[North Vancouver] Marine Drive Transformation

[idunno]

Nice pics wrenegade! I totally agree about the 845 building, beige painted concrete belongs in the Okanagan.

[Vansterdam]

quickly becoming an amazing strip on the north shore. I wish all of vancouver would densify like this, at this more human scale. I still find marine drive very uninviting to walk though but as time goes by maybe that will change. Meanwhile west vancouver(ambleside) is becoming a ghosttown

[Pinion]

Ambelside has similar plans. The North Van side can only hope it'll one day be as good as the West Van side.

[wrenegade]

Ambleside does not have similar plans. The zoning allows 1.6 FSR or something like that, not that it really matters, land prices are insane. The Grosvenor project is probably the only thing of consequence that will happen in the next 5-10 years.

[Pinion]

The Grovesnor project was what I was referring to. I thought it'd be at least four storeys, but I guess I shouldn't assume anything in West Van.

[Pinion]

Swiss Chalet was open as of last night. Looks nice from the outside... still won't be going there.

[wrenegade]

Some quick info from the upcoming "The Shore" project by Adera on what will soon be the former City of North Vancouver Works Yard. The project will consist of 375 units in 4 buildings (1 5 storey rental building, 3 6 storey condo buildings), 116 of which will be rental. I will try and gather more info and post a much more in depth description (will likely require it's own thread, as this is a pretty significant project) in the next couple days.

5 storey Rental Building:



The outlined building is the Rental Building. The road labeled "proposed road" is actually West 2nd and has been built for a number of years (I'm unsure why it is labeled as it is).



edit: Photos courtesy Wikimapia

[Aishi]

i passed this on the way to the north shore auto mall today and the city of north van new operations center seems to be almost completed.
this new development will make the area look nicer for sure, as it currently is quite the old & junk looking area. are the garden works and the old pet store going to be taken away as well?

[wrenegade]

Unfortunately the small building with the Laptop Store & Car Rental Place, the Mitsubishi Dealership, Gardenworks & the Pet Store are all not part of the development.

[Pinion]

.

[Vansterdam]

what can be done though to improve pedestrian traffic along marine though. I feel like businesses along the strip, partially in these new builds dont stand a chance

[Pinion]

A local population + wider, nicer sidewalks. Which is what's happening with the new buildings.

I am a bit worried about the sheer number of new retail spaces though.

[Pinion]

.

[wrenegade]

Thanks for the update Pinion! That 850 Marine sure is a dog's breakfast. What a mess. I quite like the form of the Ivy (although it is very close to the lane on the back side). It does seem like the facade is painted in a weird pattern though, too many colours on Marine Drive, although perhaps they just have to apply a couple more coats. I hope their location directly across from Pemberton Plaza helps their retail viability.

[Pinion]

.

[idunno]

Thanks for the pics! 850 Marine is just utterly confusing in its design. It looks like something they would build in Kelowna on the cheap - Painted concrete and all. So much for 'West Coast' inspired architecture along this strip. Though it is true that almost all the other projects are pretty harmonious architecture-wise.

[Pinion]

.

[jozero]

The Shore and 700 Marine will act as a nice 'gateway' for Marine. I'm still not sure if these random spread out building will be enough to make the area seem lively (that VW dealership really kills the flow) but its great to see an attempt. Maybe lively isn't important anyways, just getting more people living here in density is always a good thing.

I wish there was one visionary public amenity along Marine. It doesn't have to be huge, it could of resulted from a cut of each public good each building had to contribute to. For example perhaps the small park in front of Capilano could of been made grand in some fashion. A small destination spot for families, who would then be willing to branch out and walk along Marine. Malls typically don't serve this purpose.

I always appreciate your photos Pinion.

[CBeats]

Nice updates! It's amazing to see the transformation of Marine Drive in the past few years. Now if only West Van could do something even close to this...(Ambleside's project notwithstanding)

[Pinion]

.