General Vancouver Development Updates II

[jollyburger]

But but... not enough parking spots...

Douglas Todd: Metro Vancouver's 'grand bargain' over highrise clusters could be thrown into jeopardy

Senakw has been able to bring in ultra-high-density highrises, Price said, without offering significant amenities, open space or services to the wider neighbourhood. And, perhaps most importantly, he said, Senakw provides little parking.

https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columni...e-clusters-could-be-thrown-into-jeopardy

[Migrant_Coconut]

Good thing we've got the 2, the 44 and a literal bridge to downtown.

Want a space for your car? Find another unit - there's literally thousands under construction. Looks like Gordon Price is starting the next phase of his Joe Rogan face-heel turn.

[seamusmcduff]

It won't be long until they start calling these projects "woke". It seems inevitable any time someone fights against some societal change they don't like without enough solid reasoning, and is then criticized for it online.

Once the specious arguments fail, the signalling to a group that is willing to fall behind them as long as they are validated begins.

It might sound extra cynical, but it feels like this happens any time a vocal group attempting to maintain the status quo fails. Theres a dependable podcast circuit waiting to welcome them with open arms to share their grievances.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by seamusmcduff

It won't be long until they start calling these projects "woke". It seems inevitable any time someone fights against some societal change they don't like without enough solid reasoning, and is then criticized for it online.

Once the specious arguments fail, the signalling to a group that is willing to fall behind them as long as they are validated begins.

It might sound extra cynical, but it feels like this happens any time a vocal group attempting to maintain the status quo fails. Theres a dependable podcast circuit waiting to welcome them with open arms to share their grievances.

When did Gordon Price get un-cancelled after his previous musing about Senakw?

“Look, I’ll say it. It’s basically, ‘You f—ked us, now we f—k you.’ That’s no basis for reconciliation. That’s not gonna work. That’s awful,” Price said.

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/land-back-podcast-episode-5-senakw-development

[gaviscon]

The Form on Kingsway has topped out.
Don't recall seeing a single update.
Can't believe it went up completely unnoticed on this thread.

[GenWhy?]

I would challenge that the "grand bargain" no longer exists in Vancouver.

Douglas Todd's example of Metrotown's "arrangement fell apart" isn't quite true as the renter protections were enhanced and the Plan remained largely unchanged.

"But how will the public react to the intense construction occurring at Vancouver’s Oakridge Park and Kitsilano’s Senakw, and coming down the pike for Point Grey’s Jericho Lands, the Heather Lands and within the Broadway plan?"

Seeing how TEAM keeps getting crushed I think Senakw can be crossed off that list, maybe even Jericho, and as for Oakridge (the area) high-rises outside of the mall are well under construction with a 2nd high-rise being built next to Columbia Park.

A friend of mine lives in a detached there and was complaining about it being out of place and I responded, "well in 10 years it will look right at home, and by then your landlord will have sold your house and you'll be in another neighbourhood." (They moved into the house well-informed its on the chopping block).

"Senakw has been able to bring in ultra-high-density highrises, Price said, without offering significant amenities, open space or services to the wider neighbourhood. And, perhaps most importantly, he said, Senakw provides little parking."

"Senakw’s alternative-transportation, anti car concept, which saves a developer great amounts of money, might work, said Gordon. But it also might not. "

Don't worry, Price still has a big bone to pick with Senakw.

"But if the Squamish First Nation’s transportation concept falls apart, and it turns out the 6,000 residents of Senakw need far more parking spots and other amenities, Gordon said the spots will have to be found nearby and constructed after the fact. That’s what happened in South False Creek in the 1980s, when “ugly” parking lots had to suddenly be erected near Leg in Boots Square."

Dude is comparing Vancovuer's transportation system of 1980 to 2025... I think he might be referring to the parkade on Ash st which I always forget is there, and where the hell would Senakw build a parkade that would generate as much revenue as a rental building?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

"But if the Squamish First Nation’s transportation concept falls apart, and it turns out the 6,000 residents of Senakw need far more parking spots and other amenities, Gordon said the spots will have to be found nearby and constructed after the fact. That’s what happened in South False Creek in the 1980s, when “ugly” parking lots had to suddenly be erected near Leg in Boots Square."

I know the lot he's talking about. It's empty most of the time today and should be demolished for more condos.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Price literally had a blog dedicated to bitching about cars and wishing Vancouver was designed differently. Is this Covid brain fog, getting old, or something else?

[idunno]

Yeah it's too bad to see him become this skeptical. That's a really good point about 1080 vs. today - we didn't even have SkyTrain back then!

[officedweller]

And WRT providing amenities, it'll have a grocery store and restaurants, and is adjacent to Vanier Park and the seawall.
He's thinking like a bean counter.

