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Vancouver film industry laments end of 2400 Motel as a shooting location but city hall emphasizes benefits of housing development on prime location.
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When producer Chris Ferguson wanted to shoot parts of his latest horror movie at the 2400 Motel in east Vancouver last year, scheduling was a problem.
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But the location was special enough that he made it work.
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“We looked all over for other alternatives because there were reasons that it didn’t fit our schedule,” Ferguson said. “But ultimately, there was nothing we liked anywhere near as much as that, and we had to turn ourselves into a pretzel to make shooting there work because it’s that unique.”
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That movie, Backrooms, went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2026, earning more than US$350 million worldwide. And the motel property at 2400 Kingsway played a key role — as it has in countless other movies and TV shows over the decades.
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Sunrise
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The distinctive motor court, with its 18-bungalow-style buildings and iconic neon sign, has featured in The X-Files, Riverdale, Yellowjackets, Supernatural, Bates Motel and countless other shows. Built in 1946, it has continued to be a popular filming location in recent years.
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But that could soon be ending.
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The City of Vancouver, which has owned the 2400 Kingsway property since 1989, plans to redevelop the site to build four apartment towers between 18 and 28 storeys tall, with 863 rental homes and a child care facility.
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It’s a story of competing priorities. City council has given clear direction to boost housing supply, especially rental homes, on city-owned land, and this 1.4-hectare site seems to present a golden opportunity to add density in a prime location.
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But city hall also wants to promote and nurture the film and TV industry, which contributes billions of dollars a year to the local economy.
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The city has long contemplated developing the property. The Norquay area plan adopted in 2010 envisioned building two towers between 12 and 16 storeys there, with a mix of strata and social housing. But the current proposal is for all market rentals, part of the strategy announced last year by Mayor Ken Sim for the city to develop market housing on city-owned land to generate long-term revenue.
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The rezoning was initially scheduled to come before council at a public hearing in July. The city withdrew the application amid an exceptionally packed spring and summer council agenda, but the project remains active and could come back to the next council after the October election.
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Ferguson believes city hall truly cares about the film industry and wants it to succeed, he said.
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“But it’s hard, because it is always going to feel like a filming location is not going to be the priority over whatever other business interests there are in the city. If it was non-market housing, I would say it’d be very hard to argue with the idea that you should tear it down and do that. That seems like a greater good than I really understand … I mean, that’s my personal politics, not the position of the film industry. I think it’s their job to do what the development industry’s not doing.
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“But for market housing, there’s tons of undeveloped properties around Vancouver … If it’s just looking at business interests, then I think you should be taking into account what the film industry needs.”
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In an emailed statement, a city spokesperson said: “The city recognizes the importance of the film and television industry and supports its continued success in Vancouver. The city also recognizes the need to deliver new housing and public benefits for residents.”
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Jonathan Lloyd Walker has worked at the 2400 Motel site many times over the years, including as an actor on the X-Files, a writer for The Outer Limits and as a showrunner for Van Helsing.
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“It’s one of the most unique and historic, authentic American-style motel strips, and it’s something that has a very unique place in the landscape here for filming because there’s just not many of those left,” said Walker.
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That “American style” aesthetic has been a key to Vancouver’s success as a TV and film location, says Walker, as the city often has to stand in for the U.S. He added that another favourite local motel location was the City Centre Motor Hotel at 2111 Main St., which has housed artist spaces since 2022 and was rezoned in 2025 for tower development.
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“Clearly it has a very important value to the local film community, but beyond that it’s a part of the identity of the older part, the more historic part, of Vancouver that’s just getting swept away for more dense housing,” said Walker. “It’s a shame that we don’t have some sort of sense of preservation of some of these things, not just for the film industry, but just for the sake of history, for the sake of the soul of the city.”
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Locations scout Tonya Hartz has worked on several productions at the 2400 Motel, including X-Files, Psych, Smallville and, most recently, Yellowjackets, which just wrapped its fourth and final season. She said it’s understandable that a city with a housing crisis wants to use the land to add hundreds of homes, but the loss of the motel is sad.
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“It was the staple of … all the scripts that we get trying to establish the look of American towns,” said Hartz. “You always have the diner, the gas station and the motel … so 2400 was our go-to … In a perfect world, it would be beautiful to see things that have been around for 70-plus years stay as heritage kind of looks, to keep that character.”
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“I’ll just have to go further afield to find that look. When you go into the small towns of the Interior, you go to Vancouver Island, those are more plentiful because they haven’t had the massive real estate boom like Metro Vancouver has.”
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Local author Sam Wiebe didn’t realize how popular a shooting location the 2400 was until he started writing a book on the local film industry, Shot in Vancouver: Adventures in Hollywood North, which is out Oct. 6.
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“It’s a landmark that shows up in everything … It’s this incredibly versatile location, but also just very distinct,” Wiebe said. “It’s pretty amazing that this show (Yellowjackets) that’s still going in 2026 … is still using the same location that Mulder and Scully stayed at in the X-Files.”
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Paul Russell, locations manager for Yellowjackets, said the 2400 has “probably outlived its usable lifespan for sure, as far as a motel goes. But as an asset for the (film) industry, it’s a bit of a loss.
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“It can play sort of multiple different things, and it’s not a look that necessarily exists elsewhere.”
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Marnie Gee, B.C. film commissioner at Creative B.C., said: “The loss of the 2400 Motel is a significant one for B.C.’s film industry.
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“This location has provided immeasurable value to some of the most beloved and defining chapters of the province’s screen history, serving as a backdrop for iconic productions,” Gee said in an email.
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“Locations like the 2400 Motel are an important part of what makes filming in B.C. so versatile and distinctive. They provide filmmakers with real, lived-in environments that can add authenticity and character to a story. The motel has played a meaningful role, and its loss will be felt by our industry.”
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Sim and his ABC Vancouver party declined to comment.
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Beyond the loss of a valuable filming location, not everyone believes Vancouver’s population growth merits this kind of high-density development anyway.
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“It’s based on false underlying assumptions,” said Colleen Hardwick, a former Vancouver city councillor and longtime film industry professional running for mayor this year with TEAM for a Livable Vancouver.
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“What we’re saying is we need more housing, and the size and scale of this is based on that underlying assumption … But what we’re seeing now, of course, is high vacancy rates and more and more developments going into receivership,” Hardwick said. “So what is the city doing here?”
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Others see it differently.
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Geoff Teoli, the city’s former film commissioner now running for council with Vote Vancouver, said that while the 2400 is a great filming location, redevelopment presents too much public benefit to leave the property in its current form.
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“It seems fairly obvious that on a large piece of city-owned land like that, housing and child care would take priority over a filming location,” Teoli said. “I don’t believe the film industry expects us to hold back a project that could deliver so many benefits to the community.”
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