Burnaby Updates

[logan5]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

I was just looking at the Major Developments projects page at the City of Burnaby, and noticed a couple of Initial reports and applications had been submitted for July, and after a bit of sleuthing I found this application for a 19 storey mixed use (residential, ground floor retail and office) tower for the 3 lots at the corner of Royal Oak and Grimmer by some developers I haven't heard of before called ifortune Homes.
In any case they had a preliminary rendering of the proposed design and apart from how far it is from the center of Metrotown (it's right at the very edge for what would qualify as the Royal Oak district, but still in the Metrotown parcel) is the height of 19 storeys which seems quite high for that locale. Now it's going to be a couple of blocks south of that old Tower on the south west corner of Kingsway and Royal Oak, so it won't be the tallest in that area, but still, a far cry from all the lowrises going up around that area.

In any case, here is the render (looking north on Royal Oak towards Kingsway, I think).....



The developer's website..

http://www.ifortunehomes.com/project/royal-oak-grimmer/

The project location:-



And where it is in street view looking down south on Royal Oak and relative to the Towers to the west with Midori and the Mets and Park to the west.
The lots in question are those two SFH's with the 'For sale signs' and the lowrise multi-unit building neighbouring them to the south and partially obscured by those 2 trees....



The only other July update seems like a formal initial rezoning application for the Chris Dikeakos (for Thind? I forget the developer.) designed highrise project in the lots between Metroplace and the now under construction and currently excavating Highline project just south of the Skytrain station at Metrotown.
I believe some renders had been posted before for that one.
It seems like they'll follow the same formula (more or less) as Highline for that one:- A 45-48 storey market tower on Beresford, with a (I'm guessing) 10-15 storey non market rental midrise tower to the south of it.

Don't suppose you have a link for these applications. I'm wondering if they are applying under the revised zoning rules that allow for more residential density, though I don't think that has completely passed yet.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

I was just looking at the Major Developments projects page at the City of Burnaby, and noticed a couple of Initial reports and applications had been submitted for July, and after a bit of sleuthing I found this application for a 19 storey mixed use (residential, ground floor retail and office) tower for the 3 lots at the corner of Royal Oak and Grimmer by some developers I haven't heard of before called ifortune Homes.
In any case they had a preliminary rendering of the proposed design and apart from how far it is from the center of Metrotown (it's right at the very edge for what would qualify as the Royal Oak district, but still in the Metrotown parcel) is the height of 19 storeys which seems quite high for that locale. Now it's going to be a couple of blocks south of that old Tower on the south west corner of Kingsway and Royal Oak, so it won't be the tallest in that area, but still, a far cry from all the lowrises going up around that area.

That building was posted on here before but there's been no action on it. As mentioned at the time, the west side of Royal Oak down to Imperial (so just north of the Skytrain) is part of the Metrotown downtown / town centre and where you'll get towers, while the east side of Royal Oak is not and is limited to lowrise buildings.

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Looking at the location map you posted that little building in between the WholesaleClub and the Best Western is gone now.

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

Yep.
But the lot is too small for any major project of any sort, so I'm guessing maybe a small retail/office mix redevelopment if they do put anything there.

Was that the one that had a fire?

Also WholesaleClub is going to undergo renovations soon (or is it already?) so will be closing down for a while, so I suppose any potential of it getting sold off to whoever now owns the lot where the Safeway used to sit, is out of the question.
And still no idea what's going to happen in that old Safeway location. Lots of surface parking and big empty box of a building.

Yeah it burned down a year ago. I posted about it at the time...

I know Wholesale did some work (mostly I notice that the shelves are waay taller than they used to be). I think they shut down briefly then. I haven't heard anything at all about the Safeway site next door - but as it's outside of the Metrotown town centre it would likely be developed on it's own anyway.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by logan5

Don't suppose you have a link for these applications. I'm wondering if they are applying under the revised zoning rules that allow for more residential density, though I don't think that has completely passed yet.

