Suburban Updates - All Other Metro Vancouver Municipalities

[huenthar]

Originally Posted by cornholio

A ped bridge makes no sense as it would need to be either able to open or really really high. Both these would make it costly and unreliable.

Nonsense. It won't need to be any higher than the Canada Line bridge (which already has a pedestrian/bike overpass of its own) - it's on the same arm of the river...

besides, an aerial tramway would need to be higher than a bridge (the cable would sag in the middle). Personally, I think I'd just prefer a bridge, maybe right above the existing rail bridge.

[tybuilding]

Noticed this on the Berezen Website:

Langley, British Columbia Canada

Plans are underway to develop a multi phased project in the Willowbrook area which includes commercial, office and residential buildings. The project is under design development with the Township of Langley as this going to be the first high rise in the area. The project involves developing a long term sustainable building which would integrate with the neighbourhood and local community development plans. The first phase of the project includes 2 high rise residential towers with an office and commercial floors.

Other Land development projects in Langley to be updated soon.

http://www.berezandevelopments.com/projects.html

[SpongeG]

its been mentioned could be interesting

[SpongeG]

Burquitlam development approved

Clarke Road project will feature highrises, townhouses and a grocery store

By Jennifer McFee, Coquitlam NOW July 21, 2010

A building boom is about to begin in Burquitlam to prepare for an anticipated Evergreen Line station.

Coquitlam council approved a development permit and zoning amendments Monday for a mixed-use high-density project that will include two highrise towers, six townhouses, three retail units and a grocery store in the 500 block of Clarke Road.

Co-applicants Bosa Properties and Safeway have been working diligently to make this project a reality, said city planner Erica Tiffany.

"We would like very much to see this application move forward because it's a critical element to achieving the transit village commercial uses around the future Evergreen Line light-rail ALRT station," Tiffany said. "It's going to be a catalyst for the Coquitlam neighbourhood plan."

Before going ahead with the project, however, Bosa must meet two conditions: find a loading space for the first tower and identify additional off-street parking spots.

Since the development will be near the future Burquitlam Station, Coquitlam's transit-village policy allows for a 30-per-cent reduction in onsite parking. Bosa requested a 20-per-cent parking variance, bringing the required spaces down to 604 from 695.

Coun. Mae Reid is concerned this reduction could set a precedent for future developments, which could leave the site short hundreds of parking spots.

"Maybe the person living in that apartment doesn't have a car, but they might actually know another person on the planet who might have a car to drive and visit them," Reid said. "At least they'd have a place to park ... It's going to be a nightmare for us."

Like Reid, Coun. Lou Sekora believes the developer needs to deal with parking concerns.

"My heart will not bleed for them at all ... They'll build. They'll sell. They're gone," Sekora said.

"Who's left with the headaches? The residents of this community and we are, as councillors."

However, Mayor Richard Stewart said it would be wasteful to provide too many parking spaces since they will sit vacant once the Evergreen Line is built.

"If we don't think SkyTrain is coming, let's not approve this rezoning because it's inappropriate if SkyTrain isn't coming. But we know it is. We know SkyTrain is coming," Stewart said.

"We're working with staff right now on that, and that means we can't be building a bunch of empty parking spaces. It's a waste of resources."

While Coun. Selina Robinson empathized with the anxieties of her fellow councillors, she said the project needs to move forward now.

"We're also moving into, I believe, a different generation ... Some families will continue to have two cars, but really there are many families who only have one and some have none," Robinson said.

"With a transit-oriented community, with SkyTrain there, we're trying again to predict and look into a crystal ball. I think that given that we're not the first community to do this, I think this is a pretty safe bet that it will be OK."

...

Read more: http://www.thenownews.com/Burquitlam+development+approved/3304321/story.html#ixzz0uOFJO4mj

[vanman]

Edmonds pool is on the way

By Janaya Fuller-Evans, Burnaby Now July 28, 2010

It won't happen this year, but people in the Edmonds area will soon have their very own pool to beat the summer heat.

Funding for the new Edmonds Pool and Community Centre was approved by city council at Monday night's meeting.

The project is estimated to cost $46 million plus HST, bringing it to $52.52 million.

The Edmonds neighbourhood is one that really needed a new facility, according to parks, recreation and cultural services director Dave Ellenwood.

"The neighbourhood is growing and rejuvenating," he explained. "A need was identified in recreation studies for a new pool there."

The pool is only one-third of the new 90,000 square foot centre, which includes community space and a double gymnasium.

It will be a six-lane, 25 metre lap pool, he said, with space for lessons and public use, as well as competitive swimming. There will also be a leisure pool, hot tub and sauna, according to a city staff report.

The double gym will provide more space for badminton, basketball and floor hockey, Ellenwood said.

"The gymnasium right now is quite small," he said. "There is a critical need for dry floor space throughout the city."

