Transit oriented development in Canada

[O-tacular]

First phase of Westbrook TOD is a mixed use office / library / train station building adjacent to the new park. There are currently 3 new highrise condos built in the latest boom nearby.



Concept of future development nearby.


Nearby towers in foreground. Since this was taken the subway station has been buried and the mixed use building is almost complete.

[vanman]

Wow, very impressive! How long would it take to get to downtown Ottawa from that station?

[MTLskyline]

Originally Posted by vanman

Wow, very impressive! How long would it take to get to downtown Ottawa from that station?

Probably 2 days or so.

(The TOD project above is in Calgary)

[Innsertnamehere]

Ottawa's LRT isn't under construction yet, and won't be underground in the suburbs at all. Only Downtown.

And Ottawa's LRT has got to be the transit expansion I am most excited about. Canada will soon have 6 cities with Rapid Transit Networks!

[eemy]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

Ottawa's LRT isn't under construction yet, and won't be underground in the suburbs at all. Only Downtown.

And Ottawa's LRT has got to be the transit expansion I am most excited about. Canada will soon have 6 cities with Rapid Transit Networks!

There are many more than 6 cities with rapid transit networks. Ottawa would boost the number of rail rapid transit networks to 6 (disregarding the O-Train). Waterloo Region might just beat them to it as well. Both systems are projected to have construction completed in 2017.

[Wooster]

The Bridges in Calgary is a well-designed TOD - on the former General Hospital site:

First Phase buildings and playing fields:



Overall Master Plan:

[vanman]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

Probably 2 days or so.

(The TOD project above is in Calgary)

Thought it was in Ottawa for some reason.
I was busy working when I posted that from my phone. I'm not as good a mult-tasker as I thought I was hehe.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by MTLskyline

Probably 2 days or so.

(The TOD project above is in Calgary)

That's being a little optimistic isn't it? I'd guess at least 3 days.

[vanman]

Burnaby is killing it lately with many massive developments located within very close proximity to skytrain stations. This is the future of very high density housing located outside of the downtown core. Burnaby may end up with the tallest clusters of condo towers in all of Metro Vancouver the way things are currently panning out.

Under construction:

Metroplace


Sovereign


Chancellor


Silver


Vantage


Site prep:

Solo District


Station Square


Proposed

Moda


The Met


Aviara


Brentwood Mall Redevelopment
(Solo District is shown in the upper right hand corner as well)

brentwood by Splashcat, on Flickr

[Innsertnamehere]

holy! how will the skytrain be able to handle all these new passengers? will it have the capacity? (my understanding is that the skytrain has around the same capacity as the Toronto RT, which is at capacity right now serving a similarly sized condo cluster, but correct me if I am wrong)

[vanman]

For more info on the Brentwood Mall redevelopment check out the link below, it's a fascinating read. It is basically a detailed blueprint of how to urbanize an auto-centric suburban mall, with lots of renderings and diagrams.
http://shapeproperties.com/sites/def...0DRAFT%202.pdf

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by jeremy_haak

There are many more than 6 cities with rapid transit networks. Ottawa would boost the number of rail rapid transit networks to 6 (disregarding the O-Train). Waterloo Region might just beat them to it as well. Both systems are projected to have construction completed in 2017.

it will be the countries 6th rapid transit rail line, with extremely high frequencies. (</=10 minutes. Waterloo will have lower frequencies than that AFAIK) and as of right now it will be the countries 4th metro network. (completely grade separated) that might change as it expands though. (it might have at grade crossings in the future)

[ue]

Wow, no Edmonton yet? Not as impressive as Vancalronto, but some interesting TODs being built or in planning for Alberta's capital.

Century Park - partially built, next phase ready to go

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s...enturyPark.jpg

Century Park is in the Southwest of Edmonton at the southern end of the LRT line. A temp park n' ride facility for the LRT station is on land that will eventually house the rest of the TOD (along with a dirtfield). Heritage Mall used to be on the site.

Fort Road TOD - planning/proposed

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s.../5558844-1.jpg

This is apart of a revitalization of Fort Road in Northeast Edmonton near Belvedere LRT.

Skyline - site prep being done, ready to go, sales centre built

http://members.shaw.ca/vincentwansin...n%20Rd%202.JPG


http://members.shaw.ca/vincentwansin...n%20Rd%203.JPG

This is located in a wealthy west central neighbourhood, Glenora and has been controversial (NIMBYs).

There's also Strathearn, but that doesn't seem to have much likelihood of going ahead anytime soon. It is approved, though. Other TODs are planned for Stadium LRT, Mill Woods TC, Heritage Valley, Lewis Farms, City Centre Airport Lands, and Gorman (all except Stadium need LRT to be built first, however).

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

holy! how will the skytrain be able to handle all these new passengers? will it have the capacity?

Right now the Millennium Line gets pretty full at peak hours (Brentwood Station itself is moderately busy) but its frequencies are not as high as the Expo Line, which has both Expo and Millennium trains. My understanding is that when the Evergreen Line opens up there will be Evergreen trains passing through Brentwood from VCC en route out to Coquitlam, increasing the frequency and therefore the capacity.

That being said, I don't think a single development of this size would swamp a rapid transit line. At stations like Commercial Drive or Lougheed there are multiple bus routes bringing in people from large parts of the city. Ridership on the 99 B-Line is something like 50,000 per day, and the whole system is on the order of 400,000.

[eemy]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

it will be the countries 6th rapid transit rail line, with extremely high frequencies. (</=10 minutes. Waterloo will have lower frequencies than that AFAIK) and as of right now it will be the countries 4th metro network. (completely grade separated) that might change as it expands though. (it might have at grade crossings in the future)

Apparently the headway will be 7.5 minutes at the start of service.

