[Burnaby] Kingsway & Edmonds | 52, 50, 39, 38, 33fl | Proposed

[madog222]

Kingsway & Edmonds - Hall Towers Redevelopment
7252, 7282 Kingsway and 7255 Edmonds Street

Public Hearing 30 May materials (rez 20-32): https://www.burnaby.ca/our-city/meetings-and-public-hearings

2815 units
-1439 affordable/below market
-1076 strata
-300 market rental
33,000 sqft office space
84,000 sqft retail

Total density proposed at 8.82 FSR, all but 0.67 of that is residential.







Floorplan for the 52 storey strata tower at the corner of Kingsway & Edmonds, the views should be amazing from the bedrooms of those corner units.

Images from Aplin + Martin

[logan5]

How are half the units below market?

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by logan5

How are half the units below market?

It's public housing.

[Alex Mackinnon]

That's pretty chonky. I'm surprised the Rona wouldn't go long before those old towers. Weird.

[logan5]

Originally Posted by fredinno

It's public housing.

Oh. Didn't realize that. That's a huge public housing project. Whatever public housing outfit that is should generate some good income from the market housing portion.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by logan5

Oh. Didn't realize that. That's a huge public housing project. Whatever public housing outfit that is should generate some good income from the market housing portion.

The existing Hall Towers is directly managed by BC Housing, it sounds like they will maintain management of their new towers here (A & B).

Burnaby will own tower D, no idea if they plan to manage it themself.

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

That's pretty chonky. I'm surprised the Rona wouldn't go long before those old towers. Weird.

For some reason the Rona site is designated for only low/medium density.

[rickvug]

Originally Posted by madog222

For some reason the Rona site is designated for only low/medium density.

Do any of us see that lasting? That is a tower site for sure given the evolving context. Attention would need to be paid to scale down at the edges. I doubt Burnaby envisions the tower area extending further into the newer townhomes and low rise apartments that surround.

[dleung]

Seems like a bad deal for the area to demolish 2 towers and 2 clusters of giant trees for this. I'd rather do something like below, with a proper plaza at the intersection that integrates the largest trees.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by dleung

Seems like a bad deal for the area to demolish 2 towers and 2 clusters of giant trees for this. I'd rather do something like below, with a proper plaza at the intersection that integrates the largest trees.

Yeah, it would be nice if they got rid of Tower C to keep Highland Park extending all the way to the Kingsway intersection.

The older towers are apparently in need of renovation though, so there is some reason to just demolish them and make new ones.

[mcj]

Originally Posted by dleung

Seems like a bad deal for the area to demolish 2 towers and 2 clusters of giant trees for this. I'd rather do something like below, with a proper plaza at the intersection that integrates the largest trees.

That's a great idea, wonder if they could rejig it like that at this stage.

Originally Posted by fredinno

Yeah, it would be nice if they got rid of Tower C to keep Highland Park extending all the way to the Kingsway intersection.

The older towers are apparently in need of renovation though, so there is some reason to just demolish them and make new ones.

Even lifting one side of the tower up on pillars like in that doodle dleung made would make for a more seamless connection of Highland Park to the intersection.

The older towers can go, no point in keeping them, though the project could be phased around them to keep them in use until replacement units are ready.

[dleung]

I happen to prefer these 2 brutalist towers, with the articulated exposed concrete, over the pasty 90's ones beside them I rather they renovate than tear down.

[officedweller]

They've placed the strata towers at the edge of the site for the best views, but you'd think they could combine Towers E and C into one taller tower on the site of Tower E (away from traffic noise) and shift Tower B a bit to the east and move Tower D a bit as well.
That would allow the greenway to reach Kingsway.

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by officedweller

They've placed the strata towers at the edge of the site for the best views, but you'd think they could combine Towers E and C into one taller tower on the site of Tower E (away from traffic noise) and shift Tower B a bit to the east and move Tower D a bit as well.
That would allow the greenway to reach Kingsway.

It should also be possible to make all the towers 50 stories and widen towers B, D, and E a bit to compensate for losing C.

Just getting all towers to 50 stories would (though making the massing less favorable) would make the towers get most of the density lost from Tower C.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by fredinno

It should also be possible to make all the towers 50 stories and widen towers B, D, and E a bit to compensate for losing C.

Just getting all towers to 50 stories would (though making the massing less favorable) would make the towers get most of the density lost from Tower C.

That's probably not possible with the split in juridiction between BC Housing (yellow/orange) and City of Burnaby (pink/purple).
Not sure of the floorplates, but a taller strata tower on the Tower E site could be wider at the bottom and taper.
The "Mews" could probably curve towards the Tower D site to allow for a larger site for Tower E.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by mcj

The older towers can go, no point in keeping them, though the project could be phased around them to keep them in use until replacement units are ready.

Originally Posted by fredinno

Yeah, it would be nice if they got rid of Tower C to keep Highland Park extending all the way to the Kingsway intersection.

