New Westminster Updates

[madog222]

For New Westminster project updates and discussion.



Summary of current projects underway/proposed/rumored:
*Not including those with their own thread (Pier West, Brewery District, Sapperton Green)
*Status is as of this initial post, I don't plan to keep this OP updated.

-Ovation is finishing up
-618 Carnarvon is topped out
-Royal Columbian Hospital's new tower has a few floors left.
-100 Braid is just getting above grade


-Douglas College residential tower at 700 Royal Ave (across 8th St from the campus), construction to start this summer with 2026 completion
-612 Seventh Ave (aka 616-640 Sixth St), 30 fl, 338 rental units (10 below market), approved by council and site demo has started
-810 Agnes, 34 fl, 352 market rentals, council readings to come after public consultation finishes in April.
-514 Carnarvon, 31 fl, 271 strata & 14 market rental units, approved by council.
-811 Carnarvon (aka 809-811 Carnarvon & 60–70 Eighth St), 45 fl, 469 strata units and a 138 room hotel, rezoning submitted.
-51 Elliot, proposed at 33-35 fl, 253 strata units & up to 28 non-market rental, rezoning in progress.


-22nd Street Station Area master planning should start this year...
-Schara Tzedeck Cemetery floated the idea of a rental tower at Marine Dr & Fenwick St
-825 McBride Bvld might still be something, maybe.
-513 Seventh St also had a tower proposed to some extent a few years ago.
-611 Agnes had a proposal submitted ~5 years ago, it looks like Quadreal now owns the property.
-24 Ovens (beside Royal Square Mall) is looking at mid rise or high rise tower.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by madog222

-811 Carnarvon, 45 fl, strata units and a 138 room hotel, approved by council.

Just a note, this isn't approved by council yet. It hit their desks in a pre-approval step, it still has to go through two rounds of consultation, presentation to the New West Design Panel, and First, Second, and Third Readings for the zoning amendments and related bylaws. Oh, it also looks like they're going to waive Public Hearing for this one, which will help speed things up a little bit.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Oh, it also looks like they're going to waive Public Hearing for this one, which will help speed things up a little bit.

Hopefully that means it'll get built sooner rather than later. Does waiving the Public Hearing mean they'll be able to start construction after the third reading? or will there be further steps? It's already been 5 years since this was first proposed, hopefully they break ground asap, that portion of Carnarvon & 8th really needs a revamp.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by mcj

Hopefully that means it'll get built sooner rather than later. Does waiving the Public Hearing mean they'll be able to start construction after the third reading? or will there be further steps? It's already been 5 years since this was first proposed, hopefully they break ground asap, that portion of Carnarvon & 8th really needs a revamp.

Here's the full list of steps that need to be taken, copied directly from the report to council:

1. Interdepartmental Staff Review Toward Suitable Plan of Development (On-Going)
2. Preliminary Report to Council (March 27, 2023)
3. Applicant-led Consultation
4. Presentation to New Westminster Design Panel
5. City-led public consultation
6. Issuance of Notice of Waiver of Public Hearing
7. Council Consideration of First, Second and Third Readings of Zoning Amendment and Road Closure and Land Disposition Bylaws
8. Completion of Adoption Requirements
9. Adoption of Zoning Amendment Bylaw and Road Closure and Land Disposition Bylaws
10. Issuance of Special Development Permit
11. Application and Issuance of Tree and Building Permits

I have no idea how long each step would take.

[XB70 Valkyrie]

New proposed development which includes a hotel portion:

https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-n...inster-6780124

If that render is representative of the final product, that would be a very nice addition to NW. Hopefully they won't trim the height.

I see Madog222 has it in his list already

[vanman]

Originally Posted by mcj

Renderings for 809 – 811 Carnarvon Street and 60 – 70 Eighth Street from Ria's Twitter post:





The 2018 proposal, seems like we're losing a storey on the tower and gaining some more rooms in the hotel portion:

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/811-...ew-westminster

Originally Posted by XB70 Valkyrie

New proposed development which includes a hotel portion:

https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-n...inster-6780124

If that render is representative of the final product, that would be a very nice addition to NW. Hopefully they won't trim the height.

I see Madog222 has it in his list already

From that article at least one city councillor wants to explore the idea of building taller in exchange for more public amenities.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

Just a note, this isn't approved by council yet. It hit their desks in a pre-approval step, it still has to go through two rounds of consultation, presentation to the New West Design Panel, and First, Second, and Third Readings for the zoning amendments and related bylaws. Oh, it also looks like they're going to waive Public Hearing for this one, which will help speed things up a little bit.

Thanks, got a bit mixed around with all the Carnarvon projects.

[Sheba]

-22nd Street Station Area master planning should start this year...

I'm looking forward to this.

[hollywoodnorth]

nice work on the thread/rundown madog222

[officedweller]

Thanks!
There's a lot of activity in New West.

[madog222]

Regarding the 22nd St Stn area.

A local realtor has been has been doing some groundwork. This is really promising if a single developer buys all the lots south of 7th once the master plan is sorted.

Realtor Eric Vallee said he’s been working since January 2022 to get all 31 property owners south of Seventh Avenue and north of Marine Way to work together and to get the city to move forward on the neighbourhood’s master plan. In an email to the Record, he said he’s talked to more than 150 developers about the intention of all 31 owners selling their properties together to a developer, but developers are waiting to see what the city plans for the area around the 22nd Street station.

https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-n...alogue-6885903

[vanman]

Site clearing has begun at First & Royal. Already it has completely changed the look of Royal.