[officedweller]

PNE Amphitheatre ride-by video:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIxrqoXRFPa/?igsh=MWhxY2wxaGUxejc1eg==

One arch going up it seems.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

"But if the Squamish First Nation’s transportation concept falls apart, and it turns out the 6,000 residents of Senakw need far more parking spots and other amenities, Gordon said the spots will have to be found nearby and constructed after the fact. That’s what happened in South False Creek in the 1980s, when “ugly” parking lots had to suddenly be erected near Leg in Boots Square."

Dude is comparing Vancovuer's transportation system of 1980 to 2025... I think he might be referring to the parkade on Ash st which I always forget is there, and where the hell would Senakw build a parkade that would generate as much revenue as a rental building?

Gordon Price in 2009.

On the shores of False Creek, the dreams of successive generations have been realized, often beyond their expectations, beginning with the greatest of them all: Canada’s national dream of a continental railway. When the trains reached their destination here, not only were a nation, a port and a city willed into being, but the creek itself became an expression of our relationship with nature.

First came industry, belching soot into the air, sewage into the water and filling in three-quarters of the creek. (It would later be dredged by the federal government and used to create Granville Island.) Those industries built a city, provisioned a navy for war, brought jobs and prosperity in peace, and eventually declined as jobs turned from bluecollar to white.

Then came green. After the City of Vancouver acquired lands along the south shore of False Creek, the city council of the early 1970s – Alderman Walter Hardwick in particular – conceived of an idyllic residential community that would express the ideals of a generation that rejected the harsh modernism of freeways and urban renewal for car-free village squares and bike-filled greenways; a place to raise children, with mixed uses and mixed incomes. It all seems so obvious now, but it was so radical then.

https://www.thechallengeseries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/spreads_2.pdf

But Gordon... the parking....

[Spr0ckets]

I suppose it's just a good thing that if it later on turns out that Senakw needs more parking, then the (development company owned by) Squamish Nation just made a timely purchase (or seems to be closing on one) that could, down the road help in that scenario and eventuality,........like say.........if a parkade structure, or another complex with extra additional parking needs to be constructed at a much later phase.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if this new bit of news is in some way related to this discussion.
But at least they have,...or will have the flexibility (with this purchase), if it comes to that.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Gordon Price in 2009.



https://www.thechallengeseries.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/spreads_2.pdf

But Gordon... the parking....

DO YOU HAVE A LINK TO THE FULL DOCUMENT??? I have been trying to track these down again for years!

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

DO YOU HAVE A LINK TO THE FULL DOCUMENT??? I have been trying to track these down again for years!

you can increment the number in the link to get other pages.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

DO YOU HAVE A LINK TO THE FULL DOCUMENT??? I have been trying to track these down again for years!

This index page has a link to all the pages

https://www.thechallengeseries.ca/get-the-challenge-series-booklet/chapter7/

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

I suppose it's just a good thing that if it later on turns out that Senakw needs more parking, then the (development company owned by) Squamish Nation just made a timely purchase (or seems to be closing on one) that could, down the road help in that scenario and eventuality,........like say.........if a parkade structure, or another complex with extra additional parking needs to be constructed at a much later phase.

It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if this new bit of news is in some way related to this discussion.
But at least they have,...or will have the flexibility (with this purchase), if it comes to that.

I mean it only becomes a problem if they can't find renters that are willing to do without a parking spot.

There's no way renting out parking stalls will make them more money than just dumping the capital to build a parkade versus additional housing levels. If anything they can just jack up the rate on the ~850 spots they will include so only the people who are really desperate to have a personal car will get one.

[SFUVancouver]

This is fantastic. I don't know when the website was recovered, but for a long period of time it was a dead link that had been taken over by a generic spam landing page. I have literally been checking around and searching for years to find the full document. I have a hard copy somewhere, and a digital copy that died with an older computer, but the website was a dead end every time I checked. Even using the Way-Back Machine was unhelpful, because it had not indexed the links.

Edit. It looks like Chapters 3 and 4 are dead, which are the two I was most interested in. None the less, I have downloaded every spread available.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

I mean it only becomes a problem if they can't find renters that are willing to do without a parking spot.

There's no way renting out parking stalls will make them more money than just dumping the capital to build a parkade versus additional housing levels. If anything they can just jack up the rate on the ~850 spots they will include so only the people who are really desperate to have a personal car will get one.

I'm not even sure why anyone would choose to go rent or live in a place they know will, or may not have sufficient parking, and which is so designed for the convenience of transit-users and car-less residents rather than drivers, in the first place.

And despite the various cities' elimination or reduction of parking minimums, the trends have been moving towards more and more buyers not needing parking stalls rather than requiring them.

But in any case, the Central 1 office building purchse next door gives them some flexibility if it ever came to it - even though I don't think redevelopment of that building is in the cards for anytime soon before any of the current and planned future phases is complete.

I'd be curious to know what sparked the sale by the current owners in the first place and what their vacancy rate currently is in the present market.

[hollywoodnorth]

crane is up at Cambie and 16th