Retail tenants revealed for Brentwood

It has been about 2 months since my last post.  During that time, the Willingdon Linear Park has won an award while cycling advocates complain about not having a dedicated bike path along the length of the park.  If we are having discussions and debates about separating pedestrian from bicycle paths, it's a good thing as we move towards designing our city to be more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly

As the pedestrian areas in and around Brentwood's Entertainment Plaza begin to take shape with nicely lit steps, benches and beautiful greenery in the form of trees and shrubs, it appears that a full opening of Phase 1 of the Brentwood development has been delayed.  However some retail names have been revealed for the development as it inches closer to a gradual opening that will unfold between this fall and 2020.  According to the Daily Hive article below, the Cactus Club and McDonald's, will join Starbucks in the Entertainment Plaza.  H&M, Wilfred, Nike and Adidas have joined Sporting Life among the retailers announced.  More retail names should be revealed beginning this fall.

First look inside: The Amazing Brentwood shopping mall will live up to its name (PHOTOS)

Kenneth Chan

|

Jul 26 2019, 9:59 am

It is safe to say The Amazing Brentwood (TAB) will live up to its name.

The first phase of the expansive redevelopment of what was previously known as Brentwood Town Centre shopping mall is now racing towards completion, with project team crews now well into the process of incrementally handing over completed shell commercial spaces to the construction contractors hired by the many retailers.

Darren Kwiatkowski, the executive vice-president of acquisitions and development for Shape Properties, provided Daily Hive this week with an exclusive first glimpse of the project nearing its final stage.

“We’re really excited that after many years of planning, design, and construction, we are close to being finished,” said Kwiatkowski.

“This place is coming alive… We think the public will be very excited and really embrace the project, and we’re looking forward to many years of success here.”

To say the least, it is certainly a highly impressive application and scale of a mixed-use, transit-oriented redevelopment concept; much attention to detail has been provided to this $1.5-billion phase of the new indoor and outdoor shopping mall with a wide range of retail and dining, residential and office spaces, and an immersive public realm.

The new shopping mall’s selection of retail, restaurants, and entertainment, with a greater-than-normal emphasis on the latter two, is intended to bring people to TAB. It speaks to how the next generation of malls in the rising retail age of e-commerce are increasingly focusing on creating experiential activations that supplement traditional retail.

To achieve an optimal mix of global luxury, mid-market, and local-serving retail, the developer partnered with global firm L Catterton Real Estate to turn TAB into a mall with high-calibre architecture, public art, and world-renowned and luxury retail brands.

CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE WITH PHOTOS

Seattle Times article shows Brentwood growth in positive light

While many in Metro Vancouver lament about the direction that densification is moving the region, according to the following Seattle Times article, Vancouver is at least a decade ahead of where Seattle needs to be when it comes to transit and transit oriented development.  In particular, the article cites the development around Brentwood Town Centre as an example of where future urban living is heading.  While Seattle may feel that it is a decade behind Metro Vancouver in this regard,  we are certainly decades behind other well-developed cities in Europe and Asia.  It's all relative.

Seattle Times Article Below

Is this the future of Seattle transit?  A look at Vancouver, B.C. -- a city that figured it out years ago

With three fully-built light-rail lines and an interconnected bus network, Vancouver’s transportation system is like Seattle’s, just a couple of decades in the future. But the Canadian city differs in its rock-solid commitment to building housing right on top of transit.

By 

David Gutman 

Seattle Times staff reporter

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Stand in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, at the Brentwood SkyTrain station, and you can see how the region has literally taken shape around public transportation.

The rail station is surrounded by residential skyscrapers, both completed and under construction. By 2020, there should be 11 towers — some up to 60 stories, with 6,000 homes and a massive mall — within a block or two of the station.

Look south.

Close by it’s an unremarkable suburban panorama: squat apartment buildings and town houses, tree-lined streets, car dealerships, a Costco.

But three miles in the distance lies a cluster of skyscrapers. Scan left, a stretch of empty green, then another clump of high-rises. And a bit farther left, the biggest, highest assemblage of skyscrapers yet.

The towers, all in Burnaby, are built along SkyTrain’s original line, which opened in 1985. The high-rises flag the rail line beneath it — each clump a station — a real-life pop-up map of the transit line.

