Suburban Updates - All Other Metro Vancouver Municipalities

[SpongeG]

Richmond: Preliminary design drawn up for Firbridge Community Centre

By Matthew Hoekstra - Richmond Review
Published: February 11, 2011 4:00 PM
Updated: February 11, 2011 4:47 PM

Richmond’s newest community centre will be outfitted beginning Jan. 1, 2013, according to a new city planning document.

On Thursday the city issued a call for expressions of interest for an architect to design the Firbridge Community Centre.

The centre is being developed in conjunction with Quintet, a five-tower residential project from Phileo Development Corp. in the heart of City Centre.

In exchange for permitting rezoning of the Firbridge Way site—between No. 3 Road and Minoru Boulevard—the developer is building a four-storey, 55,700-square-foot structure for a community centre and university.

The city is responsible for outfitting 60 per cent of the space for a community centre.

The remaining space will be designed by Langley-based Trinity Western University for its satellite university campus.

...



http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southdelta/richmondreview/news/115998044.html

[SpongeG]

Metro Vancouver buys park land for $4.3 million

BY ROCHELLE BAKER, ABBOTSFORD TIMES FEBRUARY 11, 2011


Metro Vancouver has purchased a parcel of land on the western flank of Sumas Mountain to create a new regional park.

Abbotsford Mayor George Peary said the 165-acre parcel will draw people from the all over the province and protect the mountain's delicate ecosystem.

Metro Vancouver Regional Parks purchased the land for $4.3 million from a private owner before Christmas, Peary told Abbotsford council this week.

"Metro Vancouver sees Sumas Mountain, as we do, as a jewel. It contains an fragile ecosystem and a number of species at risk," he said.

The parcel adjoins other parkland owned by the City of Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) that will eventually be united, and feature a trail system that will include links to Matsqui Trail Regional Park, the Trans Canada Trail, the Centennial Trail and Chadsey Lake.

The city owns 122 acres adjacent to the new purchase, and will negotiate a 99-year lease to hand the property over to the regional authority to manage, said Peary.

...

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Metro+Vancouver+buys+park+land+million/4263989/story.html

[SpongeG]

Dream arts complex proposed

CULTURAL COMPLEX TASK FORCE

JAN DEGRASS/CONTRIBUTING WRITER

An open house in Sechelt on Feb. 2 drew about 50 people to review a 78-page report by the Mayor’s Task Force that proposes a multi-million-dollar cultural complex for Sechelt.

“It’s always been my dream,” said Sechelt councillor Ann Kershaw, who was at the open house to answer questions, along with architect and cultural complex task force member Graham Argyle.

The proposal is four-pronged, calling for a performance centre, a new and bigger home for the Sechelt public library, a museum/archives and an art gallery — encompassed in one complex. The preferred site is where Sechelt Elementary School currently sits because of its visibility and proximity to the centre of town, Rockwood, shopping and transit.

Argyle, who had been developing a performance centre proposal along with Karen Buckley prior to both of them becoming members of the task force, gave the presentation.

“We’re not asking the taxpayers to fork out,” he said at the beginning, adding later that the financing for such a complex would likely be both public and private. The entire package could cost as much as $51.5 million to build and would be a 30-year project.

The performance centre would include a 450-seat theatre, rehearsal space, loading dock, parking and storage space. It would be built in response to a need, Argyle said, for larger venues to accommodate such groups as the Coast Recital Society that has had a waiting list for its classical music concerts.

Argyle pointed to examples of successful centres such as a similar model in Parry Sound, Ont., an area of comparable population. Estimated price tag for such a theatre could be anywhere from $2.5 to $26 million depending on which of several options is chosen.

...

http://www.coastreporter.net/article/201...8/-1/sechelt/dream-arts-complex-proposed

[jlousa]

Hope we do see movement on this, but I'm not going to hold my breath quite yet. Still happy to see the file being worked.

Mall makeover
Speaking of renovations, Anthem Properties Group and the Beedie Group are busy drafting plans for a makeover of Burnaby’s Station Square. The long-awaited redevelopment of the 11.8-acre site, adjacent to Metrotown between Kingsway and Central Boulevard, would boost the complex’s retail and residential components and add an office tower previously approved for the property but never built.
An application has yet to be made to the city, but Anthem vice-president of development Robert Blackwell expects this to happen shortly. The current form was a relatively intense use of the site when it was built in 1989, but Blackwell said redevelopment will update its form. “It’s a true mixed-use development plan, and we’ve been spending a lot of time on what we call the public realm,” he said. “The current entity is not very soft, not very friendly. So a lot of the time we’re spending is to try and bring life to those edges.” Anthem and Beedie bought Station Square in 2003 for approximately $50 million.
The mall was tagged for a makeover in the mid-2000s, but a cooling real estate market deferred the plans.

Source: This weeks BIV

[SpongeG]

cool - where would the office tower go? kingsway frontage?

[jlousa]

Not sure what they have planned currently but we'll find out soon I guess.

Hopingthat the Suburban members can help out. I've gone thru the threads (there's only 3pages) and there are obviously a lot of threads that need to be updated, some projects are now completed, some canceled etc. If you happen to know the status of any of the projects that need updating please post the current status in the thread and we'll modify them. Thanks

[Metro-One]

There is an easy way to do this.

Any building with "Surrey" in its title is cancelled.

