General Vancouver Updates

[officedweller]

There are a lot of blocks on the north side of Broadway (west of Cambie) where development has caused an L-shaped alley.

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by mcminsen

When I was looking at a bird's eye view of Mongolie/Wendy's I wondered if the city would agree to close the alley between them to allow a bigger and more viable redevelopment site.

There has never been any question in my mind that the west half of the alley would have to be closed and the two properties consolidated before redevelopment of the northeast corner of Broadway & Cambie could take place. That's a no brainer. The only issue is why would Wendy's agree to sell or redevelop if it meant a loss of its drive-through? Wendy's is in the business of selling hamburgers, not property redevelopment, and that drive-through is the goose that lays the golden eggs. Given the city's asinine policy against building new (or even re-building old) drive-throughs, it is highly improbable that Wendy's will agree to sell/redevelop anytime soon, if ever.

I would love to be proved wrong, however.

[NewWester]

If there was redevelopment at that site, I would speculate that it would have a similar height and form as all the other newish buildings around that corner. I imagine that instead of tall, we'll see shorter, but still very dense buildings that would preserve views of City Hall, but also would greatly increase land use in that area.

[logan5]

Is that land included in any of the recent community plans? I don't think it falls within the Mt. Pleasant ocp or the Cambie corridor plan, so maybe the land owner is waiting to see what effect the Broadway line has on land use policy. This intersection is Vancouver's equivalent of Yonge and Bloor, so I would expect something significant for this intersection. At some point the value of that property will be too much to resist. Besides, a new Wendy's drawing customers from 2 subway lines would be uber profitable. Drive thrust belong in the suburbs.

[MIPS]

Heads up. Weather permitting the McBarge will be on the move tomorrow.

It's finally on its way out of the inlet to Maple Ridge for refurbishment.
No known plans on what it is doing next.

[urbancanadian]

Yeah, the L-shaped lane seems obvious. It could turn north at the property line. It's one less driveway for pedestrians to cross in a very busy area. Also, the last portion of the extra-wide sidewalk on the east side of Cambie would be built. As is, that block could really use the extra space for pedestrians. And I agree, there's no need for drive-thrus in an urban area like this.

[VanK]

The NE corner of Cambie (Mongolie Grille) is a city owned property. The rest of the block unfortunately is not.

[domusile]

Originally Posted by VanK

The NE corner of Cambie (Mongolie Grille) is a city owned property. The rest of the block unfortunately is not.

Actually, the city owned property on the NE corner has two billboards on it and the Mongolie Grill patio. The Mongolie Grill building is a separate parcel and has a different (private) owner.

[WarrenC12]

More free #VanWiFi locations are live. 21 of 43 live now:

http://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/free-public-vanwifi-added-to-more-locations.aspx

I connected to the roundhouse the other day... decent signal, seems very similar to the #TELUS free points around the city, I'm sure it's the same config as far as TELUS is concerned.

[officedweller]

Projects posted on VancouverMarket.ca:

Couple more pics of this one posted by McMinsen:

379 East Broadway

http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2015/12/22/5-storey-building-planned-for-mount-pleasant/


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2015/12/22/5-storey-building-planned-for-mount-pleasant/

***********

725-747 Southeast Marine Drive (@ Fraser)

◾four buildings, including:

◾one 22-storey building;
◾one 12-storey building; and
◾two 5-storey buildings

◾approximately 368 residential units;
◾15,500 SF of retail space at grade;
◾a 37-space childcare facility (4,760 SF);
◾public open space on site;
◾a total density of 3.98 FSR;
◾maximum building heights from 59 ft. to 207 ft; and
◾377 vehicle parking spaces.

http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2015/12/22/rezoning-planned-for-super-8-hotel-site/


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2015/12/22/rezoning-planned-for-super-8-hotel-site/


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2015/12/22/rezoning-planned-for-super-8-hotel-site/


http://www.vancouvermarket.ca/2015/12/22/rezoning-planned-for-super-8-hotel-site/

[osirisboy]

You would think east broadway would have higher fsr than marine. It seems the projects going up along Broadway has low fsr. Does the city want to make broadway a "village"

[officedweller]

The SE Marine Drive is an "opportunistic" rezoning.
The site was historically consolidated - so that's why it's getting higher density - like Safeway @ Granville & 70th and King Edward Village.
There's no other logic to it - it's not close to rapid transit - just bus routes.

