OEB Brentwood 2021

 

1st details of SE corner of Willingdon and Dawson

A basic rendering of Aouyan's proposed development at the southeast corner of Willingdon and Dawson has been published in Urban YVR.(excerpt below).  The site of this project is located Along Dawson Street to the north and along Alaska Street to the south between Willingdon and Alpha Ave.

Preliminary rendering of Aoyuan International’s proposal for Willingdon and Dawson in Burnaby. Credit: Aoyuan International

(from Urban YVR)

Aoyuan International is also proposing a major development of four towers at Willingdon Avenue and Dawson Street, south of The Amazing Brentwood in Burnaby.

Renderings just show the tower massing, but the project is said to contain 1,400 condominium units, 50 townhomes and a mix of commercial and retail. IBI Group — in cooperation with PWL Landscape Architects — are on the Brentwood project.

Alaska Street industrial building sold

An industrial building at 4455 Alaska St has been sold for more than double its assessed value. The buyer likely purchased the site with the aim of rezoning it for a high density residential development.

The site of the building is situated 

immediately west of the Willingdon Ave overpass.

East of the overpass (below) along Alaska St are more 

industrial buildings and the  rising Milano tower on Alpha Ave.

Western Investor article below

Burnaby manufacturing site sold for double its assessed value

The industrial site has potential for high-density residential development and sold for $12.8 million

Chris McIntyre Lee & Associates for Western Investor

October 4, 2017

The property is a two-storey warehouse and office space with two leasable units, with 25,760-square-feet of gross leasable area. The industrial building is situated on a 33,195-square-foot lot currently zoned for manufacturing use. However, the lot has potential for high-density residential development upon rezoning. The property sold for more than double it’s assessed value of just over $6 million. 

The property is located at 4455 Alaska St., Burnaby. 

Breakdown: 

Price: $12,800,000 

No. of Units: 2

Lot Size: 33,195 SF

Property Type: Industrial 

Zoning: M-1

2016 B.C. Assessment Value: $6,005,800

City: Burnaby  

Province: B.C. 

Name of Brokerage: Lee & Associates

Milano rising into skyline

The Milano tower at the south foot of Alpha Ave is beginning making its mark in the Brentwood skyline.

SE corner of Dawson and Willingdon sold to developer

The southeast corner of Willingdon and Dawson has been sold and will pave the way for another major development that will take it eastward to Alpha Ave and south as far as Alaska Street.

The current Dawson street front is the home to Pasta Amore restaurant and Brentwood Cleaners.  Brentwood Cleaners, originally located at Brentwood Mall until it was forced to move to make way for the the Amazing Brentwood development, will be forced to move again.

Vancouver Market article below

8 Acre Brentwood Site Sells in $152 Million Deal

Posted on June 9, 2017

An 8.13 acre land assembly at the corner of Willingdon Avenue and Dawson Avenue has sold to Aoyuan Property Group (Canada), a Hong Kong based developer, for $152,000,000.

The site comprises six parcels, currently improved with various older industrial buildings. The Brentwood Town Centre Plan designates the site a mixture of medium density mixed use and high density residential.

Milano tower development under way on Alpha

As the Brentwood and Solo projects continue to rise and attract attention, the 30 story Milano tower by Solterra Development Corp is now quietly under construction as the site has already been excavated and the foundation is being put in place. The tower will be located at the southern edge of Brentwood Town Centre, away from the future hustle and bustle around Brentwood Station but conveniently close enough to its amenities.

North of Dawson westward

South of Dawson southward

Development rumours in the air

Unlike news media outlets that are held to a strict, higher standard of reporting sources, bloggers tend to have more leeway in keeping sources to themselves.  Bloggers also tend to be more imperfect in their reporting as a result.  In my last post, I mentioned that rumours of Menchies opening in the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment (BMR).  My not mentioning the sources of such rumours is meant to both protect them from potential criticism due to their position that allows them to garner such rumours and to prevent the flow of the rumours from drying up at the source. Furthermore, my sources may neither be aware that they are sources nor aware that I am blogging about the Brentwood area.  Therefore, I must always reiterate the fact that it is a rumour with the idea that there may be a fire where there's smoke.

