[Burnaby] Station Square | 35,38,48,41,52 fl | Completed

[Waders]

One of the 2 overhead road bridges connecting the parkage building and Save-On-Foods building has been torn down.

[red-paladin]

The old Save-On itself is being torn down.
Crappy ipod pictures I just took:

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/2050/ssdemo10.jpg

The pit is about 2 storeys at the deepest. The Sovereign looms beyond.

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/6910/ssdemo11.jpg

Hard to see in the bad photo, but they are just about to the actual grocery store portion of the building. Bonus: Metroplace and its crane, and the crane for Silver in the background.

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/8409/ssdemo12.jpg

[Joat]

When is phase 2 supposed to start?

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by Joat

When is phase 2 supposed to start?

whats your definition of starting? sure seems started to me ......

[red-paladin]

It increasingly looks to me that the reason for the rushed, unexpected clear out of the Phase II building (Old Save-On, etc) was because they were unable to excavate for Phase I without removing the Phase II building. There is no other financial reason that I can see for rushing to demolish that building when it was not in the original plan. I would think it would be market forces pushing the project ahead if they had announced anything like that or started to sell Phase II, but we've not heard any explanation at all. I could be completely wrong, but I think somewhere after committing to Phase I, they learned that they couldn't built it and leave that old building intact, and they just decided to tear it down for that reason.

[huenthar]

Wow, it's one heck of a major improvement already!

[officedweller]

Do we know if they got permission to use the Superstore parking lot as a staging area? If not, maybe they need that area for staging Phase 1?

[red-paladin]

I took some more shots:

Here is the excavation progress in the North East corner:

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/5483/ssdemo13.jpg

Here is the demolition of the old Save-On

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2493/ssdemo14.jpg

[red-paladin]

Two shots from earlier today:

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/3313/ssdemo15.jpg

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/7661/ssdemo16.jpg

[officedweller]

Article about the Save-on-Foods demolition:

http://www.burnabynewsleader.com/news/192320691.html

[red-paladin]

"Sales had been in decline at this store for years because of the increase in low-paying, non-union competitors in the market. In addition, we faced escalating business declines as a result of the major renovation taking place at the mall," Olmstead said.

"This sales decline, combined with our uncompetitive operating costs, made it impossible for us to continue to keep the store open."

So according to the article, the store decided to close and that's what accelerated everything, interesting.

[GeeCee]

I bet that it'll reopen as PriceSmart Foods to escape the clutches of the union.

[Waders]

With the early closure of Save-On-Foods, the developer now has the flexible to integrate the buildings in different phases better.

My wish is overhead walkways can be built to interconnect all these buildings and the Metrotown skytrain station. It would be nice to be able to get off skytrain and use overhead walkways to walk through the new building podium to Kingsway street.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

I bet that it'll reopen as PriceSmart Foods to escape the clutches of the union.

Sounds good. They'll probably hire more people and have lower prices for customers.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Waders

My wish is overhead walkways can be built to interconnect all these buildings and the Metrotown skytrain station. It would be nice to be able to get off skytrain and use overhead walkways to walk through the new building podium to Kingsway street.

This is something I would like to see as well. You could cut through the mall, but a relatively straight line through to Kingsway would make access much faster and maybe breath some life into a somewhat lifeless street.

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by Jebby

Sounds good. They'll probably hire more people and have lower prices for customers.

Oh boy, more minimum wage jobs! No thanks.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Oh boy, more minimum wage jobs! No thanks.

Perfect for high school and college students who otherwise wouldn't be hired.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Jebby

Perfect for high school and college students who otherwise wouldn't be hired.

Not when it comes at the expense of good paying jobs.

Why don't you keep your Ron Paul avatar? It was a nice disclaimer.

[huenthar]

Originally Posted by logan5

This is something I would like to see as well. You could cut through the mall, but a relatively straight line through to Kingsway would make access much faster and maybe breath some life into a somewhat lifeless street.

I'm hoping at least they can make the pathway through the "shortcut" alley between the development and Metrotown extend properly to the station; it's the most direct way to Kingsway from the Skytrain

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Oh boy, more minimum wage jobs! No thanks.

And how many jobs at all exist there now? Zero.