838–850 Powell Street — 5.0 FSR Development Site With Holding Income
Three side-by-side M-2 parcels at the Powell and Cordova Diversion corner are for sale as one 25,602 sq. ft. site with 250 feet of frontage. The zoning allows up to 128,010 buildable sq. ft., and the land pays for itself while you plan.
August 20, 2026 · 2 min read · By Samuel Brahem, in association with NAI Commercial
The site
838, 842 and 850 Powell Street sit on the southeast corner where Powell and the Cordova Diversion merge, two blocks north of East Hastings in the port industrial pocket next to Railtown. Everything moving between downtown, the port and East Vancouver drives past the frontage.
The pieces: 850 Powell is a 14,101 sq. ft. corner lot, 842 Powell is 2,875 sq. ft. (25 by 115 feet), and 838 Powell is 8,626 sq. ft. (75 by 115 feet).
What the zoning gives you
M-2 is Vancouver's general manufacturing district. Permitted uses run from brewing and distilling to furniture manufacturing, wholesaling, general office, retail and restaurant. Density tops out at 5.0 FSR and height at 30.5 metres, roughly 100 feet. On 25,602 sq. ft. that is as much as 128,010 buildable sq. ft. — without a rezoning.
A 5.0 FSR commercial-industrial site inside Vancouver city limits is the whole story.
Income in place
Vancouver has restricted new fast-food drive-throughs since 2006. The existing pad is effectively irreplaceable, and a redevelopment could keep it, hold the income and mass the density on the rest of the site.
- 850 Powell: 3,274 sq. ft. retail pad anchored by one of only two Starbucks drive-throughs in Vancouver, plus a pizza parlour and a vacant 1,200 sq. ft. retail space
- 842 Powell: single-storey building of roughly 2,000 sq. ft., leased with a demolition clause
- 838 Powell: two-storey 8,546 sq. ft. building, vacant and needing restoration
The angles
Mixed-use commercial and industrial with retail at grade. Self-storage floors, strata-titled or severed as an airspace parcel for an operator. Live/work, if the City supports it — unverified, and it needs a direct conversation with planning. Or simply hold on the drive-through and leased-building income while a development-permit path is worked out.
The remaining lot toward Hawks Avenue could take a full-block assembly to roughly 40,845 sq. ft. with more than 380 feet of frontage. Access is 5 minutes to the port, 10 to downtown, 10 to the Trans-Canada.
Pricing and NOI are on request through the listing team. The full write-up and brochure are on samuelbrahem.com; details are as of August 20, 2026.
