Suburban Updates

[SpongeG]

the whole outside needs a renovation anyway

the older metrotown centre just looks old and aged and out of sync with its newer part

[vanman]

^True. I'm sure it will be awhile before anything happens to the south side facing the skytrain station, the owners wil probably wait for the redevelopment of Metrototown station and once the bus depot moves across the street I 'm sure they'll jump at the chance to expand the mall outwards toward the street.

[murman]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

^ I prefer the term Cracktown.....but ya Whalley it is

What, has "New Edmonton" already been taken?

[giallo]

Originally Posted by Bert

I had the same first thoughts, what with being in Shanghai at the moment. And, among all the sites I use, it's SSP that loads torturously slow for me here. It took me a good 20 minutes to send this message!

Yeah, loading SSP has been a major pain for me in the last few months.

What are you doing in Shanghai?

[SpongeG]

full page ads in the freebie papers tuesday show the relocation of the new west station bus loop - it says they will be that way for the next 2-3 years due to construction...

looks like the demo of the old salvation army and that block is set to go ahead soon?

[Bert]

Originally Posted by giallo

Yeah, loading SSP has been a major pain for me in the last few months.

What are you doing in Shanghai?

Just some family stuff & tourism. Interesting how quickly things change since I was last here here only a couple years ago. Not just construction- & infrastructure-wise either, but I see lots of people having pets (small dogs) nowadays, there are noticeably more cars, and some pretty crazy price inflation on a lot of items (many now approaching/equalling Canadian prices).

[Rusty Gull]

Top architect designs library
Munisha Tumato, North Shore News
Published: Friday, October 12, 2007

The new City of North Vancouver library has been designed by a world-renowned Canadian architect whose portfolio includes Jerusalem's city hall and the Center for Performing Art in Washington, D.C. "He's a visionary. We're delighted to have Jack Diamond on board," said Coun. Barbara Perrault. The famed architect's signature design elements include functional but elegant lines and floating staircases, which will be incorporated in the library's design, as will Diamond's technique of "bringing the outside in," says Perrault.

The library to be sited on what is now the north side of the 100-block of West 14th Street will be made largely of glass, not unlike the recently completed, Diamond-designed Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.
"It really is like a lantern," said Diamond of his vision for the building. "In the long evenings when it's dark, this building will be glowing."

The design will also feature "symbolic aspects that are part of the region," said Diamond. Indigenous wood will be incorporated -- in this case, pieces of Douglas fir will be used for the library's ceiling -- for a distinctly West Coast feel.
The new library will be three times larger than the existing space, says Perrault and will have three levels. A balcony on the southwest corner of the third floor will look out over Burrard Inlet towards the Lions Gate Bridge. The ground level will feature a secret garden for children. The other component, says Perrault, will be an enormous amount of technology including wireless computers throughout, and a multimedia room.

Funding for the new library came from the sale of land to developers on the east and west ends of the block to the south. The new library is slated to open in the fall of 2008. Despite its celebrated design, Diamond hopes that North Vancouverites will see the library as a community gathering spot. "The library has got to be seen as a community centre and so it's got to feel very accessible and friendly. It should be a beacon in the civic centre complex."

[hollywoodnorth]

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...ishtowers.html

Squamish towers would hide famous climbing area, critics complain
Proposed highrises would block view of Stawamus Chief rock face from downtown, some say


The District of Squamish will vote Tuesday night on a developer's proposal to build three highrise towers that critics say will block the view of the Stawamus Chief rock face — one of North America's most famous rock climbing areas.

Pridham Developments is seeking conditional approval to build a housing development for 3,500 people on the old Interfor mill site, about 50 kilometres north of Vancouver between downtown Squamish and the Stawamus Chief Mountain.

The proposal for the 21-hectare site includes a marina and three condominium towers, the highest spanning 20 storeys. The towers would be the three tallest buildings in town.

Peter Harker, a spokesman for the Squamish Downtown Neighbourhood Association, said Monday that the largest tower would obstruct the view of the Stawamus Chief's towering granite rock face, a local landmark.

"The Chief is the second biggest granitic feature in the world and people come from all over the world to climb it," Harker said on Monday.