[Lexus]

2023, Apr 21

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX600, on Flickr

[rickvug]

It looks like Columbia Square is going to be redeveloped: https://www.imaginecolumbiasquare.com. This one completely flew under my radar. The arts space that opened up recently is sponsored by Edgar Development, who now owns the property. From a February news article:

The community space, next to the entrance off 10th Street, is a commercial-retail unit that’s part of a future project by Edgar Development. Edgar is proposing a new pedestrian-oriented community on the seven-acre site — a community that’s intended to feature a range of housing options including affordable, market rental and strata condos, plus a new daycare, office and retail space, a press release notes.

While that development application is under review at city hall over the coming months, the large retail unit will serve as the I Heart NW space.

“I Heart NW will offer a space for events and community engagement and a hub for cultural events and conversation around community and city building as it relates to the proposed development,” the press release notes. “In addition to a series of carefully curated events, the space will serve as a place where community members can learn about the vision for Columbia Square, ask questions of project team members and explore local art at a rotating art gallery.”

I also found a mention on RENX in February:

Edgar has also just acquired the eight-acre Columbia Square Plaza site in downtown New Westminster, near the New Westminster SkyTrain station. It’s early in the process, but the plan is to redevelop an old shopping mall into retail at grade with market-rate and below-market rental and strata condos above.

“It’s very early stage,” he said. “We have just acquired that site, and we’re just getting going on it. We look for those under-utilized sites, and although this is not at the end of its useful life, it’s in an area that’s next to the SkyTrain station and in an urban setting, so it’s time to redevelop that and do a highest-and-best use.

I'd be curious to hear more thoughts or information on this one. Perhaps I'm reading into the "not at the end of its useful life" comment, but I'm getting the feeling that it might be a while before this one gets going. Given the size of the site consultation and master planning are likely to take a while. It also sounds like this developer is likely to be focused on their Port Moody development for a while. Perhaps this is more about building up their pipeline.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by rickvug

I'd be curious to hear more thoughts or information on this one. Perhaps I'm reading into the "not at the end of its useful life" comment, but I'm getting the feeling that it might be a while before this one gets going. Given the size of the site consultation and master planning are likely to take a while. It also sounds like this developer is likely to be focused on their Port Moody development for a while. Perhaps this is more about building up their pipeline.

Considering how long major projects like Sapperton Green (Master Plan process started in 2011, still not finalized 12 years later) and Pier West (original site plan approved in 1996, about to be completed 28 years after that initial approval) take with New West's planning department it will be at least a decade before we see any shovels in the ground here. Glad to see someone is advancing this though!

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by mcj

Considering how long major projects like Sapperton Green (Master Plan process started in 2011, still not finalized 12 years later) and Pier West (original site plan approved in 1996, about to be completed 28 years after that initial approval) take with New West's planning department it will be at least a decade before we see any shovels in the ground here. Glad to see someone is advancing this though!

That's nothing. Have you ever heard of the mythical Muni Evers Park?

Also, I think Amazon is perfectly fine with keeping its warehouse at Braid. It's a pretty modern facility with great highway access. Even if the land is expensive, it's not like there's a ton of industrial sites they could move to.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by fredinno

That's nothing. Have you ever heard of the mythical Muni Evers Park?

Also, I think Amazon is perfectly fine with keeping its warehouse at Braid. It's a pretty modern facility with great highway access. Even if the land is expensive, it's not like there's a ton of industrial sites they could move to.

Muni Evers Park/Poplar Landing is not a private development and is owned by the city, not really directly comparable. If you'd like to compare it still, planning for that site commenced in 2007, only 4 years prior to Sapperton Green, so yeah we've been waiting 16 years for the city to finish a park and build some housing there.

Sapperton Green isn't owned by Amazon, and the Amazon warehouse isn't even located within the first phase of the project. However it's a direct comparison that having an active tenant paying rent allows developers to deal with the decades long process to get planning permission for the site, also helps that QuadReal is owned by a pension fund for enduring the long waiting period, something that this developer doesn't have to it's advantage.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Pic by me May 14th:

100 Braid Street.

Reposting here.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by mcj

Considering how long major projects like Sapperton Green (Master Plan process started in 2011, still not finalized 12 years later) and Pier West (original site plan approved in 1996, about to be completed 28 years after that initial approval) take with New West's planning department it will be at least a decade before we see any shovels in the ground here. Glad to see someone is advancing this though!

When did planning for the Brewery District start? Pier West was slowed down because Larco isn't a development company, they're a "let's pretend we're a development company that just sits on land" company.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by CanSpice

When did planning for the Brewery District start? Pier West was slowed down because Larco isn't a development company, they're a "let's pretend we're a development company that just sits on land" company.

The Labatt brewery closed in 2005 and the rezoning was approved in 2007. I can't find when exactly Wesgroup bought the site or when they first submitted the rezoning. The rezoning was amended in 2016 to increase the residential density in exchange for including rental units.

The first building was complete in 2011. Sales for the first residential tower started in 2015 and construction finished in 2017.

AFAIK excavation for the final tower hasn't started yet so it could very well be over 20 years between the original rezoning approval and total project completion.