Monday, October 29, 2012

Views to the Gulf Islands from Aviara

According to the following advertisement in the Vancouver Sun, west-facing suites in the upcoming Aviara tower will feature views to the Gulf Islands.



Burnaby’s Aviara offers views of North Shore and Gulf Islands

 

It’s a win-win for residents and neighbours

 




Aviara, a dramatic 34-storey curved residential tower being built on a wedge-shaped site between Halifax Street and Douglas Road in Burnaby, is proof that compromise can make everyone happy.
“The reason this tower is this interesting shape isn’t just because we wanted to create something beautiful,” says Manuela Mirecki, senior vice-president of marketing for Ledingham McAllister, developer of the project, which will have its sales launch today. “It’s also for the benefit of people who will live here, as well as our neighbours.”
Aviara will be an elongated sliver of a building so that neighbours to the south can see past it to views of the North Shore. And since the convex western side will be longer than the concave eastern side, most residents will have views stretching from the Gulf Islands to the North Shore mountains.
“It was sort of a win-win architecturally for the sake of the neighbourhood and ultimately the people who will be living here,” Mirecki says.
Set back from the road in landscaped grounds, Aviara will feature a glittering glass exterior with an LED light strip running up one side the entire height of the building. The entrance, sheltered by a glass canopy, will be reached via a “floating walkway” across a reflecting pool fed by water cascading down the wall.
The bottom floors will house a lounge, fitness centre and guest suite. Above, each floor will have eight homes: two on the concave side and six along the convex side, ranging from one bedroom plus a den to two bedrooms and two bedrooms plus den. The top two floors will each contain just four homes, each with two bedrooms and a den in 990 square feet of space. At the base of the building will be three two-storey three-bedroom townhomes.
The show suite represents an 854-square-foot two-bedroom home in the Coffee palette: espresso-coloured cabinetry with light-grey wood floors. As its name suggests, Caramel, the alternative colour scheme, features caramel-coloured cabinetry and floors.
Both the kitchen and bathrooms have gleaming quartz counters, also used for a built-in desk in some units. Appliances, including the washer and dryer, are full sized. Miele appliances are standard in the penthouses and townhouses and available as an upgrade in other homes. The standard package is a KitchenAid stainless steel 30-inch five-burner gas range, Architect Series II wall oven and dishwasher, 20-cubic-foot french door fridge with bottom-mount freezer, Panasonic microwave and Whirlpool washer/dryer.
Windows stretch from floor to ceiling and wall to wall for maximum light and views. Every home will have a covered balcony. Mirecki credits Burnaby for allowing them to be larger than permitted just a few blocks west in Vancouver. “Burnaby is much more collaborative in understanding how people like to use their outdoor spaces,” she says.
Ledingham McAllister has a long relationship with Burnaby, where its previous projects include Brentwood Gate, Perspectives, Memento, Silhouette and Reflections. It also has a long history in B.C.; since 1905 it has built such landmarks as the Granville Street Bridge and the Hudson’s Bay building at Granville and Georgia.
Located in Burnaby’s Brentwood neighbourhood, Aviara will be within walking distance of the Gilmore SkyTrain station and the stores, restaurants and services along Lougheed Highway, as well as The Heights area along Hastings with its traditional bakeries, groceries, butcher shops and restaurants. For anything not accessible by foot or SkyTrain, residents will have access to two on-site hybrid cars and receive a one-year membership in the Modo car co-op program.
“I think there’s a new discovery of the Brentwood neighbourhood,” Mirecki says. “Because it has the long-standing residential community, it gives it sort of an organic sense of place. People from this neighbourhood tend to be very loyal to this neighbourhood — like there’s the Hats Off Day parade up on Hastings Street, and it’s amazing. They shut down the entire street and you can’t move. But then, I’m biased. I grew up here, I have a family here, went to university here.”
Like Mirecki, many prospective Aviara buyers have ties to the neighbourhood. “There’s a very strong old European community that immigrated here,” she says. “A lot of those folks, now that the kids have moved out, they’re saying, ‘Okay, I love this neighbourhood but my dentist, my doctor, my baker, my candlestick maker are all here.” At the opposite end of the spectrum are young couples whose parents are helping them with their first purchase. Buyers are also diverse: single women, families, various ethnic backgrounds. “It’s just representative of the Lower Mainland as a whole really,” Mirecki says.
Aviara
Address: 4189 Halifax Street, Burnaby
Project size: 236 apartments and 3 townhomes in a 34-storey highrise
Residence size: 1 bedroom + den to 3 bedrooms; 634 — 1,389 sq. ft
Prices: Starting from $269,800
Sales centre: 1710 Gilmore Ave., Burnaby
Hours: Noon — 5 p.m., Sat — Thurs
Sales phone: 604-291-9130
Email: admin@livingaviara.com
Developer: Ledingham McAllister
Architect: Hewitt & Company Architecture
Interior design: The Mill
Website: ledmac.com/aviara
Warranty: Traveler’s Guarantee 2-5-10 home warranty
Completion: Estimated spring 2014


