A rezoning application has been given final approval to allow apartment buildings to be constructed on the site of Abbotsford’s former hospital.
The rezoning was given the thumbs-up at the city council meeting on Tuesday (July 30). Almost eight acres of the property, which was previously designated as the civic institutional zone, has now been changed to the mid-rise apartment zone.
As well, the remaining one acre in the southwest corner of the property has now been approved for the “parks and open space” zone for protection as a park.
The property at 2179 McCallum Rd. was formerly owned by the Fraser Health Authority and operated as MSA Hospital from 1953 to 2008, before Abbotsford Regional Hospital opened on Marshall Road.
The property was turned over in 2020 to the Matsqui First Nation, on whose traditional territory it was located.
At the time, the First Nation indicated that it hoped to build rental apartment units on the land.
Plans for the site now include a a multi-building six-storey apartment development and park. The applicant, District Development Corp., has not yet submitted a development permit for the project.
In a previous report to council, city staff estimated that the property has the potential for up to 778 apartment units, based on an average size of 800 square feet per suite.
RELATED: Abbotsford lands returned to Matsqui First Nation
RELATED: Matsqui First Nation plan rental housing at former MSA hospital site in central Abbotsford
