Port of Vancouver Discussion

[Canadian Mind]

I don't understand the art about the airports being within 1 days drive of 2/3rds NA population.

[amor de cosmos]

Port Metro Vancouver steams ahead
Peter Mitham
Vancouver — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 08, 2009 10:06AM EDT

Container shipments from Asia are sagging as North America's consumers retrench, but in the Vancouver suburb of Delta plans are afoot for a $4.25-billion expansion of port capacity that will ensure the region's status as one of the West Coast's premier Pacific gateways.

The anticipated increase in container capacity promises to create opportunities for owners and developers of industrial land.

“Owners of industrial property are in a very good position these days,” said Tom Winkler, chief strategic development officer for Port Metro Vancouver, the entity formed in January, 2008, with the amalgamation of the Fraser River, North Fraser and Vancouver port authorities.

Port Metro Vancouver's facilities anchor the region's industrial landscape, from Delta in the south to North Vancouver and east to New Westminster and Port Moody. Owners of warehousing and logistics space, where imports are received for distribution locally and across the country, stand to be among the beneficiaries when the port completes a major expansion of the Deltaport container terminal later this year, boosting the terminal's capacity to 1.8 million TEUs (20-foot equivalent units, the standard measurement of container volumes).

Port Metro Vancouver is also planning a new, $2-billion container terminal adjacent to Deltaport to complement the existing terminal, doubling capacity and requiring upward of 250 acres for container storage and handling.

It all sounds a tad ambitious these days, given that the port handled just 114.6 million tonnes of cargo last year, down 10 per cent from 2007. The port forecasts an additional 10- to 15-per-cent drop in cargo volumes this year.

But the setback is widely regarded as temporary, with the port forecasting growth of 3.5 to 4.5 per cent a year between 2010 and 2013. The healthiest segment of the port's business – and also the one the port has been most eager to expand – is container traffic. Representing approximately a sixth of all cargo traffic, container volumes totalled 20.5 million tonnes in 2008, just 3 per cent less than in 2007.

Since up to 45 per cent of containers arriving in Vancouver are reorganized and distributed locally (the rest flows through the region to other parts of the continent), any increase spells good news for owners of industrial property.

“That's what creates demand for industrial land,” Mr. Winkler said.

It's a welcome change from recent years. On the one hand, industrial growth was hemmed in by the province's 36-year-old Agricultural Land Reserve that limits development. On the other, rising land values saw many industrial sites rezoned for more lucrative types of development. The region lost hundreds of acres of industrial land to home builders during the province's recent real estate boom, many of them in prime waterfront locations.

The competition for sites won't stop, Mr. Winkler said, but port expansion is renewing interest in industrial opportunities among developers.

But securing enough industrial land to serve future needs is going to be a challenge, he said. The port itself needs approximately 50 acres adjacent to the third berth currently under construction at Deltaport, and 250 acres to handle container shipments as part of the new container terminal. Regionally, a study for the province last year found that 2,700 acres of land are required to support port capacity over the next 20 to 25 years. These sites have to be large enough to handle traffic volumes, have adequate servicing and be close to transportation infrastructure – both highways and airports.

There's just one hitch.

“There's probably only approximately 600 acres of suitable industrial land,” Mr. Winkler said. To protect its interests, the port has started buying up available properties. It recently closed a $47.5-million deal for a 56-acre parcel on the Fraser River in New Westminster that was previously home to a Canfor Corp. fibre and panel mill. It will be leased to a construction company pending development for port uses. It has also secured a 50-acre mill site with a kilometre of river frontage from International Forest Products Ltd. for $30.1-million.

Buying now is a wise strategy for the port, as Mr. Winkler believes the port's demand for land will “create additional price pressures” over the long term. Rising prices are difficult to imagine in the current market, however. Metro Vancouver industrial properties are seeing slack demand and price declines after surging to more than $1-million an acre in some locales.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver office of CB Richard Ellis reports that 1.2 million square feet of industrial space returned to the market in the first quarter of 2009 – the single biggest quarterly return of space in the 11 years CB Richard Ellis has been tracking the local industrial market. While vacancies sit at 3.3 per cent, the actual proportion of space available for sale or lease is a much-higher 5.9 per cent.

The shift in fortunes has local brokers such as Ron Emerson, president of the Emerson Real Estate Group Inc. in Vancouver, less optimistic about the market's prospects in the short to medium term.

“I think the demand factor has really dropped off. And it's probably going to stay that way for the next little while,” Mr. Emerson said. “Our market won't collapse completely, but it's going to get very difficult for a minimum of 12 months, I think.” Development at the port will be a driver of opportunities when the market rebounds, but the short-term troubles highlight how much of the port's fortunes – and in turn, those of local industrial properties – are dependent on macroeconomic trends.