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Burnaby+Aviara+offers+views+North+Shore+Gulf+Islands/7464146/story.html#ixzz2AiUj1fr6

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Letter writer on right track with idea

Letter-writer C. Linton to the editor of the Burnaby Now has made a nice suggestion after observing the apparent waste of shrubs and trees that are planted around sales centres for major development projects in Burnaby, particularly referring to the recently torn down sales centre at Holdom and Lougheed.  If the City of Burnaby cannot use the greenery, the developers should be required to transplant them onto the sites of their completed projects.  After all, we can never have enough greenery in the city.


A loss of good greenery

 

 
 
 
Dear Editor:
I thought and wondered . am I the only person in Burnaby (or outside of Burnaby) who notices the new construction presentation spaces going up? (And there are a lot!) And then some months later, coming down?
We all know that Burnaby is the most beautiful city in the Lower Mainland and the citizens of Burnaby are so proud to live in this beautiful town. We are known as the city of parks and it's no wonder - every street corner has stunning landscaping, and our green spaces are kept wonderfully well!
These new construction presentation spaces and the developer spend a lot of money on the beautiful landscaping, and every time I drive by one or SkyTrain by them, the beauty of them puts a smile on my face, and I imagine many others too.
The most recent space I noticed being torn down and all the plantings being mowed under the earth was the northwest corner at Lougheed and Holdom. No sooner was the backhoe on site, the structure and entire corner was decimated, hauled away in a big construction bin.
I have to ask: is there anything the city can do by partnering with the developers so that when the time comes to remove the plantings/landscaping, the city could re-use the landscaping material in other areas?
Most of the greenery is drought tolerant and needs little attention or care, these plants would be perfect for the street medians or parks in this lotus land we call home.
Or why not hold an annual plant sale where proceeds could go to something constructive versus destructive? I'm so frustrated seeing these spaces de-constructed and then thrown away.
As one of many avid gardeners/citizens in this city, can't we save these plants and maybe even save some money?
Curiouser and curiouser.
C. Linton, Burnaby


Read more:http://www.burnabynow.com/loss+good+greenery/7437972/story.html#ixzz2AViZLEob

Aviara ads kicking into high gear

The Vancouver Sun has an advertising writeup on the Aviara development today.  The sales centre is up and ready to go on Gilmore Ave.  Situated on the site of the old Fiji Canada Association, Aviara is expected to be completed by the spring of 2014.


A 'win-win' for both residents and neighbours

Burnaby building will give most occupants views of North Shore mountains and the Gulf Islands



AVIARA
Address: 4189 Halifax St., Burnaby
Project size: 236 apartments and 3 townhomes in a 34-storey highrise
Residence size: 1 bedroom + den to 3 bedrooms; 634 - 1,389 sq. ft
Prices: Starting from $269,800
Sales centre: 1710 Gilmore Ave., Burnaby
Hours: Noon - 5 p.m., Sat - Thurs
Sales phone: 604-291-9130
Email: admin@livingaviara.com
Developer: Ledingham McAllister
Architect: Hewitt & Company Architecture
Interior design: The Mill
Website: ledmac.com/aviara
Warranty: Traveler's Guarantee 2-5-10 home warranty
Completion: Estimated spring 2014