I don't have a link to the actual application but the City of Burnaby major projects page which updates every month to show if any new applications or readings have been initiated or moved forward is where I got the information from

https://www.burnaby.ca/City-Services...-Projects.html

If you click on the July update from last month and scroll all the way down to the Metrotown section, you should see it on the list.
It's one of only two July updates:-

https://www.burnaby.ca/Assets/city+s.../2019+July.pdf

A rezoning application would imply that they are applying for higher density, which they would have to do in this case regardless since they are proposing building a highrise on a lot that consolidates lots which used to be Single Family Housing zoned. So I can't really tell if this application would be under the revised zoning rules or the existing ones.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by Sheba

That building was posted on here before but there's been no action on it. As mentioned at the time, the west side of Royal Oak down to Imperial (so just north of the Skytrain) is part of the Metrotown downtown / town centre and where you'll get towers, while the east side of Royal Oak is not and is limited to lowrise buildings.

The City of Burnaby page was updated to reflect that an initial report was submitted for or on the end of July (the 29th), so I suppose that would qualify as "action"?

And yes, while I am aware of the City of Burnaby's overall planning plan for the Metrotown downtown and town center area and surroundings, it's still a little fascinating to see a tower that (relatively) tall for right on the edge of the "downtown" district since the plan seemed to be envisioning a tapering down in height of towers as you flowed out from the town center.

[Tetsuo]

I think Crombie REIT still owns the former Safeway site.

The building that burnt down was the former NDP HQ, the property was extremely neglected and had a lot of litter, would not be surprised if arson

[owenhujb]

Here’s a news article on this project (or with this project in it)

https://www.burnabynow.com/news/plan...lor-1.23915921

Also I don’t recall any renderings of that 48 story building on Telford, the one between Metroplace and Highline, would someone mind posting them here?

[Klazu]

Oh wow, interesting stuff! I think there has been renders for a ~35 floor tower at the corner of Telford and Beresford, so this would be further south? Very interesting to see what comes of it!

The article also mentions a tall tower going up in Edmonds.

Only in Burnaby do news like this just coming.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Klazu

The article also mentions a tall tower going up in Edmonds.

"A mixed-use, 35- to 40-storey tower on the current site of the OpenRoad Honda dealership on Kingsway in Edmonds." This would be over by Edmonds and Griffiths, about a block away from Highgate.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by owenhujb

Here’s a news article on this project (or with this project in it)

https://www.burnabynow.com/news/plan...lor-1.23915921

Also I don’t recall any renderings of that 48 story building on Telford, the one between Metroplace and Highline, would someone mind posting them here?

Unfortunately I don't think those are available anymore.

They were originally accessible through the link on this post:-

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2274

But when you click on it, it seems like the architects removed public access to view it and you now need some password or special user access to see them.

As I recall they were very preliminary and Work-in-Progress (which might be part of why they took them down), but it seemed like a regular tower with some sort of signature cross-trellis like structural element running down the middle like a braid or something (hard to describe).
I'm not sure if any of that will survive any revisions or new re-designs of the project.
But given the fact that they officially seemed to have triggered and initiated the application process, it shouldn't be too long before some official renders or images start to come out

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Oh wow, interesting stuff! I think there has been renders for a ~35 floor tower at the corner of Telford and Beresford, so this would be further south? Very interesting to see what comes of it!

The article also mentions a tall tower going up in Edmonds.

Only in Burnaby do news like this just coming.

I believe it's the same project you're referring to.

Only it's now going to be two towers instead of just one. The tower more to the south will be on-market rental while the taller tower on Beresford will be the market condos - just like Highline next door.

The original renders (which are sadly no longer availble) seemed to indicate that the market tower would be between 48-50 floors tall, but I'm guessing it might be taller than that (and taller than Metroplace and Highline) thanks to the fact that (from the article posted) they are now planning on providing 170 non-market rental units with the second tower instead of the required 80 or so per the new rules, to replace what they are demolishing on those lowrises. Which is over double the required.

So they city could then be inclined to give them more density and FAR (and ultimately a taller tower height for the market tower).

[Tetsuo]

Originally Posted by Sheba

"A mixed-use, 35- to 40-storey tower on the current site of the OpenRoad Honda dealership on Kingsway in Edmonds." This would be over by Edmonds and Griffiths, about a block away from Highgate.