When demand does pick up, however, the movement of goods through the port will restore demand for sites.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-...rticle1208272/

[amor de cosmos]

no map... not the most helpful release:

Aug 31, 2009 17:49 ET
Interfor Completes Sale of Queensboro Property to Port Metro Vancouver

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 31, 2009) - International Forest Products Limited ("Interfor" or the "Company") (TSX:IFP.A) announced today it has completed the previously announced sale of its Queensboro property to Port Metro Vancouver.

The net proceeds of the transaction (approximately $30 million) will be used to repay debt.

Following the transaction, Interfor will have available unused lines of credit of approximately $100 million which it believes will be sufficient to meet its foreseeable requirements and to support future discretionary activities.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-rele...A-1037885.html

edit: ... searching.... aha:

Interfor's Queensborough site for sale
Interfor has put its Queensborough site up for sale, but the company is well aware of the city's desire to maintain industrial lands.
By The Record (New Westminster)
June 21, 2008

Interfor has put its Queensborough site up for sale, but the company is well aware of the city's desire to maintain industrial lands.

Cushman & Wakefield LePage's Vancouver industrial division has listed the 50-acre site at 501 Boyd St. on behalf of Interfor.

The listing states that the site is easily accessible, has a location in central Metro Vancouver, has more than one kilometre of pristine Fraser River waterfront and is designated for industrial and residential in the official community plan.

Lisa Spitale, the city's director of development services, said city representatives met with senior management from Interfor and a couple of brokers to discuss the site.

"We talked about the fact the city wants to preserve its industrial base," she said.

The city explained the guiding principles of the Livable City Strategy, which is the city's economic development plan, and the industrial land strategy.

Officials also discussed a moratorium on commercial and residential uses on certain industrial lands in Queensborough, pending completion of a new Queensborough community plan.

"We informed them of all that. They said they were going to talk to people in industry, in the industrial sector," Spitale said. "I think they have a context of where the city is coming from."

International Forest Products announced the indefinite closure of its Queensborough sawmill in December 2007, having previously shut down production temporarily. The mill employed 110 staff.

In January, New Westminster city council received its industrial land strategy.

It was developed by Coriolis Consulting Corporation, as part of the Livable City Strategy, the city's economic development plan.

In January, council approved a moratorium on industrial land development for certain areas in Queensborough.

Staff will refer all rezoning applications to council for its consideration, either with a staff report recommending deferral for further consideration after doing the new Queensborough community plan or recommending that the rezoning application proceed to bylaw and public hearing stages based on staff analysis of the application's neutrality or compliance with the proposed Queensborough plan.

http://www.canada.com/newwestrecord/...e-bfcbca1bd71b

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=%22501...38409&t=h&z=15

& today's cruiseship announcement:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../31/c9028.html

[osirisboy]

interesting, thanks for postings these articles.

[jlousa]

They are well on their way to being the largest land owner in the region at this pace. They have to be pretty up there already.

[amor de cosmos]

Originally Posted by jlousa

They are well on their way to being the largest land owner in the region at this pace. They have to be pretty up there already.

the land that's zoned for industrial uses is scattered in small useless pieces across the region; there's enough but there aren't enough big useful chunks. (~p.78-80 of this). that's got to be why the port authority buys 50 & 100 acres at a time.

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by amor de cosmos

the land that's zoned for industrial uses is scattered in small useless pieces across the region; there's enough but there aren't enough big useful chunks. (~p.78-80 of this). that's got to be why the port authority buys 50 & 100 acres at a time.

Yeah, that's one of the problems with having over 20 municipalities in the Metro Region, each one wants a piece of the industrial action, but not too much. They also want to make the most of their prime real estate so they can make the most of property taxes. Each City is limited in size so they try and find their own, internal, balance.

It leads to a scattering of industrial properties across the region, where prime industrial land becomes residential, and prime residential land remains industrial. Not saying we should, but better planned industrial and commercial zoning would result from an amalgamated city.

If New West wants to keep Industrial land they shouldn't have made Queensborough an attractive place to live. They shouldn't have let so many houses get built there and kept the area a commercial/office/industrial piece of Vancouver (like Annacis Island). That property at the end of Ewen that's being developed should have stayed industrial, it would be a better Port facility than the Interfor site. The Interfor site is now completely surrounded by residential land and the outlet mall.

[amor de cosmos]

another thing that study proposed was an industrial land reserve modelled after the alr. that would probably prevent those sorts of things from happening.

[BCPhil]

The thing too is that besides for saw and pulp/paper mills, not much industry needs to be riverfront. Industry is very important, but it doesn't need to be riverfront in the heart of Urban Vancouver. In the case of manufacturing, like adding value to wood, all you really need is rail access. Riverfront land is usually too expensive to be profitable as industry. The exception are port and shipping facilities that need access to the water.

