Goh Ballet Academy proposes 25-storey student accommodation tower for Vancouver

The Goh Ballet Academy building on Main Street could be redeveloped if a proposal for a 25-storey student accommodation tower is approved.

Vancouver’s prestigious Goh Ballet Academy might soon have an even more prominent presence on Vancouver’s urban landscape and arts and culture scene, if a request for expansion is given the green light.

The arts organization has submitted a rezoning application to the City of Vancouver for a 25-storey, mixed-use highrise building that will expand upon its current site at 2345 Main Street.

The current building has been occupied by the dance company since 1985.

“As Goh Ballet looks to the future, it is clear that its current home requires redevelopment, not only to grow but also to stay in place,” Goh Ballet says in the application.

The expansion will allow the academy to essentially double its operations, raising the number of students it would be capable of serving annually from 450 to 890, and increasing the number of performances it can host at the site.

The vast majority of those students, 85 per cent, are from Canada, with most of those from the Vancouver area.

Chan Hon Goh, general and artistic director of the Goh Ballet, says the intake of international students averages between 20 to 30 students a year.

The amount of international and out of town students that enroll typically depends on what accommodation opportunities are available, with students often battling it out for rental properties or already minimally available homestays, she says.

“Cities along the west coast of North America and Vancouver, in particular, suffer from an acute shortage of student housing that has broader implications for their housing markets,” says Goh.

“In Vancouver, there is currently no dance academy offering accredited vocational studies that also provides residences for students. Goh Ballet will be the first, though most other major Canadian cities - Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary - already have this.”

According to the application, the proposed student housing will be entirely rental, available at market rates to students, staff, and faculty, for the duration of their studies.

Alongside over 300 units of student housing, the building will also include a fitness centre, amenity lounge, an outdoor rooftop terrace and street level retail, alongside additional dance rehearsal studios and performance spaces.

The arts organization promises to conserve the building’s historic facades, specifically the decorative pilasters and the matte, terracotta panels that have fronted both Main Street and East 8th Avenue since the building was first built, as a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada in 1912.

The new tower, however, has been designed to “clearly distinguish itself” from the restored heritage facade that will sit below it, the application says.

Led by Align Architecture, the building will incorporate elements of Chinese design that pay homage to the faculty’s founders, principal dancers with the National Ballet of China, Choo Chiat Goh and Lin Yee Goh.

Circular portal windows and moongate door entries, also inspired by the soft movements of ballet, will feature alongside local artworks in the form of two, large scale murals.

“Because the design integrates the existing heritage building at grade that has already been part of its neighbourhood for many years, the project effortlessly blends with the current and future condition of Mount Pleasant,” says Goh.

“The design further incorporates murals as a way of building on Mount Pleasant’s tradition of transforming blank walls into vibrant public art, contributing to the neighbourhood’s established mural culture.”

Located approximately 100 metres from the planned Mount Pleasant SkyTrain station, expected to open late 2027 after a push back last year, the proposed building will fall within the city’s Broadway Plan.

While its expected height of 223 feet is greater than the limit permitted in the plan, the proposal is in keeping with it as far as everything else is concerned, the academy assures in the application. It notes how the redevelopment of the building will aid in the retention and growth of the arts and culture sector, will address housing concerns, provide heritage value, and will provide jobs.

“Goh Ballet has been an important cultural institution in Vancouver for almost 50 years and this redevelopment will help us continue to contribute to arts and culture and education in our city for many more years,” says Goh.