Yellow Fever
July 21st, 2011, 07:54 AM
Three-tower project will rise on Marine Drive
BY EVAN DUGGAN, VANCOUVER SUN JULY 20, 2011 8:03 PM
VANCOUVER -- A major three-tower development project that will bring nearly 900,000 square feet of residential and commercial space to the Marpole area has been approved by Vancouver city council.
In a 10-to-one vote on Tuesday night, council approved the Marine Gateway project for a two-hectare section of land next to the Marine Drive Canada Line station on Cambie Street, and wedged between Yukon Street and Southwest Marine Drive.
Four years in the making, the development has undergone a series of revisions, partly to reflect concerns of local residents who said it was far too big for the area.
The new plan includes 464 residential units, 46 of which are earmarked for affordable rental housing, a drop of 199 units from the initial design plan.
The scaled-down project will also feature shopping and entertainment space including an 11-screen movie theatre, restaurants and coffee shops, said Peter Busby, the Vancouver managing director for the project designer Perkins+Will.
The development will include 235,000 square feet of office space in a 208-foot tower, and 331,775 square feet of residential space split between 255-foot and 335-foot towers set upon “commercial podiums,” adding about 235,000 square feet of shopping and retail space.
Busby said Wednesday those spaces will accommodate about 1,500 workers and 2,000 residents.
Even at this size, the development is not big enough, said Michael Goldberg, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, who has followed the evolving project.
He said the city needs to worry less about how particular communities feel about development in their neighbourhoods and should focus instead on providing adequate, affordable housing for everyone, even if it requires larger structures.
Jo-Anne Pringle, member of the Marpole Area Residents’ Alliance, said that most residents support the development and are content with some of the changes made in the approved proposal, which included lowering the height of the tower.
But Pringle said she felt that the city’s planning process around the development was “backwards.”
“The city should have started community-wide planning when the SkyTrain station at Marine Drive was announced back in 2005,” Pringle said. “But we didn’t do any planning until six months ago, and by then, the developers had already gone through so many iterations and were so deep in the design process that it was hard for us to plan around what’s already there.”
Pringle said an area plan, which includes what type of housing, amenities and community facilities the community needs, should have been drafted and approved before the rezoning applications, such as this one, were discussed.
“You plan your community first, and then you rebuild it,” she said.
Vision Coun. Ellen Woodsworth, the one opposing vote, agreed with residents’ concerns with the lack of community-wide planning before approving the rezoning application.
“The developers are proceeding with this major development without listening to the calls of the community,” Woodsworth said.
Busby expects the condos to sell for an average of $373,000, with the entry level units going for about $290,000.
“They’re small units ... they’re aimed at first-time buyers,” Busby said.
The designer and development company, PCI Group, is hoping to break ground on the project by spring 2012, once development and construction permits are in hand, said company president Andrew Grant. He said the project represents a shift toward higher density development along Vancouver’s transit networks.
“It’s all very transit friendly,” he said, adding that the location will bring thousands of new residents and workers to the burgeoning Marine Drive Canada Line and bus transit hub.
eduggan@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Three+tower+project+will+rise+Marine+Drive/5134392/story.html#ixzz1SiSo9o8u
BY EVAN DUGGAN, VANCOUVER SUN JULY 20, 2011 8:03 PM
VANCOUVER -- A major three-tower development project that will bring nearly 900,000 square feet of residential and commercial space to the Marpole area has been approved by Vancouver city council.
In a 10-to-one vote on Tuesday night, council approved the Marine Gateway project for a two-hectare section of land next to the Marine Drive Canada Line station on Cambie Street, and wedged between Yukon Street and Southwest Marine Drive.
Four years in the making, the development has undergone a series of revisions, partly to reflect concerns of local residents who said it was far too big for the area.
The new plan includes 464 residential units, 46 of which are earmarked for affordable rental housing, a drop of 199 units from the initial design plan.
The scaled-down project will also feature shopping and entertainment space including an 11-screen movie theatre, restaurants and coffee shops, said Peter Busby, the Vancouver managing director for the project designer Perkins+Will.
The development will include 235,000 square feet of office space in a 208-foot tower, and 331,775 square feet of residential space split between 255-foot and 335-foot towers set upon “commercial podiums,” adding about 235,000 square feet of shopping and retail space.
Busby said Wednesday those spaces will accommodate about 1,500 workers and 2,000 residents.
Even at this size, the development is not big enough, said Michael Goldberg, a professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, who has followed the evolving project.
He said the city needs to worry less about how particular communities feel about development in their neighbourhoods and should focus instead on providing adequate, affordable housing for everyone, even if it requires larger structures.
Jo-Anne Pringle, member of the Marpole Area Residents’ Alliance, said that most residents support the development and are content with some of the changes made in the approved proposal, which included lowering the height of the tower.
But Pringle said she felt that the city’s planning process around the development was “backwards.”
“The city should have started community-wide planning when the SkyTrain station at Marine Drive was announced back in 2005,” Pringle said. “But we didn’t do any planning until six months ago, and by then, the developers had already gone through so many iterations and were so deep in the design process that it was hard for us to plan around what’s already there.”
Pringle said an area plan, which includes what type of housing, amenities and community facilities the community needs, should have been drafted and approved before the rezoning applications, such as this one, were discussed.
“You plan your community first, and then you rebuild it,” she said.
Vision Coun. Ellen Woodsworth, the one opposing vote, agreed with residents’ concerns with the lack of community-wide planning before approving the rezoning application.
“The developers are proceeding with this major development without listening to the calls of the community,” Woodsworth said.
Busby expects the condos to sell for an average of $373,000, with the entry level units going for about $290,000.
“They’re small units ... they’re aimed at first-time buyers,” Busby said.
The designer and development company, PCI Group, is hoping to break ground on the project by spring 2012, once development and construction permits are in hand, said company president Andrew Grant. He said the project represents a shift toward higher density development along Vancouver’s transit networks.
“It’s all very transit friendly,” he said, adding that the location will bring thousands of new residents and workers to the burgeoning Marine Drive Canada Line and bus transit hub.
eduggan@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Three+tower+project+will+rise+Marine+Drive/5134392/story.html#ixzz1SiSo9o8u