Metro Vancouver — which comprises Vancouver and 23 surrounding cities and towns — is a region being built, more and more, around its thriving and ever-expanding light-rail system.

Click here for original full article with better visual presentation

Sears seeks protection

Sears has filed for bankruptcy protection.  In doing so, Sears has officially brought urgency to Shape Properties' problem of finding a use for the giant 3-level space at the east end of Brentwood Mall in the event that Sears decides to shut down its Brentwood location.  In good news, the Brentwood location is not among the listed stores slated for closure so far.

Georgia Straight Article below

Sears Canada files for bankruptcy protection

by Charlie Smith on June 22nd, 2017 at 6:49 AM

One of Canada's major retailers is seeking shelter under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act to restructure its business.

Sears Canada has filed an application to the Ontario Court of Justice to deal with serious cash-flow problems.

In Metro Vancouver the company has department stores at Capilano Mall, Brentwood, Metropolis at Metrotown, Coquitlam Centre, and Willowbrook Shopping Centre.

Across the country, Sears Canada has 95 full-line department stores, 26 home stores, and 14 outlet stores, according to its 2016 annual report. It also has 69 Hometown stores and 62 Sears Travel offices.

The court filing comes less than two weeks after Sears Canada reported a $144-million quarterly loss.

The company put a bright shine on the announcement in a news release on its website.

"Sears Canada rebuilt its front and back-end technology platform, redefined its brand positioning, revamped its product assortment, and rebooted its customer experience and service standards," it stated. "The new product assortment is reflected in two pillars, The Cut @ Sears, which offers designer labels at everyday value prices, and the Sears Label, which offers premium quality and enduring styles, also at everyday value prices.  The customer experience was reinvented, both online, with a newly designed site built in-house by a new technology team, and in-store with a new format called Sears 2.0."

It also claimed that its customer service standards are "best-in-class", noting that it "launched a new store in downtown Toronto to showcase its reinvention to an entirely new audience".

"The Company's hard work to bring its vision to reality is reflected in reported growth in same store sales in its two most recently completed quarters," it added. "Sears Canada believes this indicates that the new brand positioning is starting to resonate with consumers."

Some companies that seek protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act emerge successfully, such as Air Canada. But for others, like Target Canada, filing for bankruptcy protection was one of the steps along the way to its demise.

Under the act, if the application is approved the court will appoint a monitor who is a trustee in bankruptcy. This ensures the company continues operating as it deals with creditors.

Development coming to Gilmore Station

Recently signs have been erected on either side of Gilmore Station by The Onni Group.  The website for Onni (onni.com) indicates that a new development is to come in the future.  According to what I've heard, the project may involve construction on either side of the station and maybe even above it.  That would mean that the site of Gold's Gym will be torn down to make room for the project.  The development would then extend over the station and continue until the southeast corner of Lougheed Hwy and Gilmore Ave where an empty lot currently sits.

An article below the first 2 photographs provides a brief timeline of the project so far.  The photograph below that article showing an overhead view of the site does not belong to this blog.

Article and photo below from Vancouvermarket.ca

Onni Acquires Gilmore Site in Burnaby

Posted on January 23, 2014

Onni announced via instagram today that they have acquired the 12.5 acre Gilmore Station area lands from Standard Life. The site, which is partially vacant, and partially occupied by industrial and office buildings, sold for a reported $110 Million.

Rat-running a serious concern for residents

As multiple high-density developments continue to be approved, concern has been increasing about rat-running through residential streets.  I've already posted several times about the problem of increased traffic through Brentlawn Drive and the problem of aggressive drivers using Brentlawn as a freeway.  As the residents of Brentlawn are organizing to meet with the City of Burnaby, a group of residents on Graveley Street have been doing the same.  Both groups will be meeting with the City Traffic Committee on November 5 to express their concerns and press for solutions.  I hope the meeting will result in more than just lip service.

Burnaby NewsLeader article below:

Graveley Street residents seek relief from ratrunners

By Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader
Published: October 10, 2013 1:00 PM 
Updated: October 10, 2013 4:05 PM

Cherie Moses moved two years ago to North Burnaby from Edmonton where, she says, vehicles usually stop at stop signs.