Pretty big site if you include the servicing/parking lot in the back (beresford)
There's also adjacent to the site the cash money lot and two SFH on Griffiths.

Nice to see more Edmonds stuff coming through !

[Vin]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Oh wow, interesting stuff! I think there has been renders for a ~35 floor tower at the corner of Telford and Beresford, so this would be further south? Very interesting to see what comes of it!

The article also mentions a tall tower going up in Edmonds.

Only in Burnaby do news like this just coming.

Yes! Keep 'em coming. Would love to see more taking up the empty lots of Metrotown & Brentwood. And keep it up, City of Burnaby, ie. going tall and attracting all the new developments!


https://www.burnabynow.com/news/plan...lor-1.23915921

Planned rental projects prove Burnaby’s new rules work: councillor
Three developers have presented plans to conform to the city's inclusionary zoning rules

Skeptics who predicted Burnaby’s new inclusionary zoning rules would put a chill on development need only look to three new rezoning proposals to allay their concerns, according to the chair of the city’s recently disbanded housing task force.

Coun. Pietro Calendino said the three projects, which all meet or exceed the 20-per-cent-rental mandate, preview a bright future for housing affordability in the city.

“It seems very promising that the direction that the city has taken is not really putting a brake on development,” he said. “It sounds like developers like the new bylaw.”

Initial notice of the proposals came to council in late July, only two months after it passed the stringent new inclusionary zoning bylaw. Council authorized staff to continue working with the developers to refine these plans:

A mixed-use, 35- to 40-storey tower on the current site of the OpenRoad Honda dealership on Kingsway in Edmonds. The developer plans to build at least one rental unit for every four condos and to charge “affordable” rates – defined as 20 per cent below market average rates found by the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation – in a quarter of the rentals.
A highrise condo building on Royal Oak Avenue on the current site of a three-storey rental building. The new rules require the developer either replace the 19 existing units or meet the 20-per-cent threshold – whichever is greater. The initial proposal does not indicate the size of the planned project, but the developer has expressed a desire to gain maximum density by making all the rental units “affordable.”
Two towers on Telford Street in Metrotown: a 22-storey, 170-unit rental building (including 41 “affordable” apartments) and a 48-storey, 380-unit condo building. The proposed project would replace a 33-unit condo building, a five-unit strata and an eight-unit rental building, according to the staff report.
Nadia Said, the lead architect on the Telford proposal, said initial plans for the project only included 18 units of rental, but plans changed once the new rules came into play.

The large site allowed the developer to create a seperate rental building that far exceeds the requirement of fewer than 80 rental apartments, she said.

“We didn't find it that difficult to accommodate the rental for this project in particular,” Said said.

The density offset bonus provisions help make the proposal financially viable, according to Said.

“There are always possibilities, as long as the city allows for extra [density],” she said.

These developers will also have to follow the new tenant relocation policies laid out in the task force’s final report, Calendino said. The councillor said he expects the recommendations, which include giving displaced tenants the opportunity to move into replacement rentals, to become official policy this fall.

But Burnaby’s ambitious suite of new housing regulations could slow development, according to Anne McMullin, president and CEO of the Urban Development Institute.

“Inclusionary/rental-only zoning and more tenant regulations also add costs that are passed on to buyers and renters. This worsens affordability,” McMullin said in a statement.

McMullin, who was a member of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Housing, said her association also opposed the city’s vacancy controls, which restrict rental increases when tenants turn over.

Calendino said the housing task force took the development industry’s concerns into account when putting together its final recommendations.

“Well, we were trying to balance the issue of affordability with more development,” he said, but the task force’s primary concern was “making housing affordable for all.”

Calendino said he expects many more proposals conforming to the inclusionary zoning rules to come forward in the coming months. He predicted hundreds of rental units will be completed under the new policies before the next municipal election in 2022.

“I think that we're on the right path, and we will probably create much more affordability than we had in the past,” he said.

[GenWhy?]

Many were trying to do this before but the City said "no". Still room for improvement. The lift in most places in the Metro area can make this work

[logan5]

Vin! Great article you posted there.

