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Why is there something hanging over the SkyTrain guideway? Is it part of those station improvements? |
It's a temporary barrier to protect the passing skytrains below from falling debris during construction. Eventually there will be a permanant overhang along the entire south side of the development to act as a noise barrier for the above condos. From some of the plans that I've seen it will be clad in some sort of metal ie. stainless steel.
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Yea they have 8 storys of above grade parking because they did not want anyones veiw blocked by the skytrain....
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There may also be soft soils/high water table in the area - a number of projects near there have above grade parkades. Not sure whether its a question of the cost being too high for underground parking or whether New West just doesn't insist on it or both.
I also heard that the London Drugs near there had subsided? There will be retail at grade. |
^ Yeah it must be because of soil conditions cause all the towers up the hill and in Uptown New West all have underground parking.
The London Drugs has been completely gutted and is now a vacant lot. There is a rendering of the new building on the fence surrounding the site. I got nothing to do today so I think I'll take some pictures of the area. |
whats going at the london drugs site?
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I believe it is a retail/ office building with retail at grade and 2 or 3 office floors above, I can't remember exactly however.
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nice
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Will there be retail at grade? Looking at the second and third illustrations it appears like the building won't relate very well to the street, in my opinion. There seems to be a lot of driveways crossing the sidewalk and it looks like pedestrians will have to walk alot of asphalt via crosswalks instead of having actual sidewalks.
I'm neutral, leaning towards critical, of this development. I like the density but I dislike the fact they have chosen to go with three identical towers and so much above-ground parking. If the parking to unit ratio is more than 1:1 New Westminster will have really stumbled in my books. It is right on top of a SkyTrain station -why so much parking? They'll have to work pretty hard to make the podium look like anything more than an eight-storey parking garage. Also, who will pay to upgrade the SkyTrain station? If the developer does it Translink must oversee and approve the project to ensure quality materials and finishings are used. If the station is being enclosed in glass, as some of the renders seem to show, then will the station be airconditioned? I wouldn't want to breathe in vehicle exhaust from the garage while waiting for the train. I like the idea, and I will hold off final judgement until it is complete, but so far not so good. |
The site spans several city blocks - so in that third pic, I think the one with the crosswalk zebra stripes is a street, not a driveway. The one closest to the viewer is probably a driveway.
I think I recall the New West Newsleader story saying that the podium for the middle tower is required to access the parking for the west tower. The west tower is the tower under construction in the pics and there was some controversy about proceeding with the podium for the next tower (to allow access to the west tower's parking) before all the details were worked out about the next tower. - so hopefully there won't be too many driveways... Can't tell where the streets will be from this April 2007 Global Air Photo. A wider sidewalk or setback along that overpass would have been nice. http://www.globalairphotos.com/image...wh2007_046.jpg |
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yeah they can't have underground parking in that area cause of the river
FYI there is a huge fire in New Westminster - something that was under construction - near the hospital... I am thinking its the one hooked to the skytrain at sapperton? |
On second thought, the aerial shots of the condos along the Quay don't show above ground parkades??
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they are though - the towers are along the tracks and the townnhouses are built in and around and on top off
if you look at that first group of townhouses next to the hotel - that little white thing is a door to the parkade -see how also the whole things is a big square - thats all the parking underneath i used to walk around that area a lot that hotel at the quay is built on top of its parking lot - it looks ground level |
What improvements is the developer exactly promising for the SkyTrain station?
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How much room does New West have left for towers? Even is foil isn't that great, I feel it a waste of space, and airspace (views) for there to be above ground parking. If there is a noise concern, put office on the lower levels, and soundproof the one wall.
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Thanks for the clarification. |
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Just a FYI on the whole underground parking question. It has nohing to do with the proximity to the river at all. This developer has owned the site for 16 years and it has taken this long for the city to approve the above ground parking. And the reason they did this was because how close it is to the skytrain and they did not want anything blocking any veiws. and for the buildings along the river, Yes they do have underground parking as i used to live in one of them. The condos directly on the river have underground parking, and the ones across the street have above ground because they are right next to the railroad tracks. hope this clarifys lots! And to touch base on the retail side of things, the development will have 90% of its retail space on the site opposite to the towers and they will all be connected to the tower aswell, and the skytrain station is being upgraded by translink while being partnered with the development company. |
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