If you look at Ontario, all the major manufacturing (the engine of the Ontario economy) is away from the lake. The only industries that are lake front are shipping industries (like coal and oil) and Nuclear plants. All the industry is located inland, near railway spurs and freeway on ramps, where the land is cheap.

An industrial Land Reserve might be a decent idea, but a lot of land currently zoned for industry in the city should rezoned and land out in the valley, especially near freeways and main line railways, that is being gobbled up by sprawling housing, should be zoned industrial. There really should be a regional balance to industry, not in each individual city.

Keep the land we need for port functions, but the days of saw mills on the Fraser river in Vancouver are numbered.

[cabotp]

I think an IRL would be good as well. The problem I see happening is we have industrial land zoned already. Then they zone some residential beside it. You then get residents moving into these residential places. After a while they start to complain about the noise and pollution aka the nimby crowd comes out.

So not only should they create an IRL. But they should also zone it so that a green belt is created around the industrial zone to separate it from the residential zone.

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by cabotp

I think an IRL would be good as well. The problem I see happening is we have industrial land zoned already. Then they zone some residential beside it. You then get residents moving into these residential places. After a while they start to complain about the noise and pollution aka the nimby crowd comes out.

So not only should they create an IRL. But they should also zone it so that a green belt is created around the industrial zone to separate it from the residential zone.

ILR-ALR/parklandd - Residential & Commercial developments?

What I'm wondering is were does the region have left to create swatshs of industrial zones? And how would these large areas be integrated with the transit network so as to provide a destination for commuters coming from residential zones?

And what sizes would you envision these ILRs? 1000 acres a piece, 10 000, etc?

[amor de cosmos]

The Northern View
Change of mindset needed to build capacity, say port CEOs
By Shaun Thomas - The Northern View
Published: September 01, 2009 11:00 PM

The presidents of three port authorities spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic took part in a panel discussion on building trade capacity in Canada, and all agreed that planning and a change in mindset were key to meeting the needs of the significant growth projected for the industry.

“We have witnessed in the past 15 years extraordinary growth, including the emergence of containers as the preferred means of shipping, and significant public and private investment in ports,” president and CEO of Port Metro Vancouver Robin Silvester told delegates at the Association of Canadian Port Authorities (ACPA) conference, pointing to projected growth globally but also in the population of the Lower Mainland and Canada as a whole.

“To manage for the future we can’t be complacent now. We need to be active now and proceed with the foresight of the people who led in the past 15 years for what is to come in the next 15 years…We need to move now to ensure that 15 years from now industry and community leaders look back at what we have done just as we look back at the work done by those before us.”

Along with Silvester, Trois-Rivières Port Authority president and CEO and ACPA chair Gaetan Boivin said there needed to be more of a focus on the gateway as a whole than on what is happening at individual ports.

“If we want to make gateways, we have to change our way of thinking and how we work together…We’re not there yet, but its about changing the mentality to look at the whole of the gateway,” he said.

“We’re still, unfortunately, competing with each other as ports, and that has to be stopped.”

On the question of port authority amalgamation, a topic that has been raised by the federal government, Silvester said that it was “critical” for planning and creating a gateway in the Lower Mainland.

As well, Silvester, Boivin and Al Soppitt, president and CEO of the St. John Port Authority, all agreed that working with the community, the stakeholders and the different levels of government has to happen if capacity is to be built.

“The determining factor is going to be land, but not just any land – land with the right geography and the right economy. And not just land for the ports, but land for economic activity related to trade,” said Silvester.

“As we plan for the gateway, it is about planning for all of the different stakeholders and the different uses.”

http://www.bclocalnews.com/business/56420592.html

[amor de cosmos]

Canada and Port Metro Vancouver Provide Infrastructure Boost to Stimulate Economy

Vancouver, British Columbia, September 23, 2009 – The Honourable Rob Merrifield, Canada's Minister of State (Transport), today announced funding up to nearly $42 million for 14 Port Metro Vancouver infrastructure projects, under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.

The Government of Canada will provide Port Metro Vancouver with up to nearly $21 million from the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund to make important upgrades to the Port's infrastructure. The Port will invest an identical amount.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, our Government is investing in new port projects today as part of our larger plan to create local jobs, stimulate British Columbia's economy, and ensure Canada emerges strong from an economic downturn,” said Minister Merrifield. “We are proud to partner with Port Metro Vancouver to get these 14 projects underway, and ensure British Columbia has lasting and durable port infrastructure.”