To do the same on Broadway, you'd have to consolidate individual parcels and close alleys (like the Independent).
The other big site near there on East Broadway would be Kingsgate Mall.

[Klazu]

That tower will be so out of place....

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by Klazu

That tower will be so out of place....

Or a catalyst for higher densities around it.

[hollywoodnorth]

good to see some new strata industrial in South Vancouver. this sort of stuff is sorely needed in Vancouver.

IntraUrban
8811 Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC




In Vancouver, industrial land prices have risen steadily and are the most expensive in the region. This is due to a limited land supply and high demand for locations with easy access to the City’s customers, suppliers and labour pool. In addition, the universe for industrial land is diminishing; over the past four decades, Vancouver has seen a 30% decline in its supply of industrially zoned land. As a result, industrial tenants have had to look to areas outside of the City proper for suitable new premises. To address this imbalance, PC Urban has acquired a 4.6 acre property in the South Vancouver Industrial Area.

Located at 8811 Laurel Street, IntraUrban will be a 167,000 sq. ft. strata industrial project offered for sale in three phases. The units will be targeted to small and medium size business owners as well as investors looking to diversify holdings from traditional residential or commercial real estate ownership. IntraUrban is immediately east of the Oak Street Bridge and a few blocks to the west of the significant commercial/residential node at Cambie and SW Marine Drive and mass transit. YVR Airport is less than a 10 minute drive from the site; 20 minutes to downtown Vancouver.

Construction will commence in early 2016 for occupancy Fall 2016.

http://pcurban.ca/projects/current-projects/8811-laurel-street/

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

good to see some new strata industrial in South Vancouver. this sort of stuff is sorely needed in Vancouver.

Agreed. The thing I don't get is why these types of light industrial can't be mixed in with office and residential developments. I'd like to see the possibility of something like this:

2 stories light industrial (one underground, one at grade)
2 stories office (directly above industrial)
5-6 stories residential (above office)
CRUs on the corners at grade

Obviously it won't be luxury residential or AAA office space, but the CoV definitely needs more affordable housing (a large part could be non-market and affordable rentals) as well as a renewal of the non-prime office space (and this would be a nice alternative to office parks like at Renfrew)

[SFUVancouver]

^ I think that we are beginning to see exactly that type of vertical program for employment uses, with residential excluded from the equation. There are a number of fascinating projects in the area between Cambie-2nd Ave-Main-Broadway that include a vertical mix of retail and light industrial at grade and office above. IntraUrban is actually behind one of these projects: The Lightworks Building (http://pcurban.ca/projects/current-projects/east-5th-avenue/).

Great to see new pure light industrial product coming to the City of Vancouver. IntraUrban's 8811 Laurel Street looks like a solid project that should sell and lease up well. My only comment based on the render is that there don't appear to be sidewalks incorporated into the design. As someone who works in a suburban office park that lacks sidewalks, it's forgivable that they were overlooked in the 80s, but unforgivable now.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by BodomReaper

We'll always have MacBlo and the Buchanan Tower at UBC!

The Masonic Centre though is extreme brutalism, barely any windows just a concrete box. I finally was able to get some pics, in the last you can see how close the existing building is to the Verona tower on 7th and why they'd propose moving the base of the tower further towards 8th. I noticed the surveying stakes were already in! At what point does a project get its own thread?

[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

PS sorry the photos are so big, Photofucket keeps saying they're resized when they aren't!

[vanciti]

Originally Posted by Jebby

Or a catalyst for higher densities around it.

A catalyst for more density around the area is what it'll be.

The site across the street (home of the formerly scuzzy rental building) is owned by another group with intentions to develop in the future.

Both Fraser and Marine drive should see increased densities being main and secondary arterial with Marine & Fraser anchoring a mix of 4 to 8 stories along Fraser including rental. The Apartment stock in the Sunset Community is less than 5% of the housing type in the area.

[jollyburger]

The corner building at Davie and Burrard with the Cash Money store has been been sold and it's going to be torn down in a year or so. Hopefully redevelopment includes the surface lot and buildings next door.