For a major project like the BMR, it seems unusual that the developer is not promoting it's development by mentioning new commercial tenants as selling points as they did when promoting Highstreet in Abbotsford.  Even current store owners in the mall are being kept guessing on timelines and details.

Carter Dealerships

Word of another major piece of land becoming available for redevelopment is surfacing. It's being mentioned that the Carter Dealerships are looking at cashing out of their Lougheed Hwy properties that house the GM and Dodge dealerships between Willingdon Ave and both sides of Alpha Avenue. Both vacated lots south of Brentwood Station would make it a potentially larger development than the BMR north of the station.

Destination Dealerships

Meanwhile, the new Destination Toyota dealership being built at the Still Creek Auto Mall is 3 months behind schedule and continues to operate at Lougheed and Madison.  Rumours are going around that Destination Honda on Hastings will  move into the vacated site on Lougheed until it also eventually moves into the Still Creek Auto Mall.

Brentwood Entertainment Plaza at street level

During my longest absence between posts, plenty of change has occurred and that change hasn't been limited to just the Brentwood area.  While our new Prime Minister will be extending Canada's credibility on the international stage, his infrastructure funds targeting Metro Vancouver will be extending Metro Vancouver's rapid transit system out towards UBC and into the Fraser Valley.  The development of mass transit infrastructure is the key to setting a framework and focus for urban planning in Metro Vancouver.

Now back to Brentwood.

Since my last post, the opening date for Whole Foods in Solo District has been moved from this month to sometime in 2016.  It's quite a surprising difference from the original planned opening but I guess all good things can't be rushed.

Solterra is moving ahead with promotional pieces on its latest development to begin on Alpha Ave south of Dawson St. (Vancity Buzz link below)

http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2015/10/boutique-living-brentwood-area/


Further east near Holdom Station, the Lake City Inn is being slated for removal to make way for a new residential development between Springer Ave and Holdom Ave.  The development is being presented to the City of Burnaby by Ledingham McAllister.

International Sausage House has closed down to make way for a development at Halifax and Gilmore.

Finally, the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment is beginning to climb out of the massive pit that has marked the beginning of the highly anticipated transformation at Willingdon and Lougheed.

2450 Alpha put forward

As highrises begin to spring up along Lougheed at Brentwood Mall and Solo District, Solterra has put forward a plan to build one at 2450 Alpha Ave, south of Dawson Street.  This development, along with the proposed Dragonwood development by Concord Pacific are signalling a marked change south of Dawson from light industrial to residential.

City of Burnaby Link 

Phases 2 and 3 of Brentwood Mall Redevelopment initiated

With Phase 1 just having gotten underway, Shape Properties has forwarded Phase 3 plans along with its initiation for Phase 2 of the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment.  Phase 3 includes the 3rd tower.  This tower will be built just east of Brentwood Two on Lougheed Hwy most likely at the northeast corner of Alpha and Lougheed atop a commercial podium.

Phase 2 involves the to-be-named Brentwood Community Centre which will be built at the northeast corner of Halifax and Willingdon.  Along with the name, it has yet to be decided what the community centre will include.

Burnaby Now article below

Third phase of Brentwood development moving forward

Janaya Fuller-Evans / Burnaby Now

April 9, 2015 02:37 PM

While the first phase of the Brentwood Town Centre development is under construction, Shape Properties is now moving forward with its proposal for Phase 3.

Shape recently submitted a rezoning application for the third residential building for the site.

"The intent of the master plan identifies residential building three as a single high residential apartment building between 35 and 55 storeys in height atop a commercial podium fronting Brentwood Boulevard and Lougheed Highway," Benjamin Nelson with Shape Properties wrote in a letter to the city's planning and building department. "As prescribed in the master plan, the built form will be lower than that advanced for the Phase 1 residential."

City staff are working with Shape on a development plan for the building, which will then be sent to public hearing.

