[New West] The Shops at New West (Plaza 88) | Completed

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Fantastic update Vanman. A very comprehensive set of photos.

I'm still rather amazed that the commercial portion of Plaza 88 went ahead so soon after the completion of the towers, not to mention without any apparent downsizing from the original scope. I certainly hope that Translink is successful in its efforts to secure its funding plan that includes station renovations, since there otherwise is no money to integrate the New Westminster station into the Plaza 88 project. I would hate to see a scene not too different from the one below remain in place for years to come.

I think the scope wasn't cut down because of the tenants they have lined up. The major locations in the mall seem to be taken.

Originally Posted by officedweller

Nice, thanks.
Still not keen on the big blank wall (ditto for Marine Gateway too).

Without seeing the blueprints, I would wager the wall might have something to do with the theater? It will probably be covered with signs anyway.

[SpongeG]

its not that pedestrian anyway - the other street is much geared to pedestrians the big wall will only help make it more so which is a good thing

[Spork]

Here are some more photo updates. I finally got my phone back, so can continue to provide these monthly.



Work has also begun on the rest of the bus loop, with final plumbing hookups being done, columns being formed, and the ground being graded to some extent.





They have finished doing foundation work for the white building being restored and have been doing lots of reinforcing, including building new columns in places, as well as have poured lots of the new floor of that building.



Some work has also begun on the area to the East of the structure. I am not sure what they are going to be doing there, especially with the existing building. Regardless, many pilings have been set down, and dirt has been pushed around. This continues from Columbia to Carnarvon on either side of the development.



There have been daily closures of Columbia St. in the mornings as they do plumbing hookups on the North side of that street. Lots of dump trucks with material have been in and out.



Progress on the theatre levels has been slow, as it has taken quite awhile to build the scaffolding/risers necessary for the next level. I have my doubts as to whether this theatre will be any good, and really do not think that it will be stadium seating due to the relatively low ceilings.







Here you can see rebar ready to join to the overpass for the parking.



Some of the details are taking shape.





And finally, looking inside the top parkade level.


Let me know if you have any questions or want photos from a different perspective.

[SpikePhanta]

Maybe the theatre might become a budget sort of type like what they had on sixth where the Save on and Van city is.

[Millennium2002]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

its not that pedestrian anyway - the other street is much geared to pedestrians the big wall will only help make it more so which is a good thing

I think New West council wasn't thinking straight when they passed this... because the building, while oriented somewhat towards transit, still contains a huge number of parking spaces. In addition the lack of entrances towards Columbia Street is just strange considering that they want to make their historic downtown more accessible to pedestrians.

[vanman]

Originally Posted by SpikePhanta

Maybe the theatre might become a budget sort of type like what they had on sixth where the Save on and Van city is.

I highly doubt they would put cheap theatres into a brand new building. It doesn't make any financial sense.

[SpongeG]

its a good chain - they tend to be in smaller cities it seems looking at where they are in BC anyway

they could be smaller like tinseltown - most of their screens and rooms were quite small save for a couple bigger ones for the bigger movies

[Spork]

The building will have a stairwell entrance on 8th street, which is really where all of the interesting bits on Columbia end. This, there is almost a natural flow along Columbia to go into the development itself.

As for the theatre, Empire owns Granville 7, Oakridge, and Guildford. Guildford is the only one with stadium style seating.

[SpongeG]

is it empire? i thought it was the Landmark Cinema chain http://www.landmarkcinemas.ca/

most of theirs are theatre style a chain only found in the west

[SpikePhanta]

Originally Posted by vanman

I highly doubt they would put cheap theatres into a brand new building. It doesn't make any financial sense.

might, not right away when it opens but I said thatbcuz Spork suggested that it might not be very popular...

[Xrayal]

Originally Posted by allan_kuan

I think New West council wasn't thinking straight when they passed this... because the building, while oriented somewhat towards transit, still contains a huge number of parking spaces.

Hopefully Council was thinking that the extra spaces would replace some of the spaces lost if part or all of the ugly parkade over Front St was torn down.

[Spork]

You're right, it's landmark theatres. I'm not sure why the wouldn't do stadium seating. Maybe the developer was inflexible with how many floors they would combine in order to get the preferred seating? It's true that it could be that they are smaller theatres like Tinseltown, and I would actually bet on that, as 14 theatres would also take quite a large footprint - larger, I think, than the developer would be willing to give up.

Good point on the parking. The parkade is, indeed, slated to be torn down, and with basically one parkade other than that, and very little surface parking, I would expect this requirement going into other new developments in the area.

[SFUVancouver]

Spork, thank you for the awesome update. Very, very thorough.

Just because a cinema does not have tall ceilings does not mean it will not have stadium-style seating. You do not need a lot of rake to a space to allow great sight lines and an old cinema like the Rio on Broadway totally changed its customer experience when they put into modern stadium-style seats.

Plus, who knows, maybe this might be some sort of new concept for movie theatres in the city which aim to compete with DVDs/Netflix by offering some sort of uber comfortable living room/private screening room-like environment with the best sound and projection technology available. That would certainly help it market itself in the already well served destination cinema market in Metro Vancouver and could open the door for extra revenue from booking things like film festivals and private parties that really are not suitable for full size cinemas.

[Spork]

Note that the long pieces of wood in the 3rd photo now have scaffolding all along them to start forming the ceiling of the bus bay. Should be very different looking in a month or so as they start working on previously slow areas.

[huenthar]

Why is TransLink paying for the station upgrade anyways? I would have thought that at the very least they could get that financed by the developer as a community amenity...

[BCPhil]

Originally Posted by Spork

You're right, it's landmark theatres. I'm not sure why the wouldn't do stadium seating. Maybe the developer was inflexible with how many floors they would combine in order to get the preferred seating? It's true that it could be that they are smaller theatres like Tinseltown, and I would actually bet on that, as 14 theatres would also take quite a large footprint - larger, I think, than the developer would be willing to give up.

Good point on the parking. The parkade is, indeed, slated to be torn down, and with basically one parkade other than that, and very little surface parking, I would expect this requirement going into other new developments in the area.

I've been in the Landmark cinema in Nanaimo before. It's not quite the stadium style that SilverCity, Collusus, and Scotiabank have, but it's not slopped like an old theater. It's still each row is on a different step, but the steps just aren't as tall, the room's not as big and deep, and the screen isn't as ginormous. It's still a good theater though.

Other than Scotiabank and Tinseltown downtown and Silvercity Metrotown, this will be the only major, first run theater right on a rapid transit line. I don't think they'll waste the opportunity on a rerun theater. If they put in good projectors and sound systems they could really capture a decent audience that's unsatisfied with the typical shoddy experience we've been getting from Cineplex recently.

And it sounds like they are putting in some 4K projectors in some of the theaters at 88, which might make them the only 4K projectors I'm aware of in Vancouver. It might be the best place outside of Imax to see 3D movies.

[SpongeG]

well they have to get first run movies - there is some kind of law that is in place that means famous players can't hog them all even though they seem to

the empire at guildford often gets the same movies as collosus in langley or cinepelx at strawberry hill but the empire downtown gets the art house second run kind of stuff because i think they know no one wants to go to that theatre

[vanman]

Another big update by me:

[SFUVancouver]

Great set Vanman. Very thorough. Thanks for the leg work.

[Spork]

Strange thing here... It looks like they have changed the design somewhat. There are now 2-3 storey tall steel pieces going up over the top floor. This is perhaps for the theatre? The design is definitely different. They are also now doing pile driving near the overpass, I guess to rebuild or expand it. Will take some photos this weekend.