That's apparently not the case here, she said, at least not on Graveley Street, where she lives.

Indeed, during an interview with a NewsLeader reporter Tuesday afternoon an SUV ran a stop sign to beat the traffic lights which had stopped traffic on Willingdon Avenue.

It's a regular occurrence on Graveley, between Carleton and Willingdon avenues, said Moses, 64, as is speeding, revving up the steep hill on the Carleton end, and people's parked cars being damaged in hit-and-runs.

There's also an issue of people parking on the street while they go to work nearby or take SkyTrain.

"Everybody seems to know about Graveley except city hall," she shouted above the revving traffic near the Carleton end.

When her complaints to Burnaby city hall didn't result in any resolution, Moses started talking with her neighbours and learned she wasn't alone in her frustration.

"I finally realized there were people on the street wanting change for a long time but they'd given up."

They began coordinating their efforts and last month a group of neighbours met with Coun. Sav Dhaliwal, chair of the city's traffic safety committee, and two planning staff to show them the problem first-hand.

Their concern is only heightened by plans for major new developments at the Brentwood mall site and 1st and Gilmore avenues.

"Development is sexy but traffic control isn't," Moses said. "They're obviously planning for more traffic but they're not taking into consideration what's happening right now. It can only increase."

Gerry Rosen, 71, who lives near the Carleton end, said the traffic is ratrunning through the neighbourhood to avoid congestion at Lougheed Highway and Willingdon. Instead, commuters go from Gilmore to Douglas Road, Carleton and Graveley, cross Willingdon and make their way through one of the streets north of the mall, such as Brentlawn Drive, over to Delta Avenue and onto Lougheed.

Speed humps on Graveley are flatter than they'd like, leading to vehicles cruising over them instead of being forced to slow down.

Several residents have had parked vehicles damaged in hit-and-runs, mostly taking off side mirrors, while Rosen himself had $900 worth of damage caused to his car in August.

"You try and back out of your driveway during rush hour, sometimes you're taking your life in your hands," he said.

He's lived on the street for 18 years and believes the traffic has gotten progressively worse. He's seen close calls and incidents of road rage, and worries about the kids in the neighbourhood.

In fact, the pedestrian crossing on Willingdon and Graveley came about after a mother was struck and killed by a pickup truck while crossing the street while pushing her toddler daughter in a stroller.

Traffic counts on that stretch of Graveley done during the summer found 1,200 to 1,400 vehicles a day were using the street, said Doug Louie, the assistant director of engineering in charge of traffic and parking management.

While he said "that's not unexpected," he acknowledged that it's a little higher than a typical residential street of single-family homes which generally sees about 1,000 cars a day on the high end.

Louie said the engineering department will look into any concerns the residents point out to them, including the possibility the speed humps are flatter than they should be, noting they're designed for speeds of up to 40 km/h.

City hall knows that Lougheed and Willingdon is very busy and may result in impacts on surrounding streets, he said.

"We are looking at making changes to the surrounding street network." For instance, they're considering extending Dawson Street east of Beta Avenue to improve traffic flows.

A realignment of 1st Avenue—the development at Gilmore, if approved, would involve Douglas Road being broken up by an expansion of Willingdon Heights park—could also change traffic patterns, and staff are looking at the potential impacts, he said.

Dhaliwal said after witnessing the issues first-hand that "they have legitimate concerns." However, "these concerns are probably a little bit more serious than some but not as serious as others."

Traffic issues are a problem throughout Burnaby, he stressed. But city staff have been directed to look at Graveley in light of the proposed development at 1st and Gilmore, and see if restricting left-turns at Douglas could help reduce ratrunning.

Dhaliwal said he's also asked staff to look at the effectiveness of the speed humps, potentially adjusting the pedestrian signal at Willingdon so drivers on Graveley can't use the timer in their efforts to beat the signal.

And he'll be asking Burnaby RCMP to do some spot enforcement on the street.

Meanwhile, the Graveley residents aren't taking it easy. They've started a petition calling on city hall to conduct a planning process looking at traffic calming, pedestrian safety and parking in the area.