A multipurpose area is also included in the plan, as well as space for childcare, studio space, a youth centre, martial arts, and space for seniors. A fitness room is also included.

The new centre will be about double the size of the Bonsor Recreation Complex, he said.

Bonsor currently has about 3,000 visits per day, and earns $1 million per year, from patrons, according to Ellenwood.

It was the last community centre built in Burnaby, in the late '80s.

"We haven't built anything since then," Ellenwood said.

While there is a need for the new centre, Ellenwood said, there has not been a dramatic increase in use of community facilities and pools in the city.

"It is not necessarily growing by leaps and bounds," he said.

But more pool space is needed to meet use demands, Ellenwood added, particularly in the Edmonds neighbourhood.

"It is a good place for the pool," he said. "It will be used by a lot of people there."

The construction portion of the project is estimated to be $38 million.

The city is preparing to award the construction contract in September, so the demolishing and excavation phase of the project can begin in the fall.

The city is approaching nine pre-qualified general contractors in August to determine which bidder will get the project.

The project also includes 200 parking spaces, which will require street upgrades, according to the staff report.
© Copyright (c) Burnaby Now

http://www.burnabynow.com/news/Edmonds+pool/3332083/story.html

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by vanman

http://www.burnabynow.com/news/Edmonds+pool/3332083/story.html

so I assume this is going to be a rebuild of the EASTBURN rec center on Edmonds Ave.....or will this be a new location such as the Old Library site on Kingsway? I assume the Eastburn site but its not started in the Article...

I'm gonna guess that a Bonsor Expansion would be next up on deck....or a rebuild of Cameron.

[officedweller]

Update on New West's Waterfront Park:

Wharves first to go

By Theresa McManus, The Record
July 28, 2010

The aging Westminster Pier deck is being demolished to pave the way for a future waterfront park.

Dugal Purdie, project manager of the Westminster Pier Park project, said the project is proceeding according to schedule.

"The marine contractor is working away," he said. "He is working on deck demolition. He started pulling up the old timber, which he is planning to recycle."

The timbers started coming out after the asphalt surface was removed from the site. At the same time that demolition of the aging deck is being done at the waterfront site, city staff and consultants are working on the design.

"The design is not yet complete, the detailed design," Purdie said. "We are at something called the 75 per cent review stage."

Some residents have wondered why pile driving has yet to begin at the site, questioning if it's related to delays in environmental approvals.

"The pile driving can't start until we demolish the old wharf," Purdie said. "They have started with the asphalt. That is being removed. Now they are pulling up the timbers that formed the deck."

According to Purdie, the demolition of the deck and the piling and decking work to come are part of one large contract that the city has awarded. The project will include two types of piling.

Purdie said the timber piles that will be used to help stabilize the site will be the first to go into the ground and water.

"There is literally thousands of them going in," he said. "They literally drive them in like a pin cushion."

Steel piles will also be required to support the new concrete deck on which portions of the park will be located.

Christopher Bell, who has been critical of some aspects of the project, including costs and environmental issues, remains concerned about the brownfield site. He questioned why environmental testing continues to be done regarding the site's groundwater.

"My question is, what is going on?" he said. "They are testing for the groundwater, which is terribly toxic."

Purdie said there are "staged approvals" that have to be followed as the project proceeds.

"FREMP (Fraser River Estuary Management Program) approval was issued," he said. "That was issued before we awarded the contract. That set out the requirements. We are now making sure these requirements are followed by the letter."

Bell expressed concern that the ongoing environmental testing being done at the site may indicate problems.

Purdie said there are several different aspects to the brownfield site's remediation, including removal of contaminated soil in certain places where it exceeded residential standards. Groundwater testing, sediment testing and vapour testing are also required during the process.

Now that the contaminated "hot spots" have been removed, further testing is being done to the groundwater to assess whether the removal of toxic soil has had any impact on the groundwater.

© Copyright (c) New West Record

West Van project from North Shore News:

West Vancouver unveils Wetmore site plans

Seven-storey seniors' facility will go to community meeting

By Kerry Blackadar, North Shore News
July 28, 2010



An artist’s rendering of the seniors’ development proposed for West Vancouver’s Wetmore site.
Photograph by: illustration, Walter Francl Architect Inc.

West Vancouver's Marine Drive could be home to a new seven-storey, 126-unit seniors' residential development on the long-vacant Wetmore Motors site.

On Monday evening, District of West Vancouver council directed staff to organize direct community consultation in September about the proposal for the site immediately west of the community centre at the northwest corner of Marine Drive and 22nd Street. The property was acquired by the district in 2001 for $5.56 million in order to control the type of development on it.

Plans for development of the property have been handed to Pacific Arbour Retirement Communities, a company that was just in the news as the developer of the 11-storey seniors rental facility on Mount Seymour Parkway approved by District of North Vancouver council July 12.