Shape plans to move ahead with Phase 2 of the project at the same time as Phase 3, and expects to finish it before Phase 3.

However, as Phase 2 includes the new Brentwood Community Centre, further analysis is underway before a rezoning application is submitted for that portion of the development, according to a report from Lou Pelletier, the city's director of planning and building.

The Brentwood master plan divided the 11.5-hectare site at 4515 and 4567 Lougheed Hwy. into four quadrants for development, with the first phase including the two residential towers currently under construction.

The project has been a source of controversy in the Brentwood community, with many residents opposed to the increase in traffic and density in the area.

The rezoning application for the second residential building, a 53-storey tower at the corner of Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue, went to public hearing last summer, with about 40 people in attendance. The application was approved last November.

Residents along Brentlawn Drive have been especially vocal as the project has progressed. The majority of concerns have been regarding increased traffic and rat-runners through their neighbourhood.

The master plan is divided into four phases and includes proposals for 10 residential towers. The design also includes a redeveloped commercial centre, a food store, and a variety of public outdoor spaces.

© 2015 Burnaby Now

Access to Brentwood Station reduced to Lougheed Hwy

This morning I noticed that access to Brentwood Station from the mall parking lot has been closed off.  Attendants were out in full force this morning to inform pedestrians that access to the station is available only from Lougheed Hwy.

 One can see machinery on either side of the ramp that leads to the station.

Furthermore, the Halifax and Alpha entrances to the Mall have also been closed to vehicles and pedestrians.

The Brentwood Mall website has the following map showing the available entrances to the Mall site:

The only accesses are just north of Halifax between Halifax and Brentlawn and the existing entrances on Beta Ave.

Speaking of entrances, in addition to the future light-controlled intersection at Alpha and Lougheed, it appears that a new tunnelled entrance is in the works.  A section just east of Alpha has been marked off with rounded sidewalk corners on either side of what appears to be a future tunnel entrance into the mall site.

The tunnel will enter there and, according to markings on the surface of the parking lot east of the closed Alpha entrance, the tunnel will proceed west towards the plaza area past the current site of the McDonald's/BMO storefront.

New intersections around Brentwood

As Phase 1 of the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment gets set to begin, new intersections are being added on Lougheed Hwy and on Willingdon Ave.  The traffic signals have already been put in place (but not yet activated) at a new intersection just north of Halifax Street.  On Lougheed Hwy, traffic disrupting work is being done at a newly forming intersection with traffic lights to come at Alpha Ave and Lougheed Hwy.

More activity along Dawson Ave

With Onni Development already looking at developing the site around Gilmore Station including along Dawson Ave, 2 more sites are being considered a bit further east on or near Dawson Ave.  2450 Alpha Ave south of Dawson is up for a proposed tower by Solterra Development and now the 4300 block of Dawson west of Willingdon Ave at Madison is being eyed for a mid to high-rise development by Porte Development Corp which would include a commercial component fronting Dawson Ave.

According to the Burnaby NewsLeader article below, the huge plot of land that makes up the 2 Carter dealerships has been considered by the owners for their sale to make way for more development.  Such a development, if and when it happens, would rival, if not exceed the magnitude of the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment.

Burnaby NewsLeader article below

More condos proposed for Brentwood industrial area

• by  Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader
• posted Jun 16, 2014 at 5:00 PM

The industrial area in Brentwood town centre south of Lougheed Highway could continue its transformation into a residential neighbourhood if two projects get the okay from Burnaby council.

Solterra Acquisition Corp. has applied for a rezoning of 2450 Alpha Ave., a parcel of almost one acre between Dawson and Alaska streets. It proposes building a high-rise apartment building with apartments or townhouses at a podium level to camouflage the above-ground parking.

City staff are proposing guidelines for the area bordered by Dawson and Alaska streets and Alpha and Beta avenues taking into account factors such as geotechnical and groundwater issues, according to a report on the Solterra application.

