Built by the Community, for the Community

Many large developments in Vancouver are built for a community. JWest is being built by one. Across the Cambie Corridor, cranes are rising — most of them backed by private developers building for profit. JWest is different. It's a community-owned project, rooted in a decade of shared vision, rising in the same neighbourhood but answering to an entirely different set of values.

That distinction, as simple as it sounds, shapes everything about how this project has been planned, governed and funded. This week, we sat down with JWest Corp Co-Chairs Joe Khalifa and David Porte for an exclusive conversation on what it means to lead a project of this scale: the long-range vision it demands, the market moment we are in, and why collective community ownership is now the project’s single biggest competitive advantage.

A Neighbourhood Transformed

The Oakridge that the Jewish Community Centre has called home since 1961 looks almost nothing like the neighbourhood taking shape around it today. The City of Vancouver has identified the Cambie Corridor as its largest growth area outside of Downtown, a plan that will more than double the population and add over 30,000 new homes over the coming decades. What was once a low-rise, family-oriented suburb is becoming a true urban town centre, and JWest is being built to serve it.

“The JCC today is in a similar position as it was back in 1961," says Joe. "At that time, it was built to serve a growing neighbourhood largely consisting of young families in single-family homes. Now, we're evolving with a community that has grown — and will continue to grow — into one that is incredibly diverse and robust. At six stories, the new JCC is moving forward with Oakridge — going vertical along with the rest of the neighbourhood, and will serve everyone from children to young adults, and young families to seniors for generations to come. We're not just keeping pace. We're leading the way."

The campus will serve a broad cross-section of residents, including Jewish and non-Jewish alike, with expanded childcare, seniors’ programming, arts and cultural spaces, and a Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre that draws 25,000 students and teachers every year.

“I grew up in this neighbourhood when it was single-family homes built around a mall. Now it’s going to be transformed into a central point of the city, and JWest is the heart of that,” says David. “When someone new walks through those doors for the first time, I think they’re going to be blown away. A community centre, a school, rental housing - all in one place. That’s everything a community could want.”

Why Community Ownership Is the Advantage

In a market where developer-backed projects are facing real exposure to rising costs, shifting financing and longer timelines, JWest’s model is genuinely different. There is no single investor calling the shots. Instead, it has a decade of community consultation behind it, strong government partnerships, and hundreds of individual donors who have a direct stake in what gets built.

“There’s a convergence of goodwill when you do something like this,” says Joe. “Every step of the way, we’ve been supported — federal and provincial governments, the City, major financial institutions. They see the ultimate goal, not just for the Jewish community, but for the broader community. That kind of alignment is incredibly powerful.”

That goodwill is not accidental. It is the result of disciplined governance and a vision that, remarkably, has not changed in a decade. “Eldad was one of the first to articulate this project objective,” Joe adds. “It was so forward-looking that the vision hasn’t shifted in ten years.” A project with those kinds of roots does not bend easily to market conditions.
 

The Signal Everyone Has Been Waiting For

For David, this project’s uniqueness is what will make it sustainable for the future:"What makes this unique is that it's both a community vision and a financially viable one. There are plenty of great projects driven by community intention that simply can't be made to work economically. This one can. It's being built literally and figuratively with the thought of how it will sustain itself - not just today, but for the next 60 years. That's not something you see very often in a project like this."

The recent selection of Urban One is a signal of immediacy, and Joe is direct about what it means. “You don’t hire a construction manager ten years in advance,” he says. “The fact that we have a partner at this level — who is committed to delivering this on budget, on time, and to the highest standard — speaks to exactly where we are. We’re right around the corner.”

For donors who have been watching the campaign from a distance, this milestone matters. The project is not approaching readiness. It is ready.

Be Part of What Comes Next

JWest has raised over $147 million. With just over $14 million remaining, we are in the final stretch, and every gift, at any level, is a direct expression of belief in what this project represents.

And as David puts it, "For anyone still on the fence — this is real, and it's going to happen. You'd be joining something that will be here for your children and your children's children. And unlike most campaigns of this kind, this project has an engine behind it. It's built to sustain itself, and when I think about the future, this is one of the strongest bets we have ever made and will ever make in our community’s history.”

“This latest phase of fundraising is a chance to reach leaders we haven’t yet connected with. Everyone has the opportunity to provide their own bit of leadership, whether financial or social, to make this as inclusive a project as possible,” adds Joe. 

The question is no longer whether JWest will be built. It is whether you will be part of it.

To learn more about ways to give, contact info@jwestnow.com or call 604-808-2440. 

The JWest project would not be possible without the generous funding from the Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, the Diamond Foundation, and the Ronald S Roadburg and Al Roadburg Foundations, as well as the steadfast support of the Jewish community and its allies, and the valuable contributions of the Vancouver residents who use the current Jewish Community Centre.