The older towers are apparently in need of renovation though, so there is some reason to just demolish them and make new ones.

In need of renovation seems to be an understatement...

Hall Towers is a directly managed social housing development providing 331 units of affordable housing by Edmonds and Kingsway, in Burnaby. The development has two apartment complexes, Hall Tower and Hall Tower Extension, which were built in 1972 and 1977 respectively.

Due to their age and condition, the Hall Tower buildings at 7272, 7264 Kingsway are beginning to require extensive and costly repairs. In 2019, BC Housing will start developing new affordable rental buildings adjacent to the current buildings.

Through this opportunity, BC Housing and the City of Burnaby are working together to expand and revitalize the affordable housing stock in Burnaby.

All existing Hall Tower tenants will have the opportunity to move into the new buildings once completed, while continuing to pay the same rent as before, unless income or family size has changed. Tenants will be consulted about the housing needs and moving requirements well in advance of moving to their new home.

Also the rezoning info is here (27 pg pdf). It shows that the land is owned by BC Housing and Burnaby.

Oh and I could count all the times I've seen a bike on that section of Highland Park Trail on one hand and have fingers left over so I'm not worried about them not extending it to Kingsway.

[GenWhy?]

"While increased traffic is to be expected, several measures are recommended within the
TIA and by staff to mitigate traffic, including the addition of the Mews, as described in
Section 5.4, which are intended to enhance vehicular, pedestrian and cyclist connections
within the area and provide tower access; improvements to Edmonds Street and Kingsway to Town Centre Standards which includes the construction of separate sidewalks, cycle tracks, boulevard landscaping, pedestrian lighting, street lighting, rain water amenities, curb bulges and street trees; and the incorporation of TDM measures to lower parking demand"

Promising at least. Wonder how they intend to connect the Highland Park Line to the community centre.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Oh and I could count all the times I've seen a bike on that section of Highland Park Trail on one hand and have fingers left over so I'm not worried about them not extending it to Kingsway.

Yeah, there's no bike infrastructure to connect into at Kingsway/Edmonds. IMO, it's better to kick the bikes out onto the normal street grid at an intersection with fewer vehicles and pedestrians to avoid conflicts. If I was going to cycle along Edmonds I would probably get off the trail at 16th street so I can ride in the right-hand lane, instead of trying to navigate the crosswalk at Kingsway.

Since Salisbury/18th are cycle routes it makes sense to direct cyclists continuing past Kingsway onto that street so they can connect to Stride and 12th. Burnaby has designated Walker as an unsigned arterial cycle route (WTF does that mean???) so maybe they can add a connection to that along the west property line if a north-bound bike connection is important.

For anyone headed to Kingsway the plaza will be a fine replacement of the park as a connection to the street. Yes, we lose a handful of trees at the corner but then we replace a surface parking lot with green space so maybe it evens out?

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by GenWhy?

Promising at least. Wonder how they intend to connect the Highland Park Line to the community centre.

I guess I shouldn't have hit "submit" until I read your post

How about bike lanes on Edmonds from Griffiths to Robert Burnaby Park, with a connection to Edmonds station. The trail could connect to those lanes at 16th. That would take care of a serious gap in the southwest to northeast bike infrastucture.

I am not sure bike lanes along Kingsway are needed yet in between Metrotown and Edmonds, but I can dream of a day when the entire corridor is less suburban strip malls and more mid-density mixed use!

[fredinno]

Originally Posted by officedweller

That's probably not possible with the split in juridiction between BC Housing (yellow/orange) and City of Burnaby (pink/purple).
Not sure of the floorplates, but a taller strata tower on the Tower E site could be wider at the bottom and taper.
The "Mews" could probably curve towards the Tower D site to allow for a larger site for Tower E.

E is on BC Housing Land and C is on City of Burnaby land.

It's clear they're cooperating together on this development. Otherwise it wouldn't be in one giant piece like this. So I'm not sure this is a huge problem.

Originally Posted by Sheba

In need of renovation seems to be an understatement...


Also the rezoning info is here (27 pg pdf). It shows that the land is owned by BC Housing and Burnaby.

Oh and I could count all the times I've seen a bike on that section of Highland Park Trail on one hand and have fingers left over so I'm not worried about them not extending it to Kingsway.

Maybe, having it extend all the way to Kingsway would preserve the entire part of the old streetcar corridor, so it's still a bit of a loss.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by FarmerHaight

I guess I shouldn't have hit "submit" until I read your post

How about bike lanes on Edmonds from Griffiths to Robert Burnaby Park, with a connection to Edmonds station. The trail could connect to those lanes at 16th. That would take care of a serious gap in the southwest to northeast bike infrastucture.

I am not sure bike lanes along Kingsway are needed yet in between Metrotown and Edmonds, but I can dream of a day when the entire corridor is less suburban strip malls and more mid-density mixed use!

As I posted a couple weeks ago...

Originally Posted by Sheba

Did you miss when I posted a link to the Edmonds Town Centre Cycling Network?