8495 Granville St (Safeway) | 59, 43M, 25M | 18flrs, 14flrs, 8flrs | Completed
 

The Safeway site at Granville and 70th Ave has been significantly reworked. Here is the current proposal from Westbank designed by Henriquez and partners. Not sure this one will be breaking ground very soon, but it certainly is progressing forward. Take a moment and look at the changes, I feel the new proposal is very fitting and an improvement over the original

Project Stats
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...Statistics.pdf

Building Program
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...ingProgram.pdf

Changes from Original Proposal
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...alProposal.pdf

Landscape Concepts
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...peConcepts.pdf

Traffic and Loading
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...andLoading.pdf

Architectural Drawings
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/plannin...ingsforWeb.pdf

I like! It's refreshing to see 3 bedroom units nowadays. A plus is also the short bus ride to the Marine Dr. Canada Line station.

this would change the feel of that entire area, i use to travel there all the time, it's suburban and small town...

good step toward urbanization and good for business

except for one thing, 24 floors seems better...

Yeah, short bus ride, but I think they need to make those buses more frequent, especially if they want to encourage the people moving into those units to be taking transit. on the smarter and wiser side of things. it's good that they have a safeway there. instead of people getting into their cars, and driving to the nearest safeway, or superstore (or whatever), they can just walk there now. much more convenient. if only translink can get their act together...hmm...

my friend lives down there - he says a lot of people down there oppose it cause they don't want to lose their liquor store
but isn;t it going into the new development?

understandable, a lot of alcholics and drug addicts live down that area, because it's a safe zone, many hide in the rented apartment, protected by a few drug lords, who have become apartment managers over the yrs

Wow, agreed that this will definitely change the feel of the area and give Marpole a nice jolt in the arm. People driving up into Vancouver from the airport will get a better first impression of the city proper.

As for transit, it's not bad in the area. The 10 runs through at something like 10 minutes during peak and the 100 is at 70/71st and Granville at 15 minutes during peak. Both feed straight to the Canada Line. When I lived in Marpole, I never felt lacking for transit options.

Also, and maybe this is just wishful thinking way down the road, this sits only a couple blocks from the Arbutus Corridor. If a tram/LRT/whatever ends up running through there someday, it'd certainly convenient to have that many more people living there.

This project pretty much epitomizes what Henriquez has become known for in Vancouver over the last few years, which is working the rezoning process at City Hall...he goes in with a plan that he knows has no hope of being approved (ie. due to height and/or density, massing concerns etc) then he scales it back as a perceived "concession" based on feedback at the open house stage. Most of the time, the public buys it.

Although I'm finding their designs increasingly bland - including this one, that in itself also plays into the process (at UDP stage) and I gotta give credit to the guy; he knows how to play the game at City Hall, and this is largely the reason he keeps getting hired.

Well... it actually looks nice... I'm surprised they almost managed to get it in there though. =O

There will be a much larger one(6390 sf) on the south side of the complex on 70th ave on the ground floor of the 14 storey tower. It shows it on page 7 of the architectural plans pdf.

I heard they will temporarily move the liquor store during construction to somewhere in amongst the shops at that part of Granville.

Does anyone else not feel the little bank at the corner of this development at granville & 70th is a bit of a nuisance?

Sort of... maybe they can integrate it a little better, but the bank looks too newly renovated or rebuilt to be just trashed within a few years though.

I'm assuming you are referring to RBC. Definitely is - they should try to integrate the bank into the apartments on the W. 70th Avenue side, then demolish the bank and create a small plaza/park area.

Anyways, this development in Marople would be the perfect catalyst for future redevelopments in the area, especially if Vancouver (ever) has a rail link via Arbutus down through the area.

A rail link down Arbutus would be ideal but a dream thanks to West Side residents protecting their isolation ;)

The development although a bit bland is a good scale imo for Marpole. It's great to see South Vancouver get some love with this and Marine Gateway. Hopefully one day 57th and Cambie could be revitalized and those concrete monstrosities are torn down

A) Those buildings aren't that bad.

B) Those buildings are pretty far away from Marpole, and even Marine Gateway.

C) That's a lot of people to evict for aesthetics.

