Burnaby Updates

[urbancanadian]

Beedie is proposing a high-rise tower at the SW corner of Lougheed & Springer in the Brentwood area. Looks to be the location of the Speedy Glass/Kirmac Collision.

Address is 5180 Lougheed Highway. More info here (page 20):
https://burnaby.civicweb.net/filepro...?preview=16818

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Solterra is proposing a 25-storey tower at the SW corner of Willingdon & Juneau, also in the Brentwood area. This is across the street from Amacon's recently announced tower (which itself is across the lane from Amacon's 6-storey lowrise called The Dawson).

Address is 4460-4482 Juneay Street. More info here (page 67):
https://burnaby.civicweb.net/filepro...?preview=16818

[urbancanadian]

There's a new proposal for a high-rise along Beresford Street in the Metrotown area. This one is a block east of Klazu at the SW corner of Sussex & Beresford. Some highlights:

- The development will include a commercial and retail podium, which extends the successful concept we've seen along Beresford. It's actually not even required this far east, but the developer is proposing it anyway.
- A mid-rise non-market rental building will be built in behind the tower, on Sussex Avenue. It is to be owned by BC Housing.
- There are three buildings that would be knocked down (large, small, large).
- No idea who the developer is yet (I hate that).

Address is 6525-6585 Sussex Avenue. More info here (page 59):
https://burnaby.civicweb.net/filepro...?preview=16818

To tie this in with the discussion on the previous page, this looks to be the first new development to include non-market housing in the Metrotown area. If low-income residents are inevitably going to be displaced, there needs to be at least a 1:1 replacement ratio for all the affordable housing that would otherwise be lost. At first glance, this appears to be a step in the right direction.

[POCO]

Speaking of lack of a 7-Eleven type stores at Metrotown, is that Esso going to be changed into a 7-Eleven along with all those other Esso gas bars?

[Large Cat]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

There's a new proposal for a high-rise along Beresford Street in the Metrotown area. This one is a block east of Klazu at the SW corner of Sussex & Beresford. Some highlights:

- The development will include a commercial and retail podium, which extends the successful concept we've seen along Beresford. It's actually not even required this far east, but the developer is proposing it anyway.
- A mid-rise non-market rental building will be built in behind the tower, on Sussex Avenue. It is to be owned by BC Housing.
- There are three buildings that would be knocked down (large, small, large).
- No idea who the developer is yet (I hate that).

Address is 6525-6585 Sussex Avenue. More info here (page 59):
https://burnaby.civicweb.net/filepro...?preview=16818

To tie this in with the discussion on the previous page, this looks to be the first new development to include non-market housing in the Metrotown area. If low-income residents are inevitably going to be displaced, there needs to be at least a 1:1 replacement ratio for all the affordable housing that would otherwise be lost. At first glance, this appears to be a step in the right direction.

Very cool. Retail frontage, extension of the Beresford art walk, improvement of Sussex St, and affordable housing all in one package.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

There's a new proposal for a high-rise along Beresford Street in the Metrotown area. This one is a block east of Klazu at the SW corner of Sussex & Beresford. Some highlights:

- The development will include a commercial and retail podium, which extends the successful concept we've seen along Beresford. It's actually not even required this far east, but the developer is proposing it anyway.
- A mid-rise non-market rental building will be built in behind the tower, on Sussex Avenue. It is to be owned by BC Housing.
- There are three buildings that would be knocked down (large, small, large).
- No idea who the developer is yet (I hate that).

Address is 6525-6585 Sussex Avenue. More info here (page 59):
https://burnaby.civicweb.net/filepro...?preview=16818

To tie this in with the discussion on the previous page, this looks to be the first new development to include non-market housing in the Metrotown area. If low-income residents are inevitably going to be displaced, there needs to be at least a 1:1 replacement ratio for all the affordable housing that would otherwise be lost. At first glance, this appears to be a step in the right direction.

That application ticks a lot of boxes for a lot of parties.
Although the site looks really narrow compared to the other sites fronting Beresford currently with towers, so I'm not really sure how much density or FAR the city will allow them.
The Non-market rental mid-rise will be a good incentive though.

The application says that the developer is a 6511 Sussex Heights Development Ltd. - EDIT : ...although VancouverMarket indicates that the site was bought by Thind propeerties in May of this year. Thind (http://www.thind.ca/past-projects/) seem to do or have done a bunch of low- to mid-rises, including quite a bunch in the Metrotown/Royal Oak area, so if it is them, this would seem like it would be their first high-rise tower.

But the application is being submitted by Chris Dikeakos Architects who have done quite a number of towers around Metrotown including some currently in construction.

