Burnaby Updates

[Klazu]

Sussex looks good and if only the spandrel would be of dark color as in the rendering (I don't know how that could be regular gray/teal spandrel, but I wouldn't be surprised). What's the tower behind Sussex?

Great to see more projects ramping up for my area. It's pretty cool that there are currently 6 towers going up in the area and many more in the immediate pipeline. Brentwood is getting all the love recently, but Metrotown definitely keeps flexing its muscles!

[sburnaby33]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Sussex looks good and if only the spandrel would be of dark color as in the rendering (I don't know how that could be regular gray/teal spandrel, but I wouldn't be surprised). What's the tower behind Sussex?

Great to see more projects ramping up for my area. It's pretty cool that there are currently 6 towers going up in the area and many more in the immediate pipeline. Brentwood is getting all the love recently, but Metrotown definitely keeps flexing its muscles!

I think the reason why Brentwood is at the centre of the discussion is due to the scale of development happening in the area. Aside from Station Square, most of the towers U/C or proposed in Metro are one offs. On the other hand in Brentwood there are four sites with massive projects: Amazing Brentwood, Concord Brentwood, Solo, and Gilmore Sation. There is also a three tower development proposed for Alpha Ave. by Thind. Fifty-four of the 106 towers that are proposed for Burnaby are in the area as well, which is half of all future development in Burnaby. Anyway you put it visitors to Vancouver twnety years from now could mistaken Metrotown or Brentwood as Downtown. Few cities in North America have this many towers of this stature outside of its Downtown core. Indeed, I was at Metro yesterday: Metroplace and Station Square are beautiful buildings.

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

Although Brentwood is growing now, it probably won't last forever, as Metrotown has much more room to grow, like Maywood, Royal Oak, Marlborough, North Kingsway and the mall.

As soon as Metropolis at Metrotown is demolished, it will add plenty of development to the area, and compete with whatever Brentwood has going on.

Hopefully Brentwood also builds some public buildings like a Library, Rec Centre,
Schools and Large Parks, of which it has none now. The closest thing Brentwood has to wilderness is the meadow next to the highway.

[Tetsuo]

Originally Posted by BobLoblawsLawBlog

Although Brentwood is growing now, it probably won't last forever, as Metrotown has much more room to grow, like Maywood, Royal Oak, Marlborough, North Kingsway and the mall.

As soon as Metropolis at Metrotown is demolished, it will add plenty of development to the area, and compete with whatever Brentwood has going on.

Hopefully Brentwood also builds some public buildings like a Library, Rec Centre,
Schools and Large Parks, of which it has none now. The closest thing Brentwood has to wilderness is the meadow next to the highway.

Dude 10 minutes away is Eileen Daily, a library and Confederation Park.

[Tetsuo]

My bike route passes the SouthGate development salescentre, even though it's not open to the public there's always a group of people entering/exiting. Another case of "insider buys?"

[HomeBoy]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

Dude 10 minutes away is Eileen Daily, a library and Confederation Park.

Not to mention the soon to be expanding Willingdon Heights Park.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by BobLoblawsLawBlog

Although Brentwood is growing now, it probably won't last forever, as Metrotown has much more room to grow, like Maywood, Royal Oak, Marlborough, North Kingsway and the mall.

Brentwood town center will expand all the way to Gilmore Station and conceivably could extend south all the way to the train tracks. That's a BIG area.

[VanK]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

My bike route passes the SouthGate development salescentre, even though it's not open to the public there's always a group of people entering/exiting. Another case of "insider buys?"

Could be previewing? Who cares. Let them buy at Southgate. There are much better places to buy other than Southgate. Its a inferior location compared to Metrotown, Brentwood, Lougheed, Burquitlam. Its a good trek to Edmonds Station.

[JamesOwnz]

Originally Posted by BobLoblawsLawBlog

Although Brentwood is growing now, it probably won't last forever, as Metrotown has much more room to grow, like Maywood, Royal Oak, Marlborough, North Kingsway and the mall.

As soon as Metropolis at Metrotown is demolished, it will add plenty of development to the area, and compete with whatever Brentwood has going on.

Hopefully Brentwood also builds some public buildings like a Library, Rec Centre,
Schools and Large Parks, of which it has none now. The closest thing Brentwood has to wilderness is the meadow next to the highway.

I usually consider Brentwood to be Burnaby Heights it all so close.

Also you think they will tear down Metrotown anytime soon? I can't see that.

[Genauso]

Burnaby is an incredible incubator of what's possible locally.

