KEY SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES Energy savings target: anticipated energy savings of 33 percent Community involvement and affordability: training and hiring program for 28 local residents  Affordable housing: up to 200 non-market units; low-interest purchasing loans for 15 low-income households Local procurement of materials and services Re-purposing of underutilized steam plant for hot water generation The redevelopment of the Woodward’s building is one of the most significant and symbolic components of the revitalization of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and its historic neighbourhoods. Encompassing a range of market and non-market housing, stores, civic offices, and a university campus, this neighbourhood-scale redevelopment project is anticipated to attract up to 6,000 residents, shoppers, employees, students and faculty each day.  Constructed in 1903, the original Woodward’s building was Vancouver’s primary retail destination for many decades, providing food and other household necessities to residents well beyond the Hastings Street corridor. Ninety years later, Woodward’s closed its Vancouver location, forcing many of the local businesses along Hastings Street to follow suit. Over the next ten years, the building remained vacant. Finally, in 2003, the City of Vancouver purchased the Woodward’s building from the provincial government and, in 2007, issued a Development Permit for the site.  READ MORE