They plan to present it and their concerns to the traffic safety committee on Nov. 5.

wchow@burnabynewsleader.com

twitter.com/WandaChow

Solo public preview

According to the Burnaby NewsLeader the public will get an opportunity to see a preview of the Solo District project this Saturday June 23 on Willingdon Ave just south of Lougheed (SOLO).  I will definitely try to make it out for the viewing.  For those that will need to drive to the site, a parking lot has been provided next to the presentation centre.

Burnaby NewsLeader - News
Solo set to transform Burnaby's Brentwood corner
By Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader
Published: June 20, 2012 1:00 PM 
Updated: June 20, 2012 3:45 PM
As a Burnaby boy, Jim Bosa has passed by the southwest corner of Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue thousands of times.

"I just saw the potential of what we could have down here," said Bosa, now president of Appia Developments.

Working from an office a couple blocks away, Bosa is set to make that potential a reality with the Solo District, a four-tower community on just over six acres, set to start construction in August once final approvals are granted by city hall.

"It's an opportunity that came up," said Bosa during a NewsLeader preview of the sales centre. "We've spent six years planning and designing for this."

The company contemplated getting the project off the ground three or four years ago, but decided to wait until market conditions were right. Then a couple years ago, Burnaby city hall introduced its "s category" of density bonuses and Appia redesigned the project to take advantage of it.

The result is a complex of four towers, with a total of just under 1,400 homes. It will include offices and commercial space, including the first Whole Foods supermarket in Burnaby.

The first phase, dubbed Stratus, will be a 45-storey, 374-unit highrise, the Whole Foods and additional retail space on the northwest corner of the site, at Lougheed and Rosser Avenue.

Phase two will be a 52-storey tower on the northeast corner, comprised of 250,000 square feet of office space, additional commercial space, and a residential tower on top of it all.

The third phase will be a 39-storey highrise on the southwest corner, with 12,000 square feet of commercial, and the fourth phase, to be built when market conditions permit, will be a 43-storey structure on the southeast corner, on top of a 20,000-square-foot podium of commercial space.

In exchange for the additional density, Bosa said Appia will be providing $32 million in community amenities if all four phases go ahead—a 4,000-square-foot community space to be owned by city hall, a $2-million value to be built in phase three, and $30 million in cash to be used for amenities off site.

The condos in Stratus will have their share of sustainable features, from Modo car co-op vehicles and two years of transit passes for a certain number of units to individual gas meters for each unit, so residents pay only for what they use.

All units will have air conditioning and a geo-exchange system will be used to reduce energy costs. "We're taking advantage of the energy the whole project produces (both retail and residential) rather than just blowing it out into the atmosphere," Bosa said.

As for Stratus, it features an outdoor rooftop common area that includes a fenced-in dog park, fitness centre, gardens and barbecue area.

The units range in size from the 475-square-foot junior one-bedrooms ($229,000) to three two-level skylofts at 1,785 square feet ($1.25 million), said Dennis Serraglio, Appia's director of sales. Two bedroom units will range in size from 850 to 940 square feet and start at $379,000.

They all come with balconies that are larger than usual but typical for Appia projects, said Serraglio. The junior one-bedroom (essentially a studio suite with a pony wall creating a sleeping area) comes with about 80 square feet of balcony, which is not included in the floor area.

"People in the summer like to spend a lot of time outside," he said. "It adds to the cost to build but it enhances the unit."

And when Solo is complete, it will all complement the planned redevelopment of Brentwood Mall across Lougheed.

"[Brentwood] will be more walkable and pedestrian friendly, more of a community versus a destination mall, in and out from the parking lot," said Bosa, stressing residents will be able to walk or take SkyTrain to their shopping and entertainment, leaving their cars, if any, at home.

While sales for Stratus will not start until mid summer, after the city grants final approvals, the sales centre at the end of Sumas Street near Willingdon opens for public previews this Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m.