Big investment per capita for the Expo and Millennium lines.
As close to a blank slate as you're going to get, building on what was light industrial zones with few neighbours to oppose rezoning.
Solid land, makes building underground parking easier.
The biggest amount of money in history flowing into residential real estate, and a demographic wave to form new households.
At a time when the world of design is so much smarter thanks to learning through the internet of actual successes and failures.

When this golden era closes, I look forward to seeing how Burnaby manages rezonings away from the Skytrain stations such that existing households don't object to their immediate neighbours being approved for taller/denser construction.


These giant plans are amazing. It's easy to imagine 500 units in a building, but it's something else to imagine 5000 on one site.

Hopefully Vancouver can expect the same from the Oakridge mall redevelopment whenever that begins.

[Geof]

Originally Posted by BobLoblawsLawBlog

Although Brentwood is growing now, it probably won't last forever, as Metrotown has much more room to grow

In my opinion, Brentwood's biggest advantage over the other town centres is its relative compactness. Spread out the current development over an area the size of, say, Edmonds Town Centre, and it wouldn't amount to much.

Hopefully Brentwood also builds some public buildings like a Library, Rec Centre, Schools and Large Parks, of which it has none now.

I wholeheartedly agree. The rec centre is coming in one of the Brentwood towers and a school has long been planned down near the Concord development. I would dearly love to see a library, but unfortunately I think the city figures McGill Library is close enough.

Personally, I don't want to see a large park (I suppose there will be the one at Concord): I would prefer several small ones. And honestly, given the excess of green in this city I would really like to see some proper plazas (I'm not sure the Brentwood one will cut it). A dream would be something like Portland's park blocks, but I don't think that's going to happen.

The closest thing Brentwood has to wilderness is the meadow next to the highway.

I'm not sure why a town centre should feature wilderness. Regardless, there actually is a fair amount of green or wild space in the area. To the west is Willingdon Heights Park; to the north, Brentwood Park and Beecher Park (nice creek for kids to play in); to the east, Sperling Park, Beecher Creek and (one Skytrain stop on) Burnaby Lake (too wild in my opinion); to the south, Still Creek and Jim Lorimer Park. The Concord development will include more green and wild space in the south east. The slope of the land can screw up access though; Beta and Delta are hard climbs on miserable sidewalks next to scary traffic (why no stairs?).

I think green space around the edges makes sense. Stanley Park is on an edge, as is Central Park. I think small pockets of green space are better in the centre itself. It does need more. There are a couple that are not entirely successful: where Buchanan would be between Madison and Rosser; at Madison and Skyline Dr, shown on city maps as park but with a No Trespassing sign (which is it?). More can be expected at Buchanan and Willingdon and Douglas and Lougheed, when they are eventually blocked off. We'll have to see about the Willingdon greenway when it goes out for public consultation. A greenway along Still Creek would be awfully nice too.

As someone who lives there, I find Brentwood currently feels like a disconnected mess. There are too many holes in sidewalks and bike lanes and a big void where the mall parking lot used to be. I'm not saying that as a criticism; it's an inevitable part of the transformation. At the moment though, it's a hard place to judge. I hope it will start to come together once phase 1 of the mall is complete.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Genauso

Burnaby is an incredible incubator of what's possible locally.

Big investment per capita for the Expo and Millennium lines.
As close to a blank slate as you're going to get, building on what was light industrial zones with few neighbours to oppose rezoning.
Solid land, makes building underground parking easier.
The biggest amount of money in history flowing into residential real estate, and a demographic wave to form new households.
At a time when the world of design is so much smarter thanks to learning through the internet of actual successes and failures.

When this golden era closes, I look forward to seeing how Burnaby manages rezonings away from the Skytrain stations such that existing households don't object to their immediate neighbours being approved for taller/denser construction.


These giant plans are amazing. It's easy to imagine 500 units in a building, but it's something else to imagine 5000 on one site.

Hopefully Vancouver can expect the same from the Oakridge mall redevelopment whenever that begins.

Hello

I'm a native Vancouverite living oversease, and your post got me thinking.
I remember Metro Vancouver when it had the downtown core, the west end, and little else.
*
The "freeway" (Highway 1) was 2 rinky-dink lanes in each direction; now it's a proper expressway, esp with Cape Horn.
*
And yes, Burnaby is booming, the projects going in there, and planned, are unreal.
*
Imagine, in 10 years or so, someone from the east driving into Vancouver for the first time: across the Port Mann, they'll see the 40, 50 storey towers of Lougheed Town Centre,
then turn westward through that green "valley" of central Burnaby, to emerge and see the massive towers of Brentwood on their right.
*
Looking left, Metrotown looms up.
All this a far far cry from the provincial logging town and seaport it once was.
A city in metamorphosis; what a sight to behold it will be in the future!

