote that, if the casino proposal failed, it would affect development plans that Concord Pacific has for its nearby land.
Concord’s vice-president of planning, Matt Meehan, was not available for comment by press time.
Toderian, who was also not available to speak with Business in Vancouver by press time, told council in a presentation that Concord Pacific and BC Pavilion Corp. (PavCo) were involved in a land swap that “inextricably linked together” the two companies.
That swap saw PavCo get more commercial use zoning on its site near B.C. Place in exchange for Concord getting extra residential density in two towers that it is planning to build on the east side of Cambie Bridge.
A separate deal is also connected. In exchange for not including social housing units in Concord’s condo towers, Concord agreed to give the city two pieces of property on Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside. The city intends to use those properties for social housing.
In an interview with Business in Vancouver, Mayor Gregor Robertson was asked whether this land swap would enter into his decision-making when it came time to vote on the casino.
He said that approval of each project would not be voted on with respect to its own merits and that the city would not allow its position favouring social housing in the Downtown Eastside to colour its view of whether to approve the casino.