It should be interesting to see once they come up with the designs and images, as the project proceeds along.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by logan5

Having lived in Metrotown as a kid, I can tell you there used to be plenty of bars and nightclubs. They are all gone now. The people that support these establishments are being evicted.

I don't quite get the zeal for demolishing all the 3 story walk-ups. Metrotown is destined to become the dullest place on Earth.

And this is not Democracy, otherwise those walk-ups would be protected, or at least replaced in these new developments, because the people who live in these buildings are the majority of society, and are suppose to be represented as such. Capitalism makes the decisions now.

I hate to be the one to point out to you that the free market is not always a democratic process - in fact, quite often, it's the opposite.
And this is (sadly) the free market at work.

It also goes without saying that the towers actually tend house more people than the walk-ups they replace, just due to the density alone.

You are right about the fact that capitalism - and thus, money, being the one that makes all the decisions nowadays.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

There's a new proposal for a high-rise along Beresford Street in the Metrotown area. This one is a block east of Klazu at the SW corner of Sussex & Beresford. Some highlights:

- The development will include a commercial and retail podium, which extends the successful concept we've seen along Beresford. It's actually not even required this far east, but the developer is proposing it anyway.
- A mid-rise non-market rental building will be built in behind the tower, on Sussex Avenue. It is to be owned by BC Housing.
- There are three buildings that would be knocked down (large, small, large).
- No idea who the developer is yet (I hate that).

Address is 6525-6585 Sussex Avenue. More info here (page 59):
https://burnaby.civicweb.net/filepro...?preview=16818

To tie this in with the discussion on the previous page, this looks to be the first new development to include non-market housing in the Metrotown area. If low-income residents are inevitably going to be displaced, there needs to be at least a 1:1 replacement ratio for all the affordable housing that would otherwise be lost. At first glance, this appears to be a step in the right direction.

Saying the three buildings this will replace are "large, small, large" is pretty subjective - they're all two storey buildings. The mid-rise BC Housing building will likely have more suites than all three of those buildings combined.

While getting affordable housing in there is a *really* good idea, you have to remember that it's a subsidized housing building, which means being able to qualify for and get on BC Housing's miles long wait list. How many of the people living in the area are on that list vs they're just living there because it's cheap and all they can afford. Those are two very different things. I'd suspect a lot of the people protesting don't qualify for BC Housing.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by WBC

There is a Shoppers that is open 24x7 just three blocks down Kingsway from the Element (it comes with its own set of dedicated hobos now). There is also McDonalds in the mall that is open 24x7 nowadays..

.....a recent addition and feature.
The Metrotown area, and Kingsway in particular, used to be pretty good about the relative lack of hobos (at least compared to somewhere like downtown or even New West).
Only recently have they began to become a more prevalent sight.
It's a hard thing for a lot of cities to deal with and I can't imagine all those retailers and restaurants on that stretch of Kingsway are too thrilled about it (even though they're limited in what they can do about it)

Originally Posted by WBC

There was a time 20+ year ago when the mall used to close at 5 or 6pm and when the whole area was absolutely dead before the nightfall. I would take today's situation as an improvement. This is likely going to continue with current massive development projects coming online in the next few years. The whole set of new restaurants are due to open in Station Square.

Coming from living in a bunch of cities (Montreal and L.A.) that were pretty much open for business all night, even the fact that it now closes at 9-10pm is still unusual to me somewhat.

I would indeed hope that with more developments and towers and density, retailers will be able to justify opening late (or all night, in some cases) - especially on weekends - since these are some of the things that underpin having a nightlife (or lack thereof) in cities.
Being able to go out of a slice of pizza after a night out with the boys (or gals) or making a late night run for some snacks, and that sort of thing.
It's somewhat hard getting used to not having these conveniences when you've been used to having them for so long.

[domusile]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

The application says that the developer is a 6511 Sussex Heights Development Ltd. - which, obviously sounds like a "foreign" outfit, if you know what I mean.

The developer is Thind Properties..

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by domusile

The developer is Thind Properties..

Yes, I found that out after I posted that comment and edited my comment to reflect it.

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by urbancanadian

There's a new proposal for a high-rise along Beresford Street in the Metrotown area. This one is a block east of Klazu at the SW corner of Sussex & Beresford.

Nice, this must be the one the NIMBYs were all up in arms for. I wonder how tall it will be? I hope there would be more height variation along Beresford to keep an interesting skyline from the south. Metroplace will remain as the tallest in the row, but the difference between other towers will be small. They should have built Metroplace to be 60 real floors instead of the 60 hoax floors (46 real ones) and then keep reducing from that the further out you move...

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

The Metrotown area, and Kingsway in particular, used to be pretty good about the relative lack of hobos (at least compared to somewhere like downtown or even New West). Only recently have they began to become a more prevalent sight.