Best Regards, "trofirhen"

[Infrequent Poster]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

Hello

I'm a native Vancouverite living oversease, and your post got me thinking.
I remember Metro Vancouver when it had the downtown core, the west end, and little else.
*
The "freeway" (Highway 1) was 2 rinky-dink lanes in each direction; now it's a proper expressway, esp with Cape Horn.
*
And yes, Burnaby is booming, the projects going in there, and planned, are unreal.
*
Imagine, in 10 years or so, someone from the east driving into Vancouver for the first time: across the Port Mann, they'll see the 40, 50 storey towers of Lougheed Town Centre,
then turn westward through that green "valley" of central Burnaby, to emerge and see the massive towers of Brentwood on their right.
*
Looking left, Metrotown looms up.
All this a far far cry from the provincial logging town and seaport it once was.
A city in metamorphosis; what a sight to behold it will be in the future!

Best Regards, "trofirhen"

Imagine, in 10 years or so, someone from the east driving into Vancouver for the first time: across the Port Mann, they'll see the 40, 50 storey towers of Lougheed Town Centre,
then turn westward through that green "valley" of central Burnaby, to emerge and see the massive towers of Brentwood on their right.
*
Looking left, Metrotown looms up.
and straight ahead in the distance a dense tabletop of medium height buildings appear.

Sorry I couldnt resist throwing that in there. I do agree it will become a pretty different looking drive in the future.

[trofirhen]

Originally Posted by Infrequent Poster

.............................

Looking left, Metrotown looms up.
and straight ahead in the distance a dense tabletop of medium height buildings appear.

Sorry I couldnt resist throwing that in there. I do agree it will become a pretty different looking drive in the future.

Right on !!!!!

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

Dude 10 minutes away is Eileen Daily, a library and Confederation Park.

Yeah they're there but they aren't in Brentwood proper. It's nicer to walk than drive.

Wilderness is also important as it's good public space and calming. Metrotown has Central Park (Deer Lake depending on where you live), Edmonds has Burne Creek ravine and Lougheed has Brunette Creek. I see Still Creek having protential. Maybe where the Home Depot is?

[sburnaby33]

Originally Posted by BobLoblawsLawBlog

Although Brentwood is growing now, it probably won't last forever, as Metrotown has much more room to grow, like Maywood, Royal Oak, Marlborough, North Kingsway and the mall.

As soon as Metropolis at Metrotown is demolished, it will add plenty of development to the area, and compete with whatever Brentwood has going on.

Hopefully Brentwood also builds some public buildings like a Library, Rec Centre,
Schools and Large Parks, of which it has none now. The closest thing Brentwood has to wilderness is the meadow next to the highway.

The expandable area for Brentwood is, in fact, quite big. If need be, they can go further south past the train tracks, to the west, and rezone the business district in the southeast quadrant of the area to residential.

Given the close proximity to Eileen Daily and McGill Library to Brentwood another library or pool will not be built. The Willingdon Greenway will act as a safe corridor connecting Burnaby Heights with Brentwood. As well, there will be a community centre at Brentwood and Willingdon Heights Community centre/park will be expanded once all properties west of the park are purchased by the city. The expanded Willingdon Heights Park and Concord's park will serve the area well and provide more options for residents. Lastly, the Central Valley Greenway is very close to Brentwood Town Centre and connects with Burnaby Lake, which is another option for tranquility.

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

For Wilderness I don't mean a lawn or playground. Central Park/Deer Lake, Burne Creek and Burnaby Lake/Burnette River serve the three other town centres as large parks. Brentwood's Burnaby Lake is further away.

The city could buy the Costco or Home Depot land and build something nice on it, but it'd be too expensive.

[Tetsuo]

There's Scenic Park and Confederation Park that is very similar to Byrne, 30 minute walk uphill away from Brentwood, only 6 by car and 15 by transit.

In comparison Deer Lake is 30 minutes away downhill from Metrotown (using the Bay as starting point) and it's a whopping 45 minutes away uphill

Byrne Creek Ravine is 20 minutes uphill away from High Gate,

[JamesOwnz]

30 mins from Brentwood to Confed might even be a little long.

I'd say 20 for me walking... driving is like 5 mins

[BobLoblawsLawBlog]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

In comparison Deer Lake is 30 minutes away downhill from Metrotown (using the Bay as starting point) and it's a whopping 45 minutes away uphill

Um it's like 10 minutes from my house in Metrotown ad probably 20 from the. It's mostly for East Metrotown. Central Park is right there.