Interesting times for Burnaby. Even with these stringent rules for tenant relocation, at least one of the developers is saying it's no problem. In fact, the extra rental density is an incentive for developers so I would expect the fast pace of development in Burnaby to actually accelerate. With residential FSR as high as 9 in the core areas, we are going to see some seriously tall proposals in Burnaby. Easily a lot taller than Gilmore Station, as FSR is almost double now.

I'll add that all this new rental policy in Burnaby will have a ripple effect Metro wide and relieve pressure on rental units in Vancouver, where rents are increasingly unaffordable. It'll be interesting to see if other municipalities adopt a similar rezoning policy.

[misher]

Originally Posted by logan5

Vin! Great article you posted there.

Interesting times for Burnaby. Even with these stringent rules for tenant relocation, at least one of the developers is saying it's no problem. In fact, the extra rental density is an incentive for developers so I would expect the fast pace of development in Burnaby to actually accelerate. With residential FSR as high as 9 in the core areas, we are going to see some seriously tall proposals in Burnaby. Easily a lot taller than Gilmore Station, as FSR is almost double now.

I'll add that all this new rental policy in Burnaby will have a ripple effect Metro wide and relieve pressure on rental units in Vancouver, where rents are increasingly unaffordable. It'll be interesting to see if other municipalities adopt a similar rezoning policy.

Burnaby's consultants said 20% would kill development. It may just be current projects that are doing so. It remains to be seen if the consultants were wrong or the Council was.

[logan5]

The development on Telford is exceeding the required number of rentals, and is in fact maxing out the allowable rental density. What does that tell you?

[GenWhy?]

Originally Posted by misher

Burnaby's consultants said 20% would kill development. It may just be current projects that are doing so. It remains to be seen if the consultants were wrong or the Council was.

"Kill development". Famous last words.

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by logan5

The development on Telford is exceeding the required number of rentals, and is in fact maxing out the allowable rental density. What does that tell you?

That the market has changed (or is changing)?

Regardless, the political reality certainly has.

[Klazu]

Oh, I would love something over 50 floors at Telford and Beresford. Metroplace is nice and all, but it won't stand out as it was built 10 floors too short to really be a crown for the area right next to one of the busiest Skytrain stations in Metro. Something really nice and tall should become the highlight of the area and this is exactly the spot to build it! That something needs to be at least 55 floors or higher to really stand out from rest of the row.

Am I correct in understanding that what is considered "rental housing" in Burnaby is below market rate housing for normal lower income working people? Not like almost every "social housing" component in Vancouver that seems to house people with no income and issues with substance abuse?

[Spr0ckets]

Originally Posted by Klazu

Oh, I would love something over 50 floors at Telford and Beresford. Metroplace is nice and all, but it won't stand out as it was built 10 floors too short to really be a crown for the area right next to one of the busiest Skytrain stations in Metro. Something really nice and tall should become the highlight of the area and this is exactly the spot to build it! That something needs to be at least 55 floors or higher to really stand out from rest of the row.

Am I correct in understanding that what is considered "rental housing" in Burnaby is below market rate housing for normal lower income working people? Not like almost every "social housing" component in Vancouver that seems to house people with no income and issues with substance abuse?

There's non-market (i.e rental) housing, and then within that level there's what is termed as "affordable" housing which basically means housing that's rented at "below" the standard or market rate and meant to make housing accessible to individuals and ideally families of not great income level but who definitely have income.
Typically you'd be looking at young families, recent graduates or immigrant families for example who definitely have income but not at a high level

In other words, not necessarily jobless or unemployed folks. It's subsidized to some level but it's not what you're referring to as "social housing" which is an entirely different category altogether and is what is geared towards people with no income and substance abuse issues and the like.

So totally different category within the same housing level.

There's also Moderate income housing but that's more general in context and is basically market rate rental.

The folks at City Duo provide a great breakdown in the difference between Moderate Income Housing and Affordable Income housing with some examples and the levels of income in question.

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/

Affordable Income Housing:-

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/0...rdable-choice/

Moderate Income Housing:-

https://cityduo.wordpress.com/2019/0...eed-to-mirhpp/

I may have oversimplified, or even conflated terms in some areas, so if anyone notes anything wrong feel free to correct me.