Aviara, a dramatic 34-storey curved residential tower being built on a wedge-shaped site between Halifax Street and Douglas Road in Burnaby, is proof that compromise can make everyone happy.
"The reason this tower is this interesting shape isn't just because we wanted to create something beautiful," says Manuela Mirecki, senior vice-president of marketing for Ledingham McAllister, developer of the project, which will have its sales launch today.
"It's also for the benefit of people who will live here, as well as our neighbours."
Aviara will be an elongated sliver of a building so that neighbours to the south can see past it to views of the North Shore.
And since the convex western side will be longer than the concave eastern side, most residents will have views stretching from the Gulf Islands to the North Shore mountains.
"It was sort of a win-win architecturally for the sake of the neighbourhood and ultimately the people who will be living here," Mirecki says.
Set back from the road in landscaped grounds, Aviara will feature a glittering glass exterior with an LED light strip running up one side the entire height of the building. The entrance, sheltered by a glass canopy, will be reached via a "floating walkway" across a reflecting pool fed by water cascading down the wall.
The bottom floors will house a lounge, fitness centre and guest suite. Above, each floor will have eight homes: two on the concave side and six along the convex side, ranging from one bedroom plus a den to two bedrooms and two bedrooms plus den. The top two floors will each contain just four homes, each with two bedrooms and a den in 990 square feet of space. At the base of the building will be three two-storey three-bedroom townhomes.
The show suite represents an 854-square-foot two-bedroom home in the Coffee palette: espresso-coloured cabinetry with light-grey wood floors. As its name suggests, Caramel, the alternative colour scheme, features caramel-coloured cabinetry and floors.
Both the kitchen and bathrooms have gleaming quartz counters, also used for a built-in desk in some units. Appliances, including the washer and dryer, are full sized. Mile appliances are standard in the penthouses and townhouses and available as an upgrade in other homes. The standard package is a KitchenAid stainless steel 30-inch five-burner gas range, Architect Series II wall oven and dishwasher, 20-cubic-foot french door fridge with bottom-mount freezer, Panasonic microwave and Whirlpool washer/dryer.
Windows stretch from floor to ceiling and wall to wall for maximum light and views. Every home will have a covered balcony. Mirecki credits Burnaby for allowing them to be larger than permitted just a few blocks west in Vancouver. "Burnaby is much more collaborative in understanding how people like to use their outdoor spaces," she says.
Ledingham McAllister has a long relationship with Burnaby, where its previous projects include Brentwood Gate, Perspectives, Memento, Silhouette and Reflections. It also has a long history in B.C.; since 1905 it has built such landmarks as the Granville Street Bridge and the Hudson's Bay building at Granville and Georgia. Located in Burnaby's Brentwood neighbourhood, Aviara will be within walking distance of the Gilmore SkyTrain station and the stores, restaurants and services along Lougheed Highway, as well as The Heights area along Hastings with its traditional bakeries, groceries, butcher shops and restaurants.
For anything not accessible by foot or SkyTrain, residents will have access to two on-site hybrid cars and receive a one-year membership in the Modo car co-op program.
"I think there's a new discovery of the Brentwood neighbourhood," Mirecki says.
"Because it has the longstanding residential community, it gives it sort of an organic sense of place. People from this neighbourhood tend to be very loyal to this neighbourhood - like there's the Hats Off Day parade up on Hastings Street, and it's amazing. They shut down the entire street and you can't move. But then, I'm biased. I grew up here, I have a family here, went to university here."
Like Mirecki, many prospective Aviara buyers have ties to the neighbourhood.
"There's a very strong old European Community that immigrated here," she says.
"A lot of those folks, now that the kids have moved out, they're saying, 'OK, I love this neighbourhood but my dentist, my doctor, my baker, my candlestick maker are all here." At the opposite end of the spectrum are young couples whose parents are helping them with their first purchase. Buyers are also diverse: single women, families, various ethnic backgrounds.
"It's just representative of the Lower Mainland as a whole really," Mirecki says.


