[Abbotsford] Mahogany at Mill Lake | 80m | 26 Floors | U/C

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by Sonicwolf

I was at the meeting tonight, front row. The entire project was approved.

[Sonicwolf]

Controversial Abbotsford highrise approved

CBC News

Abbotsford city council has approved construction of a controversial condominium highrise that is nearly twice the height of the current tallest building in the Fraser Valley community.

The 26-storey Mahogany at Mill Lake Tower was given the green light in a 5-4 vote at a council meeting Monday night.

Opponents have said the 272-unit structure will cast shadows on their single-family homes and make it possible for condo residents to peer down and invade their neighbours' privacy.

The tallest building in Abbotsford is an apartment highrise that reaches 16 storeys.

An application by Abbotsford-based Quantum Properties to build an 83-metre building was rejected by city council in May 2009.

The Mill Lake Tower plan that won approval Monday was re-submitted with a specified a height of 80 metres.

Both proponents and opponents of the project argued that their position is in accord with the official community plan.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...-approved.html

[Kodii]

WOOHOO!!

After... over a decade? We are finally getting another high-rise.

[SFUVancouver]

Good on Abbotsford Council for approving this.

Residents' concerns about shadowing and privacy should not be dismissed out of hand but I suspect project opponents did themselves a disservice by making hysterical statements like calling the proposed tower an atrocity (on par with Guernica perhaps?) and implying it will be full of sunlight hoarding peeping toms.

[Sonicwolf]

I guess this is the time in which the topic title should be changed to "[Abbotsford] Mahogany at Mill Lake | 80m | 26 Floors | Approved"

Once construction begins, I guess Ill pop on by the site for photographic updates.

[idunno]

Great news!

[Jefff]

About time....Looks like I'll be moving out here from langley (I work for an EE firm in abbotsford)

[Kodii]

Abbotsford tower project gets the green light

After more than a year of debate, discussion and several public protests, the Mahogany at Mill Lake tower project is moving forward.

On Monday night, Abbotsford council voted 5-4 to give second and third reading to a zoning application that would allow the 26-storey, 80-metre tall tower to be constructed at 32828 Bevan Ave. The project also includes an adjacent four-storey apartment building. In total it involves 272 units.

Area residents have been fighting the proposal for the past year, and tempers spilled over after the vote was taken.

"You guys sold out," yelled one member of the audience while another shouted "It's a bad day for Abbotsford."

"Let me salute the people of this neighbourhood," said Mayor George Peary who commended their efforts and their pride for the community. However he said density is something the city has to do.

That was a similar sentiment with the councillors who voted in favour of the project.

Coun. John Smith said he "agonized" over the decision but had to "think of the bigger picture."

Peary, Smith, Bill MacGregor, Dave Loewen and Moe Gill voted in favour of the project with Patricia Ross, Les Barkman, Simon Gibson and Lynne Harris voting against.

Harris said it was "astounding" that council was voting on this issue again - a similar proposal was defeated last May - when the project was "so overwhelmingly" opposed by the neighbourhood.

"The issue is people ... I can't imagine how life will be for them," said Harris.

Abbotsford News - http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_va.../93378519.html

[DKaz]

Nice.

There's also another high rise planned on Gladwin a block north of South Fraser Way, basically in the existing parking lot next to Thumpers Patch. I'm not sure about the name of the project but it'll be 25 storeys high plus one underground parking level. I'll post more details when I figure out how to start a new thread but hey two new high rises is good news for Abbotsford.

[idunno]

Wow these people are really crazy - from a comment there -


"We moved here because it was the closest we could get to the tranquility of being in the country...I sit here with tears in my eyes, knowing that you have forever wrecked the landscape of Abbotsford, and the beauty of Mill Lake."

?!?! You'd think it's the apocalypse or something.

[Sonicwolf]

Originally Posted by idunno

Wow these people are really crazy - from a comment there -


"We moved here because it was the closest we could get to the tranquility of being in the country...I sit here with tears in my eyes, knowing that you have forever wrecked the landscape of Abbotsford, and the beauty of Mill Lake."

?!?! You'd think it's the apocalypse or something.

Also considering the fact that there has been a highrise adjacent to Mill Lake for over a decade now...

[Jefff]

Originally Posted by idunno

Wow these people are really crazy - from a comment there -


"We moved here because it was the closest we could get to the tranquility of being in the country...I sit here with tears in my eyes, knowing that you have forever wrecked the landscape of Abbotsford, and the beauty of Mill Lake."

?!?! You'd think it's the apocalypse or something.

yeah, especially considering the site is less than a km from S. Fraser Way, the big mall, etc.....who moves to the "downtown" part of a city and expects tranquility? You want tranquility, move to hope, or the suburbs.

[Sonicwolf]

Originally Posted by DKaz

Nice.

There's also another high rise planned on Gladwin a block north of South Fraser Way, basically in the existing parking lot next to Thumpers Patch. I'm not sure about the name of the project but it'll be 25 storeys high plus one underground parking level. I'll post more details when I figure out how to start a new thread but hey two new high rises is good news for Abbotsford.

Photo taken by me.

That is the sign on the parking lot on Gladwin.

[WarrenC12]

Who's going to be left to fill these new homes with all of the murders?

Sorry, bad joke. But Abbotsford is once again the murder capital of Canada.

[RosstheBoss]

wow i thought i would never see the day that Abbotsford city council actually managed to pass another high-rise. To be honest i was actually getting quite worried for awhile that the Brio was going to be our closest attempt at building high. Hopefully this paves the way to creating a proper city core for the future. We will see.

[Sonicwolf]

Originally Posted by RosstheBoss

wow i thought i would never see the day that Abbotsford city council actually managed to pass another high-rise. To be honest i was actually getting quite worried for awhile that the Brio was going to be our closest attempt at building high. Hopefully this paves the way to creating a proper city core for the future. We will see.

Lets just hope we dont have to wait until 2021 for the next high-rise...

[Jefff]

doesn't seem like there's a lot of abbotsfordians on here (i wonder why )...but i work for a engineering firm out here in Abbotsford, hopefully we'll get the mahogany job and i'll be able to provide updates on the progress.

My father is also an Architect in Abbotsford (designed the new Emco tower, a bunch of other buildings over the last 20 years)....wish I had known about this forum sooner so I could have filled people in when they were wondering about the emco building earlier in this thread.

Anyway, there seems to be a lot of high rises on the table....3 more towers on Gladwin, a couple on S. Fraser way, etc...I think Abbotsford might be finally moving in the right direction and the next few years look like they could be pretty exciting.

I'm kind of a newb here so I'm not sure if it's appropriate to post a thread about an already completed project, but my company is moving into the new Mill Tower on Gladys ave. I thought it was a pretty interesting building:

http://www.milltower.ca/

we move on friday, If you guys are interested I'll take some pics and post em up.


cheers

[squeezied]

Interestingly enough, I also work for an engineering firm in Surrey and will be transferred in June to a branch office at the Mill Tower. Unfortunately that adds another 30 mins to my already hellish commute.

[Jefff]

well i guess that means you'll have to buy a unit in mahogany

[squeezied]

well I'm just in a co-op term for only 3 months so I'll suck it up with the commute, though the drive will be pretty hellish in the summer heat as my old rustic corolla doesn't have ac. owellz