The 7Eleven at No. 1 Road and Steveston Highway is closed and boarded up. And it’s not the only one – the 7Eleven at No. 3 Road and Williams also recently shuttered its doors.
But one Richmond councillor is suggesting these types of commercial properties are "prime sites" for rental housing.
Coun. Carol Day has a motion coming to next week’s planning committee meeting suggesting that such buildings, when redeveloped, should be required to have 100 per cent rental above the ground floor commercial units.
At a recent council meeting, Day mentioned the two recently closed 7Elevens in Richmond, saying they could have much-needed rental homes on them, in addition to commercial at ground level.
The current zoning for the No. 1 Road former 7Eleven site allows for retail and a residential operator unit - covering just 35 per cent of the lot.
By contrast, other zoning areas, for example, at No. 1 Road and Moncton Street, allow for commercial on the ground floor with residential units above, covering 100 per cent of the lot.
Day’s suggestion is to “require 100% residential rental units over existing single storey commercial buildings upon redevelopment.”
"Where Commercial units already exists and the air space is available rental units above would ... help alleviate the housing crisis in Richmond (and) would be another positive step for Richmondites," Day explains in her rationale for the motion.