The proposed guidelines are that the area result in a mix of six to eight mid- to high-rise apartment buildings ranging in height from 15 to 30 storeys. Podium-level apartments or townhouses, potentially used to screen above-ground parking structures, would be a maximum of four storeys along fronting streets. Retail would be considered at ground level along Dawson.

City staff have encouraged Solterra to acquire the property next door, the site of the Carter automotive body shop at 2460 Alpha Ave., as part of its project. But the owner of that parcel is not willing to sell and has stated any future sale would be together with the rest of the Carter automotive dealership lands, the report said.

It noted that "a substantial portion" of the Carter auto body site is intended to be dedicated as road right-of-way for the extension of Alaska Street. That would make the remainder of the site too small for a future multi-family housing development.

Over on the other side of Willingdon Avenue, Porte Development Corp. has applied to rezone 4305 and 4349 Dawson St. on the northeast corner with Madison Avenue. It proposes constructing a six-storey, mixed-use building—five storeys of wood-frame construction above one level of concrete—with commercial space at street level, apartments above and full underground parking.

The six storey plan is due to the fact an underground rail tunnel is located on the eastern part of the site, a city staff report said.

"As the rail tunnel imposes significant challenges on the site in terms of building siting and underground parking, the site's available density is proposed to be coalesced west of the rail tunnel, at the corner of Madison Avenue and Dawson Street."

Burnaby planning director Lou Pelletier told council Monday that the six-storey height is "really dealing with the conditions of the site rather than setting the standard for Dawson."

Council gave city staff the go-ahead to work with both Solterra and Porte toward  development plans that could be presented at future public hearings.

wchow@burnabynewsleader.com

twitter.com/WandaChow

First tower proposed for Alpha south of Dawson

Solterra Development is proposing a 31 story tower at 2450 Alpha Ave.  If approved, it would be the first development approved south of Dawson between Beta and Willingdon Avenues.  Previous proposals for the same property have been left in limbo due to lack of clarification regarding zoning of the area.

Article below

Vancouvermarket.ca

David Taylor

Colliers International

31-Storey Tower Proposed for 

Brentwood Area

Solterra Development has submitted a rezoning application for a 31-storey residential tower at 2450 Alpha Avenue in the Brentwood area of Burnaby.

The site is 41,573 SF and is currently zoned M2 Industrial, but is designated as a “succession area” within the Brentwood Town Centre Plan, which allows a transition from industrial to residential. The proposed rezoning would be based on RM4s and would achieve approx. 3.6 FAR.

Area plan needed for south of Dawson

The following article in the Burnaby NewsLeader highlights difficulties that developers may face when seeking approval of rezoning applications for property owned in and around Brentwood.  In this case, it's not an issue of conflict with an existing community plan but rather an issue with the fact that a community plan currently does not exist.  The area in question is the land located south of Dawson Ave between Willingdon and Beta on Alpha Avenue.

The City of Burnaby needs to develop a plan for the area in question and give prospective developers a definitive guideline for their plans and create more interest in the Brentwood area.

Stuck in redevelopment limbo near Brentwood

By Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader

Published: April 23, 2013 11:00 AM

Wiinton Williams will likely one day get a nice windfall from the sale of a property he owns in the Brentwood area.  

Today, though, his industrial property has a breathtaking property tax bill based solely on its development potential. 

If only he could develop it.  For now, with the taxes so high, he’s having trouble just leasing out the place. Williams says he can’t redevelop his property and sell it for what it could be worth because Burnaby city hall has been slow to come up with an area plan.

Since 1993, his company, Vernon-based Sako Pacific Properties Ltd. has owned the property at 2450 Alpha Ave. in Burnaby where it also owned and operated Universal Concrete Accessories, a business that first opened there in 1970. Starting in 1995, Burnaby city hall started sending Williams’ company notices about redevelopment plans for the Brentwood area, including the industrial lands south of Dawson Street where Sako’s property is located. Williams said since then, his property taxes have soared from about $17,000 in 1995 to an expected $70,000 this year.