But I do think this is a perfect Catalyst to get people looking at the Arbutus Corridor again. The development is only 2 short blocks away from the tracks, and there are quite a few newer buildings on the south side of 70th there too. It could be a pretty busy tram station.


But I will miss the classic curved roof style Safeway. That one must be one of the larger Safeway's built in that style. There can't be many more left after this one and the one in Burquitlam are gone.

I find it awfully frustrating that Safeway refuses to build overtop of their stores.

Should we be allowing them to shunt the density over to the other buildings just because they want a big open floorplate in their grocery store? It's very odd to have such a short building fronting onto a street as wide as Granville.

With any other development we would expect to see grocery at grade with residential above.... why is this so different?

doesn't that bank have a drive thru though? they probably wouldn't want to lose that cause i don;t think they would be allowed to open another one with the cities ban on drive thrus

Yes, the RBC does have a drive-thru. You can see in Westbanks plans that it is not affected, RBC will retain the small parking (and drive-thru) they have behind their building. Although it would be nice to have the bank integrated into the development, RBC likely owns this site and probably doesn't have much incentive to sell and lease back. Especially since they would lose their surface parking and drive-thru.

Since it's their site they can do what they want.
But it's nice for them to "allow" other development on their site as well.

You're right that they can propose what they want, but since they're applying to the city for rezoning, in the end they can only do what the city approves

I guess my question was, should the city approve a weirdly massed development (in my opinion) because Safeway doesn't want structural columns interrupting their grocery store floor plan? Given the number of grocery stores in the base of residential buildings, this seems to be a quirk of Safeway rather than a necessity of grocery store design.

Do we now design our cities around the quirks of retailers?

i think they want to keep the low rise feeling along granville and keep the residential to the quieter residential side

I can't imagine safeway is that in control of it they are just a tennant

The rezoning passed - and your answer to why there are no condos above the Safeway store.

great news!

Cheryl Rossi's May 19 Vancouver Courier article about the Marpole Safeway redevelopment says Gregory Henriquez expects the redevelopment to be complete in three years.

Can it be completed that fast?

The Development Permit Application has yet to be posted on the site. I'm guessing the Marpole Safeway would probably shut down at the end of 2011.

the development sign came and went already

Really?

I live in the area and the only sign I've ever seen posted there was the Rezoning Application.

they had a sign up that showed what was getting built

vancvrman is correct, the rezoning has been approved but no development permit yet. The development permit is usually the easier step and shouldn't be difficult to obtain on this project. If G. Henriquez said completion is expected in 3yr then I'd do with that. Definitely doable if work starts ~yr end. I would imagine that Safeway would want to be back up and running well before any new supermarket at Marine and Cambie opens and before anything happens to Oakridge which would affect the Safeways business there.

i can't tell the difference between signs anyway only seen them in passing

A simple way to tell at a glace what the signs are for is this: the white ones are development permit applications and the yellow ones are rezoning permit applications.

never knew that

why are surreys green? lol

"market rent"
 

first post. great site!! just wondering what people think about the rental units going for around 2 bux per foot? so a 485sqft place for around a grand? in MARPOLE!? 900 or so sqft 2 bedroom for around 2 grand... i sorta can't believe it. i grew up there and it really needs the shot in the arm (and more!) but i can't imagine anyone paying that much to rent there...

More rental units are needed to satisfy demand.

It seems like a few neighborhood activists have city hall terrified and keep production of new housing at a snails pace and in turn keep prices high.

I can't wait to move into my new condo on Cambie St.

definitely!
 

Oh of course! I have no problem with more rental units! just the price as agreed upon being called "market value." Here's the quote from the rezoning report: "The provision of market rental apartments under the STIR program is consistent with Council policy encouraging more affordable housing in all areas of the City." They will be the most expensive rentals outside of Yaletown or West-End penthouses... Not sure who that helps. It's just more sanctioned and rushed inflation.

Marpole Safeway Site
 

Update: A 2-man crew was at work on the sidewalk at Granville and West 70th this morning surveying for the new curbs and gutters necessary for the coming Safeway redevelopment.