Under the terms of the deal, West Vancouver will receive $14.5 million for a 125-year lease of the property.

District employees admitted Monday that initial public reaction to the proposal has been split. According to Bob Sokol, director of planning, lands and permits, "There are concerns about the impact that this project would have on parking near the community centre and also some concerns about the height of the building."

The new building, if approved, would cover approximately 132,000 square feet, and stand seven storeys tall at the front end, sloping to six storeys at the back. The developers have, however, included plans to minimize the structure's visual height by stepping back the top two storeys.

The proposal also includes extending a part of the project into John Richardson Park. In exchange, a new north-end walkway would be constructed, allowing for pedestrian crossover from the West Vancouver Community Centre to John Richardson Park and up Marine Drive.

This walkway, together with a proposed new sidewalk along the building front, and the inclusion of several green initiatives to a LEED gold standard, such as the reduction of potable water use and heat recovery from the roof of the building, were enough to sway council on Monday night.

"I think we should take a very serious look at providing this to the community," said Coun. Bill Soprovich, citing the need for greater accommodation for seniors, and noting that the venture would also provide ample financial return, with the municipality's Endowment Fund going back up to as much as $25 million.

Coun. Shannon Walker agreed. "I am very supportive of getting this going through the process, it has been a long time coming and I think we are anxious to get the public consultation under way so that we can provide some additional housing in the neighbourhood."

After the public process in September, the proposal for development will be re-examined by council in October, and likely move forward to a formal public hearing before final consideration by council

"There will be a number of steps that will involve public consultation," including lane closures, park exchange bylaws, OCP bylaw amendment, rezoning, as well as design and development approval, said Sokol.

© Copyright (c) North Shore News

[vanman]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

so I assume this is going to be a rebuild of the EASTBURN rec center on Edmonds Ave.....or will this be a new location such as the Old Library site on Kingsway? I assume the Eastburn site but its not started in the Article...

I'm gonna guess that a Bonsor Expansion would be next up on deck....or a rebuild of Cameron.

Yeah its a rebuild of the old Eastburn. I think the city has even acquired a few delapidated lots next door to make room for the expansion.hopefully most of the parking is below grade.

Bonsor definitely needs to be expanded and reworked next. I know many people who avoid entirely because it is always so packed.

[SpongeG]

Retail behemoth breaks ground


The three-level 'Highstreet' retail development in Mount Lehman will be the largest project undertaken in the province in the past 30 years.

Published: August 04, 2010 12:00 PM
Updated: August 04, 2010 1:23 PM

B.C.'s largest retail development in 30 years will break ground in Mount Lehman on Thursday.

The "Highstreet" development will be a 600,000 square foot regional shopping centre on 20 acres at the north-east corner of the recently completed Mt. Lehman and Highway 1 interchange in West Abbotsford.

A Walmart Super Centre and London Drugs will be the anchor tenants of this three-level development.

The primary trading area will be Abbotsford and Aldergrove, with its 171,028 population, according to the 2006 census. Secondary trading area is Chilliwack, Fort Langley, Harrison Hot Springs and Hope, with its population of 91,173.

The developers are Shape Properties, a real estate investment and development company based in Vancouver. Formed in 2005, Shape Properties has become the most active fully-integrated developer in western Canada. Information on the company and this project is available at the website www.shapeproperties.com

...

http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/aldergrovestar/news/99965134.html

[tybuilding]

I came across this today in the APEGBC career listings:

British Pacific Properties
Founded in 1931, British Pacific Properties (www.britishproperties.com) has played a pivotal role in West Vancouver's development, building master planned communities with spectacular views, as well as such landmark projects as the Lions Gate Bridge, Capilano Golf & Country Club and Park Royal Shopping Centre.

BPP is now focused on the planning and development of major portions of its upland properties, which constitute an area of approximately 1000 acres above the Upper Levels Highway between Marr Creek and Horseshoe Bay below the 1200 ft. contour. It is concentrated on increasingly sophisticated urban planning and design concepts, and a continued sensitivity to the natural environment. Working closely with West Vancouver Council and its Official Community Plan, BPP has taken a proactive role in creating an overall vision for the evolution of these new neighbourhoods and securing Council’s approval of The Rodgers Creek Area Development Plan, which when completed will represent over $1 billion in built-out value.

[SpongeG]

Vacant lot in Edmonds may see new life

By Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader
Published: August 09, 2010 4:00 PM
Updated: August 10, 2010 7:20 AM

After sitting vacant for more than 20 years, the 0.13 hectare site at the corner of Canada Way and Edmonds Street may soon have a new lease on life.

The provincial government is granting the property’s owner, Kamcon Construction, $83,347 to study whether or not the site is contaminated and if so, what needs to be done to clean it up before development can proceed.

