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Originally Posted by aberdeen5698
But here's the thing - where are the trains going to roll to? The Vancouver segment of the line no longer services anyone. So the worst they can do is "training", which seems rather a stretch since the line is riddled with level crossings that the railway is prohibited from blocking for more than 5 minutes at a time. The "storage" concept seems more likely, but that's a pretty low-impact use of the line and it assumes that Hunter would tolerate idle rolling stock.
The City should be able to manage any pushback from the residents. They can open with posturing and the excuse that "it's federal railway land, we can't control what they do with it". When CP comes back and says that they would gladly sell it if they could realize a reasonable return then the City simply has to point out that CP's idea is to develop the heck out of it. That'll go over well with those on the west side.
Again, Hunter won't be there forever. I think the City's best bet is to simply wait him out.
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Neither would Gregor if trains are running up and down Arbutus at night during the weeks leading up to the election. Something as simple and juvenile as a single "Midnight Express" down the Arubutus Corridor on Thursday, November 13th (They would give it a day to play out in the press) could sway a lot of voters.
You'll have the Westside electorate banging on Gregor's door, urging him to change the zoning so that the land can be developed so that CP can sell it off. That movement will be backed behind the scenes by all the developers in the city, eagerly looking for some empty, prime realestate to develop.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aberdeen5698
I'm awfully skeptical about that. It seems like it would be a little too obvious a ploy on CP's part, and it doesn't sound like the kind of thing that Hunter Harrison, who hates waste, would condone.
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If he spends a few million dollars on fixing the tracks, putting in fences and running training trains up and down the corridor at any time of day he could more than quadruple the value of the land. A $2 million investment in antagonism could land the company the ability to sell that land piece by piece for upwards of $400 million.
More than 70 blocks for single family homes (2 houses on a block; 1 on each side of the street) running through wealthy parts of town alone could net $350 million at an average of $2.5 million per lot ( a teardown on the west side just sold for $3 million). What would the city be able to afford to pay?
The city does need this land and needs to hold out for as long as possible. Letting the land be sold off would be a travesty. It is the last uninterrupted corridor left in the city, perfect for transit. And while it is not critically needed now it will be one day when property is so expensive the only way it can be sold is for multi-family development. One day southwest Vancouver won't be a quiet sleepy suburb, but street upon street of row homes and low rise condos. And we will he happy that we saved that corridor for transit.
But I worry that Gregor doesn't have the backing or will to hold out. He is already pretty eager to sell of some public infrastructure to make a quick buck for his developer backers (the viaducts, granville loops).
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