"The development isn't the problem. It's the towers. It's that 20-storey tower where clearly there hasn't been any community process. The community's never been asked about it," said Hawker.

Mayor says public meetings held; 28 groups consulted
The mayor of Squamish, Ian Sutherland, said the accusation was not true. He said the developer has held more public meetings than the law requires, adding that the meetings have been well attended. He also pointed out that there is a final public hearing Tuesday evening before council votes on the proposal.

Sutherland said the proposal has supporters in the community.

"There are people who want to sell homes, and downsize to a place like this," said Sutherland.

Pridham Development also e-mailed CBC News, writing the company has consulted about the proposal with 28 different groups ranging from B.C.'s Ministry of Transportation to the local watershed society.

[hollywoodnorth]

and here is some more on the 3 tower proposal.....which looks to get passed >>

http://www.district.squamish.bc.ca/_...t_landing.aspx

very cool rendering here on page 12 >> http://squamish.ca/files/PDF/waterfr...r_Analysis.pdf

of all 3 towers and the whole project......someone wanna grab that and upload it? Mr. X?

[bils]

sounds like it's time for some squamish view cones!

[cc85]

rich coleman is aggressively pursuing land in Surrey for social housing.

[Rusty Gull]

400-foot waterfront tower proposed
Lower Lonsdale plan includes art gallery, floating swimming pool

Heidi Castle, North Shore News
Published: Wednesday, October 17, 2007

A 36-storey residential tower inspired by the Princess Louise, a 1921 luxury passenger liner built in North Vancouver's Wallace Shipyard's, is the signature piece in a new development proposal for the foot of Lower Lonsdale.

If approved, the city will enjoy an A-list of public amenities in exchange for a density transfer from public to private land. Besides a LEED silver-certified residential and commercial tower hooked up to the Lonsdale Energy Corporation's geothermal heating grid, those amenities include a new, prominent, waterfront home for Presentation House Gallery, a public floating swimming pool built on a new public wharf extending into the harbour south of Lonsdale Avenue, a unified city seawall walk and public art opportunities. Long-range plans call for a new home for the Whistler Rocky Mountaineer, a repositioned SeaBus terminus and bus loop, and an east-west route for the city's historic streetcar 153.

The area under consideration includes land held by Millennium Developments and the City of North Vancouver. Combined, the property is referred to as Site 8 and sits north of Carrie Cates Court, south of Esplanade Avenue and east of Rogers Avenue.

Site 8 will be further combined with other city-owned property at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue for a total area of 11,076.2 square metres (2.75 acres).

The proposal is to transfer the density off both city-owned parcels and concentrate it on the Millennium property and then use the city land for amenity development.

That density shift would see a potential 7.1 FSR (floor-space ratio -- a ratio that determines the building footprint relative to the lot it sits on) in the one corner of the combined parcels up from the current 2.6 FSR of each individual site.

The city's official community plan designates the land as "town centre mixed use" with a building height of 40 feet. The Lower Lonsdale planning study suggested upping the height limit to 75 feet but retained the 2.6 FSR.

"This is an important site in the history of North Vancouver," Gregory Henriquez of Henriquez Partners Architects told city council Monday. "The goal of our design is to try and bring back a resolution to this historic water's edge and find a way in the 21st century to make North Vancouver as significant and important a city as it can be."

This proposal is about community and will enliven the city's waterfront, he said. "The poetry for our architecture always comes from the nature of the site."

Initial view studies show less than 10 per cent blockage which is less than the 15 per cent acceptable in the City of Vancouver, said Henriquez.

The proposal builds on a concept that originated with a five-year-old city-driven study, known as "Where the mountains meet the community and the sea," he said.

Highlights of the four-phase proposal begin with building the residential tower, relocating the Railway Museum to Waterfront Park, while developing some of the city land for public space, a new home for Presentation House Gallery, and the proposed new wharf and pool.

The subsequent phases and longer term vision anticipate the Whistler Mountaineer Station move to Waterfront Park, building the route for the city's historic street car, the relocation of the SeaBus terminal to the foot of Lonsdale and a renovated and repositioned bus circle.