[Innsertnamehere]

Really? I seem to remember reading something like 12 minute headways. Oh well, all The better!

[nname]

Originally Posted by Innsertnamehere

holy! how will the skytrain be able to handle all these new passengers? will it have the capacity? (my understanding is that the skytrain has around the same capacity as the Toronto RT, which is at capacity right now serving a similarly sized condo cluster, but correct me if I am wrong)

I think the limitation of SRT is not the technology, but the number of trains available. The availability of trains limit the SRT capacity to 4000-4500 passengers per hours. Millennium Line currently running at slightly higher capacity, at around 5000 pphpd, and is using less than 1/4 of the ultimate capacity. So capacity should never be a problem for that line.

Originally Posted by someone123

My understanding is that when the Evergreen Line opens up there will be Evergreen trains passing through Brentwood from VCC en route out to Coquitlam, increasing the frequency and therefore the capacity.

The plan is to truncate the Millennium Line at Lougheed, hence only the Evergreen trains will be serving the current Millennium stations in Burnaby.

[BIMBAM]

Here's a transit oriented development in the town of Mont St.Hilaire Quebec, centred around the commuter train station that heads into Montreal.

It's called le Village du Gare, and if I understand correctly is a new urbanist development of 1400 homes and 42,000 feet of retail that represents a 100 million dollar investment.


http://www.informationaffaires.com/I...00-portes.html

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by BIMBAM

Here's a transit oriented development in the town of Mont St.Hilaire Quebec, centred around the commuter train station that heads into Montreal.

It's called le Village du Gare, and if I understand correctly is a new urbanist development of 1400 homes and 42,000 feet of retail that represents a 100 million dollar investment.


http://www.informationaffaires.com/I...00-portes.html

ICK! Put that where it belongs in the Ugly Canada thread. gives Laval a run for its money.

[vanman]

This is an uplifting read:

Coming soon to a suburb near you: highrise development
Tall buildings are popping up along transit corridors in Burnaby and Surrey
By Jenny Lee, Vancouver Sun August 30, 2012


Highrise towers are no longer solely a downtown Vancouver phenomenon.

Developers are building and proposing highrise buildings along transit corridors in Burnaby and Surrey.

In fact, the highest building in B.C. could some day be in Burnaby if an ambitious plan by Shape Properties at Brentwood Town Centre is approved.

Burnaby council is considering a conceptual master plan by Shape Properties, owner of Brentwood Town Centre, to redevelop the site with an 11.5-hectare project that includes two residential towers of 45 to 70 storeys over the next five years, with as many as nine more towers ranging from 20 to 55 storeys over the next 20 to 30 years. Two 30-40 storey office towers are also in the plan. Shape Properties hopes to break ground in late 2013.

A number of highrise developments are at various stages of development across Metro Vancouver. Century Group is developing 3 Civic Plaza which will house Surrey's highest skyscraper, a 50-storey condo, office and hotel tower. The Sovereign, a Bosa Properties project in Burnaby's Metrotown, is expected to be B.C.'s second-tallest building at 500 feet. Appia Development's Solo District project in Burnaby at Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue has four towers ranging upwards of 38 storeys. Station Square at Metrotown includes plans for five towers ranging from 35 to 57 storeys. Coquitlam has approved a development agreement for Windsor Gate, a Polygon Homes project with two 25-story towers. Concord Pacific is proposing a 31-storey tower in Metrotown. Abbotsford is expecting to see a Quantum Properties 26-storey tower, Mahogany at Mill Lake.

Surrey has three town centre highrise projects in development, "all above 30 storeys and that's great," said Surrey city councillor Barinder Rasode. Surrey is actively encouraging highrises in place of urban sprawl, she said. "We can't fight the fact that 1,200 people a month move to Surrey and we are also going to have, in the next 10 years, an increase in the number of seniors by 179 per cent."

"As we're creating communities that are more walkable and bikeable and while we're protecting our agricultural and industrial landbase, density is the only option," Rasode said.

Metro Vancouver's regional growth strategy, approved in 1996, created a pattern of development that concentrates density in town centres and protects natural areas and both agricultural and industrial land.

Area residents may be starting to notice a flurry of highrise development because of a two-to three-year delay between presales and construction, said Darren Kwiatkowski, Shape Properties executive vice-president.

"The basic philosophy has been there, whether Burnaby, Central Surrey or Richmond," Kwiatkowski said. "What you're seeing now is just market economics and social economic trends."

Young people are increasingly choosing car-free lifestyles, so transit has become a key driver for residential condo sales. "The projects that are selling the best in the Lower Mainland, are on SkyTrain (lines,)" Kwiatkowski said. "What that translates into is more highrise." Kwiatkowski predicted that office development will soon be driven by tenants seeking similar convenience. "What's coming is a fundamental shift from low-density business parks to office facilities on transit."

The final height of a tower is determined by a fine balancing act between presale numbers and building costs. "Once you get over 50 to 55 storeys, you're looking at premiums," for additional elevator banks, and wind and earthquake considerations, Kwiatkowski said.

He does not foresee many of the current Metro Vancouver projects coming in at over 50 stories.

"There is a premium to concrete over wood frame construction. Not every Lower Mainland market will support it. The housing price has to get to a certain point where concrete is an alternative. Over the last 15 years, downtown, you could build a highrise, the economics there worked. In Metrotown it worked and in Richmond it worked. So you're now starting to see the economics work as housing prices rise gradually and it becomes a more accepted form of living."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business...946/story.html