Porte rising at Madison and Dawson

Dawson quietly changing

The immediate vicinity around Dawson is quietly changing while Brentwood continues to receive the bulk of the attention.

Porte Development's tower has now passed street level.

Solterra's Milano tower is beginning

 to rise into the Brentwood skyline.

Milano (below) as seen from the Costco parking lot facing north.

Brentwood One is peeking through just to the left of Milano and

Solo's 2nd tower is on the far left of this photo from this view.

Amacon's low-rise development has reached 

full height at Willingdon Ave and Dawson Street

Gilmore to Madison full on north side of Dawson Street

With the site on the northeast corner of Dawson and Madison currently under construction by Porte Development Corp, the northwest corner has already been 1 year into a proposal by Imani Development to build a 40-45 story residential tower atop a retail/office street front at 4285 Dawson Street.

This development will complete the redeveloped street front along the north side of Dawson Street between Gilmore and Madison as Onni has already initiated its Gilmore Place development just west of Imani's proposal.

Vancouvermarket.ca article below

Another Highrise Proposal for Brentwood Area

Posted on July 25, 2016

On the same day that Onni is submitting a formal rezoning application for it’s first phase of 3 residential towers at Gilmore Station, another rezoning application has been filed for a site just East of Onni’s land in the rapidly developing Brentwood area of Burnaby.

The application is being made for a currently industrial property at 4285-4295 Dawson Street, at the northwest corner of Madison Avenue. The site is 56,500 SF. The site is designated in the Brentwood Town Centre Plan a mixed use high-density (RM-5s).

The preliminary proposal by Imani Development, is for a mixed use development comprised of retail, office and a highrise residential tower, to a maximum density of 6.0 FAR, with a residential density of 5.0 FAR.

The application notes that the tower height would be 431 feet, or likely around 40-45 storeys.

Dawson developing from Gilmore to Douglas

While the Brentwood and Solo developments continue attract focus at Willingdon and Lougheed, Dawson Street is beginning to garner attention along its length between Gilmore Ave and Douglas Road.

The Gilmore Station Development by Onni is making its rounds at the City of Burnaby as it moves ahead for approval.  The massive mixed use development will be situated as a gateway to the Brentwood Town Centre.

Further east at Madison and Dawson, the site has been cleared to make way for a sold out residential mid-high-rise development by Porte Development Corporation.  Another high-rise development just south of there, Fulton House, is being planned for the south foot of Madison Ave.

Eastward from there at Willingdon and Dawson, the foundation for a low-rise residential building above a street-level commercial development by Amacon is being poured.  The corner front will see a new yet to-be-named restaurant.

On the east side of Willingdon, the Milano development at 2450 Alpha Ave is being initiated by Solterra Development south of Dawson.  Further down will see 2 highrise developments at the south foot of Beta reaching Lougheed Hwy and nearly reaching Douglas Rd.   The higher profile development will be one of the largest developments in the area by Concord Pacific.

The Concord Brentwood development will also see a grocery store, likely an Urban Fare-type store, along with other commercial amenities.

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