There must be something to that as it was only a month ago that I had a hobo who had just woke up from a nap on the library grass ask me where the Metropolis mall is. Must have been a new hobo to the area, if he didn't even know where the mall is...

I guess more hobos are a given when Burnaby is building Metrotown to be its downtown.

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

.....a recent addition and feature.
The Metrotown area, and Kingsway in particular, used to be pretty good about the relative lack of hobos (at least compared to somewhere like downtown or even New West).
Only recently have they began to become a more prevalent sight.
It's a hard thing for a lot of cities to deal with and I can't imagine all those retailers and restaurants on that stretch of Kingsway are too thrilled about it (even though they're limited in what they can do about it)

There were prostitutes on every block of Kingsway not that long ago (early 2000s). Kingsway has come a long way.

[retro_orange]

Originally Posted by Pinion

There were prostitutes on every block of Kingsway not that long ago (early 2000s). Kingsway has come a long way.

There still are on the Vancouver stretch of Kingsway, south of 12th. They walk very slowly and watch you sideways. Needless to say i avoid walking that stretch at night.

[Sheba]

The latest Master Projects list has some rental buildings on it.

* Non-market seniors rental at Rumble and Sussex (by St Michael's Centre)

* Non-market rental at Southgate

* Non-market seniors rental next door to Southgate

* Market rental just north of Kingsway in Metrotown (the Hazel St church site)

[urbancanadian]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

...although VancouverMarket indicates that the site was bought by Thind propeerties in May of this year. Thind (http://www.thind.ca/past-projects/) seem to do or have done a bunch of low- to mid-rises, including quite a bunch in the Metrotown/Royal Oak area, so if it is them, this would seem like it would be their first high-rise tower.

Thanks for digging that up. Yeah, Thind is pretty new to the high-rise game. Technically Skyway Tower was a high-rise so that would have been their first. They have another similar-sized building planned for Norquay Village. But they do have a proposal for three towers in the Brentwood area at 2425 Beta Avenue.

Originally Posted by Sheba

Saying the three buildings this will replace are "large, small, large" is pretty subjective - they're all two storey buildings. The mid-rise BC Housing building will likely have more suites than all three of those buildings combined.

While getting affordable housing in there is a *really* good idea, you have to remember that it's a subsidized housing building, which means being able to qualify for and get on BC Housing's miles long wait list. How many of the people living in the area are on that list vs they're just living there because it's cheap and all they can afford. Those are two very different things. I'd suspect a lot of the people protesting don't qualify for BC Housing.

Good point about the different types of affordable housing. For the "large, small, large" thing, I was just too lazy to post a map of the land parcels. I was doing a poor job trying to describe how extensive the site was for anyone who was looking on Google Maps or something (ie. it is three buildings that would be demolished, not just the one fronting Beresford).

[klaus_mittwoch]

Some recent shots of Burnaby (Sept 2016):

[GilmoreStation]

The homeless population in Greater Vancouver is through the roof, and it's only going to get a lot worse. The thing with the whole Metrotown area, most people there are not well-dressed at all. They could easily mistaken for hobos.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by GilmoreStation

The homeless population in Greater Vancouver is through the roof, and it's only going to get a lot worse. The thing with the whole Metrotown area, most people there are not well-dressed at all. They could easily mistaken for hobos.

I think that's a Canadian thing in general.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by GilmoreStation

The homeless population in Greater Vancouver is through the roof, and it's only going to get a lot worse. The thing with the whole Metrotown area, most people there are not well-dressed at all. They could easily mistaken for hobos.

Nowhere can trump downtown Vancouver when seeing how badly people dress or carry themselves in the Lower Mainland. Style-wise is one thing, but there are worse things that come to play when I say that: fact is, there are residents who are totally sloppy: they don't cut their hair or beard, or shower, or wash their clothes. Drawn-in faces and shrinking bones show many had been devastated by drugs. Many sit around, some making lewd comments at ladies passing by, some litter the streets whenever they can. I've seen it all. Just walk down Granville Street any time of the day or hang out East Side.

Neighbour of mine from Calgary says their city has no tolerance for the homelessness and street garbage, and that's why overall the Calgary looks clean (as in most cities in the developed world, other than the U.S.). Vancouver does not do much to make sure streets are clean and orderly.

Burnaby or Metrotown isn't bad by comparison. Streets are clean and well-maintained. Perhaps people there need improvement in the fashion-arena, but I don't think they look like hobos. I believe that by creating more work places in the Metrotown area and making it like a real downtown will one day propel Metrotown to become more sophisticated fashion-wise. By the looks of things, I think Metrotown is heading that way to become the second downtown of the Lower Mainland, without a lot of the negative traits (eg. from residents as well as transients) that tag along with it.