Quote:
Originally Posted by Klazu
There is no retail planned to go into the podium of the three tall Sears towers at Kingsway and Nelson? They are there in the diagram but separated from the plan...
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This.
I was there this evening and let's just say that this plan has lots of question marks and big holes in their concept that need to be addressed, and for which the people answering questions there didn't have any definitive or clear answers themselves (and even admitted this).
There seems to be a 'pick and choose' deal going on with regards to what they're planning on redeveloping versus what they actually can or can't actually do anything with seeing as they don't have as much as as they would seem it to believe.
At the end of the day there are quite a few stakeholders involved in this process who aren't even (as of this stage it seems) actually involved at all, and without their say-so, this plan is on a fast track to nowhere.
Just two examples:-
1) You correctly identified that although they showed the phase 1 towers of the Concord Sears development project on their north parking lot, they don't seem to be shown as part of this concept plan. With good reason obviously since Ivanhoe Cambridge are currently involved in major litigation with Concord in a court case regarding that development.
But at the same time they've indicated the part that would constitute phases 2 and 4 of the Concord Sears development as part of the plan, and yet there's no assurance that Concord will play ball for whatever they're planning for those lots.
2) Secondly, the south side of the mall.
They show the plans for a possible Event space on the location of where the current Bus Loop currently sits.
I thought we had already been through this.
They wanted to develop that lot already and place Metrotower IV or a residential highrise tower there and proposed relocating the bus loop to south of Beresford and both the city and Translink shot down that idea so fast, their heads are still spinning.
So how would they make the city and Translink come around to agreeing to relocate the Bus loop elsewhere in the area but not too far from the Skytrain station? (which is kind of the point for why it's located where it currently is)
Maybe they're proposing to eventually have some sort of combination Public events space and bus loop/transit hub-type deal? (the logistics of the program and functions of these two kinds of spaces operating in essentially the same area is a nightmare to even begin to contemplate.)
The guy I spoke to basically admitted that these are problems they would have to resolve before the plan could go anywhere and at the same time more or less conceded at in it's current state it's more conceptual and abstract than has any level of "concrete-ness" or lucidity.
It's more about throwing ideas out and getting the ball rolling than setting down anything concrete (....at this stage).
We're still early doors, and they're working on a timescale that could see it go as much as 80 years before it's fully realized so they're really working on a timescale that allows them to address these problems.
But they are problems that are not easily (or quickly) resolvable.
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I think that Metrotown needs a more defined 'centre' and more chohesion. A main thoroughfare, lined with snazzy buildings, mini-parks, plazas, all great. A "Downtown Metrotown."
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