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/both+residents+neighbours/7458123/story.html#ixzz2AVdPE4di

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Brentwood Mall Redevelopment Video

Shape Properties recently released a video depicting how it envisions Brentwood Town Centre after its development is complete.  The video is on YouTube as well as on its own site at Shape Properties.

Feeling that some music would enhance the feel of the video, I decided to add a track to it.  It is a royalty free track, titled CPU and is by Alexander Perls  from his project, Aalborg Soundtracks. Enjoy!


Friday, October 19, 2012

City Councillors weigh in on the Brentwood Redevelopment

The following story in the Burnaby NewsLeader has gotten the opinions of Burnaby City Councillors regarding the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment.

Burnaby NewsLeader - News
Brentwood master plan approved

The master plan for the redevelopment of Brentwood Town Centre has been given approval in principle by Burnaby council.
According to a city staff report, 91 written submissions about the plan were received by city hall, of which 66 expressed support and 25 had concerns or wanted more information. Of the 27 speakers at the public hearing, 16 were in support, five were opposed and six were undecided but had questions.
The report addressed a number of the issues raised, explaining that fewer, taller towers were most suitable for the mall site.
"Given the site's approximately 11.3 hectares (28 acres) of area, and an average tower site being in the range of 1.3 acres in size, the site could potentially yield approximately 22 residential towers, albeit lower and likely bulkier," the report said.
"However, this form of development is not supported as it would result in substantially less open space, increased shadowing, greater view obstruction and reduced separation between buildings."
Instead, the conceptual master plan proposes 11 residential towers, and two office buildings. The two tallest towers would be at the corner of Willingdon Avenue and Lougheed Highway and others would be shorter the closer they are to the single-family neighbourhood to the north.
"Furthermore, no additional residential towers, beyond the 11 proposed, will be permitted under the master plan."
Parking will be located mainly underground and there will be seven access points to the site for traffic, including Willingdon north of Halifax Street, and Lougheed between Alpha and Beta avenues.
The developer, mall owner Shape Properties, has been "required to relocate the existing northern driveway off Beta Avenue further south, to minimize potential conflicts with the adjacent residential area," the report said. And there will be no direct access to underground parking from Beta to limit traffic.
As part of the first phase of development, a one-acre public plaza will be built as a venue for public gatherings and contributions to city hall through its density bonus program will be used to fund area amenities.
While council approved the master plan, each individual phase of development will require its own rezoning process, including detailed transportation studies and a public hearing.
Coun. Pietro Calendino said at Monday's council meeting that city staff and the developer need to ensure there is no spillover of traffic into the surrounding neighbourhood, particularly streets such as Fairlawn, Brentlawn and Ridgelawn drives.
As for the proposed taller, slimmer buildings, Calendino was supportive, noting that on a recent visit to Croatia, he saw huge buildings of 200 feet long and 22 storeys tall. "That's a neverending building, not the type of thing I'd like to see in Burnaby."
Coun. Dan Johnston, who grew up in the Brentwood area, said he was surprised to hear the conservative neighbourhood endorse change.
When completed, the project will remove acres of blacktop and replace it with towers and notably, with greenspace, "something this site has been sorely lacking in 40 years."
While the project will be further fleshed out as each phase is developed, Mayor Derek Corrigan said, the community has given the master plan "a pretty ringing endorsement as a first stage."
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com

What types of shops will make up the new Brentwood Mall?

With Shape Properties soliciting retail/commercial interest for its future redevelopment of Brentwood Mall, it will be interesting to see what kinds of companies appear next to Brentwood Station and what the "storescape" will look like when it's all said and done.  I already have an idea of what I'd like to see at Brentwood that would compel me to visit the site more often than now.

DISCLAIMER: the following is NOT a Shape Properties rendering of what it will look like.  I've just thrown together some images to imagine what the "storescape" might look like.


Vibrant outdoor space with a range of amenities.
A movie theatre must be a part of the scene.