Seeing the writing on the wall, he started working with a developer several years back and has spent about $70,000 on site investigations necessary for any redevelopment. But while Burnaby city hall has indicated for years that redevelopment is on the horizon for the area, the planning department has yet to complete a plan for the area south of Dawson to allow any such transformation to begin. 

To make matters worse, when Sako sold its Universal Concrete business it continued to lease the property to its new owners. The business’ owners just vacated the site a couple months ago, relocating to an area with lower property tax costs.  Williams said he found two possible tenants in the film industry, but they decided to look elsewhere when they found out Sako planned to redevelop in the next few years and that the property taxes they’d be expected to help pay were high.

“We’re stuck in limbo, we can’t sell it, we can’t rent it, all we can do is click off 25 grand a month,” said Williams.  About eight years ago when the taxes went up to $32,000, Williams spoke to B.C. Assessment Authority and explained the land is zoned industrial, it’s being used for industrial so it should be paying industrial-level taxes.

“They said, ‘yeah, but it’s going to be high density and then it’s going to be worth a lot more.’”  Williams replied, “When it is high density then it will be worth a lot more, just like you actually have to win the lottery before [you can benefit].”

Sako has yet to appeal its assessment and while they’ve missed this year’s deadline, Williams said they may do so in future. He recently wrote to Burnaby’s community development committee describing his company’s predicament.

Coun. Colleen Jordan, chair of the committee, said the city’s master plan for the area bounded by Dawson and the railway tracks and Gilmore and Holdom avenues, “is kind of up in the air.”   Even in the late 1990s it was designated for redevelopment but the form and type was never defined by city hall, Jordan explained.

A property on the western section of the area was rezoned several years back for highrises but council decided to put any further applications on hold until a plan could be developed.

One of the issues to be determined is whether some areas are suitable for highrises since some of the land is peat bog.  “You have to consider whether or not stuff is going to sink,” she said.  As it stands currently, property owners could apply to rezone “but we would say no.”  Jordan said she sympathizes with the situation Williams and others in the area find themselves.  “We appreciate that so we’re just asking our staff how much work it would take to get this on the table and moving forward,” she said, noting staff already have their plates full doing similar work for other areas of the city.

Jordan hopes the planning work for the area south of Dawson will be completed by the end of the year.  Kash Kang, B.C. Assessment Authority’s area assessor for the North Fraser region, said Brentwood town centre is a “really good example” of such situations which are not unusual for urban areas in transition.

Kang stressed that property assessments are based on market value and take into account what similar properties in neighbourhoods have sold for recently.  The market will discount properties if there are constraints, such as the fact redevelopment is not yet able to go ahead. But if land is at the stage where it could be rezoned, its value would be “substantially higher,” he noted.

“There’s a distinction between what somebody could do with it if it’s already rezoned versus something that has a horizon that’s possibly three to five years out.”   Kang said similar situations have occurred in Richmond since the Canada Line has gone through there, and will likely also occur with the Evergreen Line out to the Tri-Cities.

He said property owners could appeal their assessments if they believe they’re higher or lower than those given to similar properties in a similar situation.  As for Williams, he said he’s been “pleasantly surprised” by the responsiveness of city hall staff and council.  “While we feel a little hard done by it’s not really anybody’s fault.”

wchow@burnabynewsleader.com

Brentwood Intersections: Dawson & Alpha

The intersection at Dawson Ave and Alpha Ave lies just south of Brentwood Station in Burnaby.

The Carter car dealerships that lie south of Brentwood Station occupy most of the large piece of land between Lougheed Hwy to the north, Dawson Ave to the south, Willingdon Ave to the west and Alpha Ave to the east. Although the Carter dealerships have been there for as long as I can remember, they are beginning to look out of place as the area around them begins to be developed into the town centre being planned by the City of Burnaby. With the building of an auto mall on Still Creek Ave just a few blocks south, it would make sense to have the dealerships relocate there to allow for the development of the "Carter Lands". With Brentwood Station situated right next to the site, it is an ideal location for a mixed-use residential and commercial development that would bring both residents and jobs into the area.