WHO THINKS IT’S A GOOD IDEA TO CANNIBALIZE OUR TINY INDUSTRIAL LAND BASE FOR APARTMENTS? EVERY PARTY BUT TEAM

TEAM is the only party that will stand up to the relentless pressures of the real-estate development industry for the good of the city

VANCOUVER  (Feb. 2, 2026) — TEAM for a Livable Vancouver thinks the city should protect its precious industrial land instead of short-sightedly allowing it to be eaten up for more apartments.

That’s exactly what City of Vancouver planning staff and scores of experts advised recently when Strand Development proposed a 25-storey residential tower at 320 West 2^nd.

Staff recommended against the proposal, saying only six percent of Vancouver’s land base is industrial, while 90 percent is residential, and that housing on this site “is incompatible with the goal of preserving industrial and employment land in the city.”

Not a single council member from any party listened.

Vancouver Greens, COPE, OneCity and Vote Vancouver members all voted in lockstep with ABC in unanimously approving the tower on Jan. 27.

TEAM says this is proof of how badly the city needs a party that will stand up to the relentless pressure of the real-estate development industry.  TEAM will run candidates for mayor, council, and the school and park boards in the Oct. 17 election.

TEAM knows it’s crucial to preserve industrial land to encourage the industries that will create jobs and form the future of Vancouver’s new economy. With most of the city already zoned residential, TEAM believes it is reckless, shortsighted and imprudent to begin eating into the small amount left for industrial use.

A group of 24 experts in planning and architecture warned in a Jan. 30 open letter that approval of the tower could drive up land and rent prices and force businesses out of the area. Nor is this the end of it: “We understand that this is the first in a number of housing developments on industrial land that Council has asked staff to fast track in their last few months of office.”