Joining Site 8 with the foot of Lonsdale is something council has endorsed, said Coun. Craig Keating. It's something the city has encouraged for a long time, he said.

"It's a very intriguing proposal," said Keating. However, there are many hurdles and a lot of hard work ahead for the developer, he said. "The community has to put this in some kind of context. If this were a proposal pure and simply for a 40-storey building and nothing else that would be a different thing."

The amenity list needs to be considered he said. Keating said he likes a pool in Lower Lonsdale, a stop for the Rocky Mountaineer, a hook up to LEC and a new home for the Presentation House Gallery.

"That gallery has done more in a sense to advertise the City of North Vancouver internationally than anything else," he said. "It's a world class photo arts gallery that has received many awards and to have a new waterfront home for that would be terrific."

"I don't know that your current plan makes the best use of that whole area," said Coun. Bob Heywood. "I think there's a lot of work to be done in reshaping the presentation of this very important area for the city."

Heywood said he's not convinced the city needs another public plaza when one is part of the Maritime Museum proposal just east of the foot of Lonsdale.

Additionally, the half-block of business to the east of Site 8 is excluded from the plans, he said. "It would seem to me that if we're going to create some space down there we need to involve that half of the block."

"The scope of amenity that's going to lend any support to this kind of project is going to be pretty significant," he said.

"We are in the genesis of this design stage," said Henriquez.

On the issue of the small scale buildings to the east, Henriquez said his design responds to their scale and that they are integral to the heritage of the neighbourhood and should be left or possibly restored in similar scale.

"I gasped a little," admitted Coun. Barbara Perrault at the 400-foot proposed tower. But, she said she likes the amenity list. "This (Presentation House Gallery) is a very sophisticated and very, very substantial gallery that we have in this community and we have not sung it's praises loud enough," said Perrault. "It needs a decent home."

She also supported the concept of the pool, but would like to see a 50-metre version if possible.

Coun. Pam Bookham said unless the public strongly supports the proposal she could not support that level of height on the city's waterfront.

"The doubling of the height of this building, even for the very worthwhile amenities that have been proposed I think is going to be a very difficult public sell," she said.

Council carried a motion for an Official Community Plan amendment and rezoning application, with Bookham opposed, that will see the proposal move to the public discussion stage.

Coun. Sam Schechter was absent.

© North Shore News 2007

[jlousa]

Pretty dead in here so I'll add some news even though it's not skyscrapaer related, DeltaPorts Phase 2 of Terminal 2 is in prebid it's a $750 Million project, and don't forget Berth 3 is still to come which will be an even bigger project.

This project consists of 5 building over 90 hectares of new land for terminal infastructure, a new wharf for 3 ship berths, 8-10 new gantry cranes, container storage and intermodal facilities.

[giallo]

Wow!
I wonder how many jobs that will create.

[SpongeG]

Drove past Legacy in Burnaby tonight and there were some interesting lights in the plaza - like little circles of bright blue all over the ground - quite neat

[jlousa]

Can't remember if I've posted this one before or not, but cant see it so I'll go again.

Minoru Park Phase 1
6391 Minuro Rd
2*16 Story towers over 3 levels of u/g parking. 614 parking stall (seems large maybe there is a commercial aspect as well). 230,000sqft, Tower A 113 Market rentals+ 21 affordable rentals. Tower B 90 condo units, Start Apr/08 completion in 09.

[SFUVancouver]

Lake City Centre - 100k sqft office bldg at the Production Way-SFU SkyTrain station

(My photo, taken October 27th, 2007)




It's coming along. I still only count five floors with elevator doors off of the core yet the company's signage say it will be a six-storey building. I'm also curious how they are going to make the building have a front door since the elevator core is in the middle of the Translink bus loop and beneath this are the underground parking levels. I can't see an office building owner expecting people to walk through an overcrowded bus loop to get to an elevator lobby, not that there is even any room for one.

[cc85]

kiss the view of SFU goodbye from the skytrain station.

[squeezied]

^i was just thinking that

[Delirium]

new condo coming to burnaby.
i think the tops looks really odd. i hate it.