[officedweller]

Looks like Coquitlam bought some space for its new downtown library
- the article reads a bit oddly saying it bought a parcel of land - but I think they bought space in the podium of one of the condo towers - Henderson Place or Obelisk:

Coquitlam OKs new City Centre library
By John Kurucz, Coquitlam NOW
February 18, 2011

Three times the space, for about one-third the cost.

The City of Coquitlam announced Thursday it has acquired a parcel of land near City Hall that will be the new home of the City Centre branch of the Coquitlam Public Library, a move that's intended to bolster the library's reach within the community while addressing long-standing parking issues in the area.

Located at 1169 Pinetree Way, the new library building features 32,000 square feet of space and 90 parking stalls, compared to 11,000 square feet of space at the current facility at City Hall.

"We're very excited and delighted to be able to expand our service in the City Centre area -- it's in the middle of Coquitlam and there are highrises going up all the time," said Rhian Piprell, director of the Coquitlam Public Library. "The space we have right now is too small and not easily accessible because of the lack of parking -- we've been getting complaints for years about that. This will allow us to provide many of the things that people have been asking for for our library service."

"Looking at the longer term, with the population growing in the Town Centre, the forecast that we're looking at and the number of visits we get at the small library, we recognized the need for some time now," added Coquitlam Library Board chair John Meneghello. "It's wonderful news for us, it's great for our citizens and we're really excited."

The land was bought for $15 million, far less than what it would have cost the city to buy an undeveloped property, Mayor Richard Stewart said. "It's an unusual opportunity and we're glad that we were able to jump at it," Stewart said Thursday. "Part of it is the fact that we were able to purchase a piece of real estate, a ready-made shell for so much less than it would have cost us to build it. Building on that particular space, as is now, would have been twice what we paid, plus the cost of land."

The added room will allow the library to expand its services, with more quiet study space and work space, on top of additional programming for both kids and adults.

"Something that is emerging a lot more these days is that we're finding that the library is becoming a place to be," Piprell said. "We find that a lot of people come to our libraries and they may not actually borrow books, but they come here for a place to set up their desks or their laptops just to do work. We'd like to see it as the third space after home and work."

Between now and the June 28 move-in date, city staff will work with the library board to figure out how to best utilize the available space. From there, the nuts and bolts work begins: installing washrooms, countertops and office space, among other things.

As for the current facility, Stewart said it will likely be used to house RCMP members and city staff working throughout the community who have not been housed at City Hall.

"It will provide a pressure release valve for the RCMP spacing, and it will also allow us to repatriate some of our city staff and reduce some of our costs for leasing space elsewhere," he said. "There's about six different ways that this is a win-win scenario for the city."

[email protected]

© Copyright (c) Coquitlam Now

http://www.thenownews.com/news/Coquitlam+City+Centre+library/4307884/story.html

[SpongeG]

nice has to be that big space at henderson under the tower thats been sitting a long time

[Millennium2002]

What's with Henderson anyway? Seems like they can't manage their properties too well... Tinseltown especially used to look like a ghost town... not sure about it now but = \

[GeeCee]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

nice has to be that big space at henderson under the tower thats been sitting a long time

Looking at Google Maps, it is. Interesting that the city was able to buy the entire building like that.. I figured that given that it'd be lease only given that it is attached to the mall (Henderson Place). At this point though, I'm sure the owners were happy to just get rid of it.

[Millennium2002]

Preliminary design drawn up for Firbridge Community Centre

That community center is miniature compared to the norm in Vancouver. It should be at least three times the size. I wonder how popular the place will be if they build it that small... it'll likely be a little deserted for most of the day. =S

[red-paladin]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Looking at Google Maps, it is. Interesting that the city was able to buy the entire building like that.. I figured that given that it'd be lease only given that it is attached to the mall (Henderson Place). At this point though, I'm sure the owners were happy to just get rid of it.

They probably figured it would bring some much needed foot traffic to the mall too.

[bils]

anyone have an idea where 'Monet' in Richmond will be located? noticed it on the concord pacific website for pre-registration

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

That community center is miniature compared to the norm in Vancouver. It should be at least three times the size. I wonder how popular the place will be if they build it that small... it'll likely be a little deserted for most of the day. =S

There is nothing else in the city center area. This isn't big enough, but it's a start at filling a massive void.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Looking at Google Maps, it is. Interesting that the city was able to buy the entire building like that.. I figured that given that it'd be lease only given that it is attached to the mall (Henderson Place). At this point though, I'm sure the owners were happy to just get rid of it.

It's probably strata titled commercial space.

****

WRT Station Square - Anthem had an ad in the Westcoast Homes magazine that comes free in the paper - it said construction would start in 2012.

[jlousa]

Looks like Anthem/Beedie expect to begin the development of Station Square next year. At least we have a date now.

[dubsH]

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

That community center is miniature compared to the norm in Vancouver. It should be at least three times the size. I wonder how popular the place will be if they build it that small... it'll likely be a little deserted for most of the day. =S

That doesn't make sense... because it's small, NO ONE will go? :S If anything, I can see it being too full because it's too small.

[hollywoodnorth]

and the Concord train rolls back into Richmond. Fullerton was their last project which was a while ago .... any idea where this is? is this a project pick up by them?

http://www.concordpacific.com/MONET/MONET_register.html

[Echowinds]

According to the Development Applications, it should be the empty patch of land on Garden City at Cooke. Not too far off from Fullerton.

http://www.richmond.ca/__shared/assets/2010devappsinprocess25269.pdf - last page.