The 14 infrastructure projects are diverse, ranging from the installation of waterlines to service the Richmond Logistics Hub, to upgrading seismic capacity of three buildings at the Lynnterm Terminal, to upgrading water and storm sewers systems on the south shore to enhance emergency preparedness for south shore terminals in the event of a fire, spill or similar event, to the creation of a Fusion centre to manage the Port's operations and manage communications to ensure safe, secure and sustainable operations.

“Port Metro Vancouver appreciates the Government of Canada's commitment to serve the nation's international trade requirements through this leading gateway,” said Robin Silvester, President and Chief Executive Officer, Port Metro Vancouver. “By matching the Government of Canada's investment, the Port will help deliver the transportation infrastructure our commercial user's need, while securing jobs and providing economic value for communities.”

etc etc

Among the results expected for this project:

•improving the way in which bulk cargo is placed into port terminals;
•improving traffic movement in and around ports; and
•upgrading facilities to better protect workers from potential earthquakes.

The federal financing will come from the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund pursuant to the signing of a contribution agreement with Port Metro Vancouver. Federal funding is conditional on the projects meeting all federal program and environmental requirements and the signing of a contribution agreement.

List of Projects:
1. Richmond Properties – No. 8/Blundell Traffic Signal and Rail Crossing Improvements Project
2. Fraser Richmond-North Access Road Services Extension Project
3. Lynn Creek Rail Bridge Addition – Port Metro Vancouver, North Vancouver, North Shore Trade Area
4. South Shore Roadway Upgrade – McGill Overpass
5. North shore – Lynnterm Seismic Upgrade
6. Richmond Logistics Hub – Offsite Waterloop Feeder Loop Project
7. Salter Street Access Road
8. South Shore Water and Sewer Improvements
9. Centerm Shed 1 Seismic Upgrade
10. Port Metro Vancouver Fusion Centre
11. North Arm Marine Facilities Capital Improvements
12. North shore – Access road to Vancouver Drydock
13. Richmond Office Seismic Upgrade
14. Annacis Island Parkway Pavement Renewal

http://www.buildingcanada-chantiersc...ouver-eng.html

[Stingray2004]

A couple more port-related projects totalling $125 million just announced this morning:

Project: Powell Street Grade Separation
Location: City of Vancouver
Approximate Project Cost: $50 million
Delivery Agency: City of Vancouver
Description: This project eliminates a busy at-grade road/rail crossing between Powell Street and the railway network that serves the South Shore Trade Area. This is a major road in the City of Vancouver with significant transit, pedestrian, cyclist and vehicular traffic.

Project: Stewart Street Elevated Structure
Location: Port Metro Vancouver
Approximate Project Cost: $75 million
Delivery Agency: Port Metro Vancouver
Description: This project will provide a reliable and continuous road connection through the port area and will grade-separate ten at-grade road/rail crossings, improving rail and road access to the terminals in this area, enabling longer trains and more efficient rail operations as well as shorter wait times for trucks and other vehicles.

http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=2884

[David]

Interesting. I don't know how they will elevate Powell. It is squeezed right up against the railway, and there is a huge factory building (Happy Planet) to the south. Ever since I first heard of this project I have been trying to figure out where they will build an overpass without shutting down the entire road first and I still have no idea. For reference: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...03884&t=h&z=18

[Mininari]

What ever happened to those announcements for rail-road grade separations in Delta and North Vancouver?

Are they moving ahead to construction, or was that a political "fund the first two, and put the rest on the wish-list?"

[Stingray2004]

Good point. I personally have more interest in grade-separations for the Roberts Bank Rail Corridor through Delta, Surrey, and Langley. Too many frequent 110-unit coal/container trains.

Back on June 28, 2007, the feds/province/ et al announced $300 million for 9 grade separations.

But when one looks closer at the fine print...

the preliminary timeline for this project is within five years.

and...

the preliminary timeline for this project is five to eight years.

http://www.tc.gc.ca/mediaroom/releas...-gc024e.htm#bg

Just another 3 - 6 years to go.

[officedweller]

That Stewart St. separation looks pretty impressive - it looks like it'll be a long viaduct.

Powell St. info in CoV report here:

http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/current...orstrategy.pdf

Note expropriated lands in red.
BTW - I think the Chevron Station would be expropriated (which solves the problem of inaccessibility from the viaduct).



Personally, I'd rather see the Malkin Ave. overpass move forward and Georgia/Dunsmuir viaduct traffic diverted to Malkin Ave.

[David]

Very interesting, thanks OD! Had never heard of the Malkin plans before, and it does sound like a good idea too.

[Stingray2004]

Hmmmmm... that proposed Malkin Overpass to connect with Clark Dr. is certainly interesting ($21 - $40 m)... and better yet a direct connection to the viaducts with an upgrade of Malkin itself connecting the two ($15 - $20m).

That would make life a bit easier heading out of the downtown core heading eastward/southeastward.