An 11-storey mixed-use tower could replace the gas station and tire shop at 2196 Marine Drive in Ambleside, keeping the property’s mid-century modern service station as a restored heritage frontage along Marine Drive, according to a preliminary development application filed with the District of West Vancouver.
The proposal from JTA Development Consultants, designed by Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership, puts ground-floor commercial space under a 10-storey strata residential tower. The tower would reach 40.59 metres, rising behind the ridgeline of the restored heritage building so the old service station keeps its prominent presence on the street, the application says.
The service station was expanded to three service bays in 1998.
The plan restores it to its original two-bay mid-century modern form from 1965 under a Heritage Revitalization Agreement and a Heritage Conservation Plan. The vehicle crossings that served the gas station would be removed, and the heritage building would be moved and rotated so its eaves line up with a 1.5 metre setback from the street.
The tower would hold 80 strata homes: 10 studios, 30 one-bedroom units, 30 two-bedroom units and 10 three-bedroom units, in a mix of market and rental tenures. The application promises accessible, adaptable homes and high-performance mechanical systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The project needs a rezoning from CR2 to a site-specific Comprehensive Development zone, plus an Official Community Plan amendment, and it would build to a floor space ratio of 4.09. Parking would go underground on three levels, with 68 vehicle stalls and 141 bicycle stalls, and cars would enter the parkade from the rear lane so Marine Drive gets no new driveways.
The application leans on the site’s transit credentials: it sits next to a Route 250 bus stop and within walking distance of the West Vancouver Community Centre. For height context, it names The Surfside at nine storeys and Bellevue Place at 22 storeys nearby.
The application is preliminary. No formal rezoning application has been filed, and Council has not considered it. The developer is hosting a consultation meeting on Oct 9 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. The applicant-hosted meetings are a required step in the District’s preliminary application process
