SkyTrain access key to the design of Marinus
Bus lines, shopping, will also be within steps of project
Westcoast Homes
Published: Saturday, September 29, 2007
MARINUS AT PLAZA 88
Location: New Westminster
Project size: 240 residences, 26-storey tower
Residence size: 600 sq. ft. -- 1,152 sq. ft.
Prices: From $288,900
Presentation centre: 901 Columbia
Hours: Noon -- 5 p.m., Sat -- Thu
Telephone: 604-519-9188
Web: marinusliving.com
Developer: Degelder Group and Charter Pacific
Architect: Via Architecture
Interior: Jane McCutcheon Design
Occupancy: Summer 2009
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"Close to transportation links" is a claim local developers like to make, but there's only one project in the Lower Mainland that can truly claim SkyTrain is at its doorstep.
The developers of Marinus at Plaza 88 in New Westminster, have forged close links with BC Transit and the municipality to offer a development that has a SkyTrain platform bisecting its residential and commercial development.
Residents of the 26-storey tower will simply take their condo elevator downstairs to the main level -- also a retail level -- in order to access SkyTrain. There is also the existing New Westminster bus loop, which will be upgraded, at street level.
"The whole emphasis of the project is getting people out of their cars and to promote public transport," says developer Mike
Degelder. "There's no comparable for this type of project."
The Marinus is the third tower at Plaza 88 now under construction on a five-acre site at Columbia Street, near New Westminster Quay. There already is an overpass on the site to access the nearby waterfront. In total, there will be 2,140 condo units in the residential component of the project, and 180,000 square feet of retail. Already, Safeway and Shoppers Drug Mart are on board as major retail clients.
Because transportation was key in this project, the development had to do an overall design for the entire project instead of designing it in phases, says Degelder.
After the third tower, Marinus, is completed in the summer of 2009, construction will begin on the retail phase of the project.
"People will be able to live and shop here," says Degelder, who adds the project will be a benefit to the community as a whole, noting students from nearby Douglas College can easily access transit and enjoy shopping at the complex.
He adds many students or their parents have bought units from the first two phases -- Azure and Azure II.
Both towers are now sold out. The official opening for Marinus is today, but 80 condos have already been presold. The first occupancy for these first two towers commences next summer. The penthouses in Marinus will not be offered for sale until after construction is completed.
Each floor will have nine suites per floor, with one unit per floor being a one-bedroom unit of 600 square feet, and the remaining units either two-bedrooms or two-bedrooms, plus den. The two-bedrooms average around 800 square feet, with the largest -- it includes a den -- being 1,152 square feet.
And because the eight-level parkade is elevated, all the suites have views, either toward the Fraser River or the North Shore.
"It's like the Coal Harbour of New Westminster," says Degelder.
"No one is offering waterfront access like us and the views."
Features include granite kitchen and bathroom countertops, stainless steel appliances and a soaker tub and separate glass shower in the master bathrooms. All of the suites have large balconies, of approximately 150 square feet, and are wired for advanced in-home multi-media communication technology.
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© The Vancouver Sun 2007
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