Why — after a decade — the controversial tower proposed for 105 Keefer in Vancouver seems likely to move forward It has been 2,028 days since the Vancouver Development Permit Board ruled against approving a tower at 105 Keefer Street.  And in 2 more days, they’ll have the debate all over again.  “Beedie Beedie, you can't hide. We can see your greedy eyes,” sang protesters at a rally of around 300 people on Thursday evening against the resubmitted proposal by the Beedie Group for the nine-storey tower, which the permit board will consider on Monday. Chinatown condo project is back on the table and dividing the neighbourhood In the decade since the proposal was first brought forward, dozens and dozens of news stories — and even a thesis or two — have been shared about 105 Keefer.  Admittedly, when you consider how many redevelopments happen across the province every month, those outside Vancouver could consider it overkill. But it’s been a powerful debate because of the confluence of issues the parking lot represents: across the street from the Chinese Cultural Centre, two blocks from the Downtown Eastside, owned by one the city’s most prominent developers. However, there are strong reasons to believe that this vote, unlike those in the past, will move the project forward. First, all the people involved in rejecting the original tower — first at the council table, then at the permit board — are no longer with the city. The only person on the permit board who voted against killing the project in 2017 is now Vancouver’s city manager, Paul Mochrie. The city has already lost one lawsuit on the issue and has been ordered by a judge to give better reasons should it reject the project again.  Next, Vancouver’s election brought a new ruling party in ABC Vancouver that has talked consistently about building more housing and has explicitly talked about a change in focus for Chinatown, with one councillor alleging “misinformation” and “misleading renderings” by opponents of the proposal.    Third, while in 2017, there were very few Chinatown groups explicitly supporting the proposal, this time around, seven of them have jointly lobbied for its approval.  Beedie also commissioned polling on the proposal, and in a sample size of 330 Vancouver residents contacted my phone, 43 per cent said they supported the project, vs. 22 per cent who said they had mixed feelings, 17 per cent who opposed it, and 18 per cent who said they didn't know. (The poll was done by Fairview Strategy and has a margin of error of 5.4 per cent 19 times out of 20) And so the odds seem in favour of the tower being approved. But whatever way the vote goes, the fault lines will remain. After all, next door to 105 Keefer, there’s a nine–metre-long neon sign saying “Let’s Heal the Divide.”  It was created by Toni Latour, who, on her website for the piece of art, says Chinatown is “a neighbourhood confronted with gentrification, class inversion, and the threat of cultural displacement from urban developers and city rezoning.” If the tower is approved, the sign will be blocked out.