 Walkable storefronts

Restaurants

Restaurants

Coffee shops

Bars

...and more restaurants


A clothing store other than The Gap or Suzy Shier.
And yes, The Gap and Suzy Shier would do just fine.

The last image depicting UNIQLO has the potential to become reality in Brentwood if Shape Properties does some legwork to entice Japan-based Fast Retailing (owner of UNIQLO) to come here.  Having already opened a store in New York around 4-5 years ago, rumours of a store in Toronto and on Vancouver's Robson Street have surfaced.  This is the type of  unisex clothing store that Shape Properties (I hope somebody from there reads this blog) should be courting to open in Brentwood.




Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Burnaby staff report on Brentwood Redevelopment

As the Solo District site excavation has gotten under way on the southwest corner, the Brentwood Redevelopment is inching towards a definitive plan for the northeast corner of Lougheed and Willingdon.




This story (below) has been reported in the Burnaby Now.  The webpage noted in the article has a video link that provides a graphic rendering of the project.
Shape Properties Link


The City of Burnaby staff report on the Brentwood Town Centre conceptual master plan was presented to council at Monday night's meeting.
The report did not recommend any changes to the plan but gave a synopsis of public feedback on the project and provided answers to questions that arose during the public consultation process.
Twenty-seven delegates spoke at the public hearing on the project in August, according to the report, with 16 in favour of the project, five people expressing opposition to it, and six others voicing concerns and questions.
The city also received 91 writ-ten submissions - 66 expressed support and 25 expressed concerns, according to the report from Lou Pelletier, director of planning and building.
The Brentwood master plan would divide the 11.5-hectare site at 4515 and 4567 Lougheed Hwy. into four quadrants for development, with the first phase including two residential towers that could range in height from 45 to 70 storeys at the corner of Willingdon Avenue and Lougheed Highway.
The proposed development is divided into four phases and would include 10 residential towers - with a structure capable of accommodating one more in the future - possibly ranging in height from 20 to 70 storeys depending on the location, and two office towers ranging in height from 30 to 40 storeys. The design also includes a redeveloped commercial centre, a 50,000-square-foot food store, and a variety of public outdoor spaces.
The report provided answers to some of the questions that arose during the public hearing, with a specific focus on the height of the towers.
The range of heights is consistent with the permissible densities designated by council in the 1996 Brentwood Town Centre development plan, the report stated.
City staff worked with the developer on plans for the tall, thin towers as opposed to more shorter, bulkier towers that would obstruct views and provide less open space.
The tallest towers would be at the corner of Willingdon Avenue and Lougheed Highway, the report added, with the other towers continuing inwards on the site in a lower, terraced form.
Traffic was another prevalent issue, and the report stated that more detailed traffic impact analyses would be required as part of each site-specific rezoning application.
But more parking would be available as part of the underground parking plan, it added, and two access points would be added to the development.
Questions on school capacities, open and public spaces, transit, and other issues were also addressed in the report.
The master plan does not include a specific development proposal and construction is not moving ahead at this point, Pelletier stressed in a follow-up email to the NOW.
"At this stage, the master plan concept under consideration by council is intended to help guide future development applications," he wrote. "In future, as approved by council, specific applications would be received for each phase of development, with further detailed review and development of the concept to take place at that time."
The master plan proposal passed second reading at the council meeting.
The next step is third reading and final adoption.
The developer will next work on getting the plan to final adoption, according to Darren Kwiatkowski, executive vice-president of Shape Properties, which owns Brentwood Town Centre.
This will include meeting the city's technical requirements, he added.
"It's what's usually referred to as a prior-to list," he said.
The rezoning application for the project is different from most, as it is divided into two parts, Kwiatkowski explained.
This one is a bit unique," he said. "It's actually a two-step rezoning process. So the next step is a site-specific rezoning for phase one."
The second part of the process has very specific requirements, Kwiatkowski said, and it will likely be months before it is up for first reading.
"I expect that the site specific zoning will likely take about six months," he said. "There's a lot of detail required."
The site-specific rezoning application will also go to public hearing after it comes before council.
For more on the plan, go to www.shapeproperties.com/our-places/brent wood-town-centre.