The funding is part of $800,000 the province is making available through its Brownfield Renewal Funding Program which aims to stimulate land development and economic activity by encouraging remediation of potentially contaminated sites.

Development of the Edmonds-area site, at 7320 Canada Way, has not proceeded for over 10 years because of the uncertainty over the environmental condition of the site, said Virginia Holden, the province’s manager of brownfield implementation.

Kamran Tafreshi of Kamcon Construction said by email that his company purchased the property in December 2009.

“To the best of my knowledge, the site was a service station from 1970 to 1988. This would have resulted in the concerns over possible contamination.”

He believes the previous owners did some investigations into the site. “However, it seems that the required studies and/or remediations required by today’s standards were not completed. This would be a required step prior to development.”

At about 14,000 square feet, Kamcon believes the site has a high potential for redevelopment and is ideally located for a mixed-use project, likely street-level commercial with residential above, Tafreshi said. Such a project would require rezoning approval from city hall.

Brownfields are abandoned, vacant, derelict, or underutilized commercial and industrial properties, where past actions have resulted in actual or perceived contamination.

...

http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/burnabynewsleader/news/100306154.html

[vanman]

^ Thanks for posting. I always wondered why that site has sat vacant for so long.

[tybuilding]

Originally Posted by vanman

^ Thanks for posting. I always wondered why that site has sat vacant for so long.

Now what about the lot beside the Hydro building at Edmonds?

[wrenegade]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Retail behemoth breaks ground

The "Highstreet" development will be a 600,000 square foot regional shopping centre on 20 acres at the north-east corner of the recently completed Mt. Lehman and Highway 1 interchange in West Abbotsford.

A Walmart Super Centre and London Drugs will be the anchor tenants of this three-level development.

This is going to be one hell of a project. Glad to see this thing finally starting, Shape has had this one in the pipeline for at least 3 or 4 years.

[Alex Mackinnon]

Originally Posted by tybuilding

Now what about the lot beside the Hydro building at Edmonds?

That's space Hydro is keeping in reserve for future expansion.

[vanman]

^ I doubt Hydro will ever use up all that land for expansion. I'm hoping that they sell it to a developer who will hopefully then build residential towers and some sort of compact, retail/commercial village.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by awvan

This is going to be one hell of a project. Glad to see this thing finally starting, Shape has had this one in the pipeline for at least 3 or 4 years.

and with a Walmart and shoppers anchoring it, it will be amazing

[Metro-One]

It was such a nice hot day today that I decided to ride my bike around Maple Ridge and take some pics of new projects completed / UC this year. There are many more than I took pics of but I decided to focus primarily on downtown.

These first ones are not downtown, but they are very close to my house. They are at the end of 232 in Silver valley. These two condo projects have negatives and positives. First, the positive aspect is that they are being built on hilly bedrock and take no land out of the ALR, which is at the base of the hill. They also plan to build a small commercial centre in the area as the project nears completion offering basic convenience services. Th bad thing is Silver Valley is not near downtown Maple Ridge.

This is the west side and is being built by Brighton:





Then directly across the street is this development:





Now to downtown. Here is a condo infill project on Burnett street near Dewdney:



Here is a new 2 story office / commercial development at the corner of Lougheed and 224. This is in the heart of downtown Maple Ridge so it is nice seeing this surface parking lot popping up some buildings



Currently, the entire north side of Lougheed from 224th to 222 is being completely redone with wider sidewalks and much better street furniture. Here is the progress so far looking east from 223rd street (you can also see my bike in this one, hehe):



Here is a new infill commercial building u/c continuing the street wall that has existed along this stretch of Lougheed for a very long time. This building may have residential on top:



Here you can see this building in relation to the Lougheed street improvements:



224th, which is the main street of downtown Maple Ridge is also getting a make over:



This section of 224th was done last year and is actually a very inviting place for pedestrians with many nice local shops / restaurants and a park:



Maple Ridges No 1 firehall was also renovated this year:







Maple Ridge is far from a great urban example, but in the last few years it has made many strong steps forwards.

And this is where Vancouver suburbs differ from many American suburbs (such as those in Phoenix). Our suburbs are just as old, if not older than Vancouver, and they also have a lot of history in them and pride.

All pics are my own!

Cheers

My flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30634635@N03/

[wrenegade]

I posted this in the North Vancouver discussion but thought it should be here too as it's a pretty sizable project. Anthem has started marketing their "Local on Lonsdale" project at 17th & Lonsdale (Extra Foods site) in North Van. 20 storey tower, 6 storey podium with a 52,000 sq. ft. grocery store. This thing is going to be pretty big for Central Lonsdale. I'm excited to see it moving forward.

[Coldrsx]

^was this the one that was forever stalled and rejected?