The New Face of Rental Housing in Lynn Valley

Lynn Valley is continuing to change as new housing projects bring more density into the neighbourhood. One of the latest examples is a six-storey rental building planned for 1149 and 1155 Lynn Valley Road. The District of North Vancouver issued the development permit for the project on March 2, 2026. Redbrick Properties Inc. plans to build 66 market rental homes on the site. The building will include 58 vehicle parking spaces.

The project has been moving through the District’s approval process for several years. The detailed application was received in August 2023. Public information meetings were held later that year. A public hearing took place in September 2024. Second and third readings followed in October 2024. The rezoning bylaw was adopted in December 2025 before the development permit was issued this spring. The project is another sign of the changing housing landscape in Lynn Valley.

For years, Lynn Valley has been known for a mix of single-family homes, townhouses and lower-density housing. But new development around Lynn Valley Road and the town centre is bringing more apartments and rental housing into the community. That change has also created an ongoing discussion about where new housing should go and how much density existing neighbourhoods can accommodate.

Supporters of more housing argue that areas such as Lynn Valley Town Centre are well suited for growth because residents can already access shops, services, schools and transit nearby. In a May 2026 letter published by the North Shore News, Chris Gardner, president and CEO of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, argued that Lynn Valley is one of the places where more housing makes sense. “Lynn Valley Town Centre is exactly where additional housing should go,” Gardner wrote.

He argued that concentrating housing near the town centre is preferable to spreading development farther into established single-family neighbourhoods. Gardner also pointed to the broader housing shortage across the North Shore. In his letter, he said the District of North Vancouver was approaching a 20 per cent shortfall in meeting its provincial housing target. His argument reflects one side of a wider debate taking place across the North Shore. More housing can create new rental options for people who want to stay in their community. It can also bring more residents closer to businesses, transit and services.

But density can also change the physical character of a neighbourhood. A six-storey apartment building looks and feels different from the detached homes and smaller buildings that have traditionally made up many parts of Lynn Valley. That is where much of the debate sits.