The City of Delta is hosting a public information next week for a proposed rental apartment building in Ladner at the site of a heritage structure to be demolished.
Having 81 residential units, the purpose-built rental complex would be located at 4501 Arthur Dr., the site of the former Delta Lodge seniors’ care facility.
It would have four storeys of rental units and one with parking.
The information session takes place at the nearby Harris Barn (4140 Arthur Dr.) on Wednesday, Aug. 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The vacant existing house on the site, the Westhome Residence, would be torn down.
The house is listed on Delta’s Heritage Register and located within the Ladner Heritage Conservation Area.
The Westhome Residence was built for David Alexander McKee, son of John McKee, who purchased the property from William Ladner in 1904 and built the home in 1905. The McKees sold the house in 1925.
It remained a private residence with several different owners until 1964, when it became a care residence. The Lord family took ownership that year and called the facility Melodie Court. Subsequent owners continued the business until it was eventually called Delta Lodge.
The care home business was relocated over decade ago after Fraser Health identified the replacement of the aging Ladner facility as a high priority. The health region at the time noted the building would have required significant upgrades to remain a care facility.
The privately-owned site was subsequently sold.
A subdivision application was later submitted that would have accommodated the heritage structure. That application included seven single-detached bare land strata lots and common property for driveway access off Arthur Drive.
The application received third reading by council in November 2017, but it was abandoned and the property was sold yet again.
Three years ago, the city received a development application to construct a 61-bed community care facility at the property.
That application proposed a new three-storey building with one level of under-building parking.
The heritage house would have been located closer to Arthur Drive and fully restored as part of the care facility, but that application never proceeded.
At a presentation to council last year, architect Andrea Scott with Lovick Scott Architects Ltd., said the existing house on the property is in very poor condition and would require extensive repairs.
A planning department report at the time noted that while the applicant for the latest proposal provided an inspection report documenting the deteriorating condition of the existing building, staff encouraged the applicant to consider retention, restoration and integration of the house with the proposed development, and to engage a heritage professional to provide a more substantive heritage evaluation report with possible mitigation and restoration recommendations.
Staff told council they would discuss with the applicant potential options, but Mayor George Harvie at the meeting described the house as “rotting” and having long held up development at the property.
According to the planning department, the site under the recently updated Official Community Plan (OCP) designates the property as Mixed Residential. The current application would require an OCP amendment to change the land use designation to Neighbourhood Centres and Corridors to permit the proposed height and built form.