The rezoning has passed and the rezoning sign has been removed. I wonder when the Development Permit Application is going to be posted?

Here's the latest info regarding the development permit

Notification Letter
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/develop...th/notiltr.pdf

Contect Plan and Data
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/develop...textpldata.pdf

Site Plan
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/develop...0th/sitepl.pdf

Street Elevation Plan 1
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/develop...0th/steles.pdf

Street Elevation Plan 2
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/develop...elevations.pdf

Landscape Site Plan
http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/develop...capesitepl.pdf

Looks good, can't remember the details from before, are there any major changes?

Its too bad Westbank couldn't arrange to include the bank on the corner, would have really helped the design and the Granville frontage. Oh well I have faith in the rest of the development... and 3 FSR in that area is nothing to get upset over.

^It would've been nice to see RBC included back in a new redevelopment. I'm just guessing, but the potential loss of the drive-thru ATM might have been a factor as it is quite popular there and usually has at least 2 or 3 cars waiting.

I guess a lot of Westside folk don't like to get out of their luxury cars and walk 20 feet...

Marpole Safeway Site
 

UPDATE: The Development Permit Application signs are now up at the Marpole Safeway site.

I wonder when construction is likely to start? In the Spring of 2012, perhaps?

it will be a odd time for that area with no Grocery Store. I know the feeling of a reno hitting your main and really only (near by) Grocery Option ..... not fun.

my friends live there - there are walkable options, a produce store a butcher, bakery etc. they already prefer the smaller ones - superstore is quite close as is the canada line, people can adjust - most people i know don't even shop at safeway anyway its way too expensive

I probably know this area better than you do, and I can tell you that Safeway is the cheapest option and definitely the most popular among locals. The vast majority in that area drive to shop for groceries and don't walk or bother with the Granville streetfront stores. (the quality is better than Safeway for fresh goods but you're not saving $). The shift will be to Superstore, IGA on 41st etc...

Don't think I've ever heard anyone call Safeway out for being 'way too expensive'...?:shrug: Even in lower income areas they do quite well through discounting/sales/coupons which, when taken into account, don't make them that much more expensive than the cheaper options such as No Frills, etc...

Safeway also varies pricing by store location. I remember passing through the Broadway & Commercial Safeway and passing on a clamshell of salad greens to buy it closer to the date needed for a dinner, and later discovering that it was $1.00 more at the City Square Safeway.

I think Superstore also varies prices by location - with Marine Drive being more expensive than Grandview - but it's hard to tell as prices there seem to vary by day of the week!

yeah, never ever shop safeway these days, but back when i still wanted old dutch potato chips or orange cheese, i recall that the safeway on w 4th was often the same price as capers, always more expensive than kim's and choices, to the point that it was cheaper to buy stuff organic across the street at kim's than it was to buy it conventional at safeway. made it very clear the value of that huge parking lot to their business model at that location, as well as affective attachment/trust associated with the brand.

I've always found Safeway to be pretty pricey, when living in the West End, and now don't even bother to look on the East side. I've never signed up for their club card or whatever it is, if you have that I think it might be comparable to other affordable grocers.

i only go to safeway if i am desperate and superstore is closed - the prices are way too expensive at safeway like double sometimes on things - i use my card at safeway and its still too expensive

anyway i avoid it most of the time

yes safeway stores do have varying prices from store to store - they've publicly said so in the past that they price according to the neighbourhood and thats why the west side is often priced higher - a newspaper did a comparison one day by buying items at 8 different stores and they had quite a few different prices

i also find thrifty foods way overpriced - they had cadbury chocolate on sale 2 for $4 last time i went, the everyday price at superstore is $1.83 and cheaper on sale - like $1.27 just last week

anyway glad to see the project moving ahead

I always thought Safeway wasn't that expensive. Back when I lived across from Shaugnessy Elementary I'd always go to the Safeway on arbutus and it didn't seem bad. Then when living in UBC we'd always shop at the one on 10th and Blanca.

Maybe it was just the location that made them so convenient, they were a 5 min drive from our house and we never went any other place to compare prices.

Is Save On Foods considered expensive too?

It's all relative.
Concord residents don't know that Urban Fare is expensive...