A community event will be held at the centre on July 14, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., featuring free food, games, and entertainment for the whole family.

twitter.com/WandaChow

Greens would establish affordable housing in transit hubs

Once again, affordable housing was discussed at the latest all candidates' meeting which took place at Stride Elementary School yesterday evening.  I didn't attend the meeting and, as is the case much of the time, I am using the Burnaby Now as my source of info on this meeting.   The Burnaby Greens candidate Rick McGowan stated that if elected, the Greens will allocate 20% of density bonus money to create affordable housing in areas close to SkyTrain stations.    However, he further stated that the Greens would reduce the allowable density in town centres back to previous levels from the current allowance that Burnaby City Council established earlier this year.  This would essentially reduce the amount of potential money that could go towards affordable housing.

As I have written earlier, it is important to have a program in place to deal with affordable housing for at-risk members of the community before it gets out of control and before available space is taken up by conventional housing which makes the issue more costly to deal with in the future. The Greens have suggested a concrete plan instead of just promises to attempt to work with various levels of government with an excuse later to blame the other levels of government for the lack of action.

There is currently plenty of potential to build more affordable housing in the Brentwood area as developers clammer to have their high-density projects approved.  I like the Green idea of 20% allocation of density funds but disagree with the scaling back of the density allowances that were approved earlier this year.  Greater density will help fund more community amenities as well as allow adjacent single-family neighbourhoods to maintain their low-density character and serenity.

Higher, concentrated density or lower, spread out density?

The following letter by a resident of Burnaby to the Burnaby NewsLeader highlights the debate about taller buildings in concentrated town centres versus the idea of spreading the density around throughout the city as Rick McGowan of the Burnaby Green Party is suggesting.  Rick McGowan has repeatedly written to local newspapers arguing that the City of Burnaby has somehow underhandedly snuck in changes to Burnaby bylaws to allow for greater density in town centres such as Brentwood with density bonus money being provided by developers for community amenities.  Although Mr. McGowan has suggested that public consultation did not take place when increased densities were approved, a public hearing was publicized in local newspapers by way of notices.  I even had occasion to attend the public hearing at which no opposition to the bylaw amendment was expressed.

In my opinion, in order to preserve the tranquility of single family neighbourhoods, it is important to build up town centres with increased densities where certain demographics of people can live, work, shop and play without venturing too far away from their homes.  With the boundaries set for town centres limiting high density there, single family neighbourhoods outside of those boundaries will be able to continue to exist with less pressure from high density developments in the long term.

Why sacrifice single family neighbourhoods?

Re: Burnaby should spread density around (Letters, NewsLeader, Sept. 23)Published: October 13, 2011 2:00 PM
Updated: October 13, 2011 2:06 PM

I worked hard to find and buy a nice single family home in Burnaby close to schools and community amenities. I chose my home knowing that it was zoned as a single family neighbourhood.

I now read that Burnaby’s upstart Green Party wants to jam high density housing in single family neighbourhoods rather than town centres that have been planned by Burnaby for decades. If Rick McGowan and his Green cohorts have their way, the single-family neighbourhoods that we cherish in Burnaby will face an unprecedented threat. Our property values will go down and the stability and tranquility of our neighbourhoods will be destroyed.

McGowan chose to live in a Metrotown condominium. That’s his choice. But please don’t foist your lifestyle on those of us who have worked for and earned the right to live in peace in our single family neighbourhoods. We don’t need any Green party densification of our Burnaby neighbourhoods. At least the two mainstream civic parties support the town centre concept and haven’t disrupted low-density neighbourhoods.

I trust the voters of Burnaby will have the good sense to reject the civic Green Party if this kind of densification of our single family neighbourhoods represents their approach to planning.

J.S. (Jas) Parmar

Burnaby

Views on taller buildings determined by the resulting view

Recently a resident of the Brentwood neighbourhood wrote a letter to the Burnaby Newsleader opposing the Brentwood Crossing project.

Poor planning reaches new heights in Burnaby's Brentwood area

Published: September 08, 2011 9:00 AM
Updated: September 08, 2011 9:20 AM
Re: Proposed development to transform Brentwood (NewsLeader, Sept. 2)

I read the article about the proposed development with towers 39 to 48 storeys for the southwest corner of Willingdon Avenue and Lougheed Highway and find that the proposal is at the best obscene. Perhaps Burnaby needs a change of leadership, for allowing developments like these to go ahead. They allowed highrises on the north side of Lougheed that cost $400,000 to $2 million and now are proposing to lower the value of these properties by cutting off all views from the north.

People on the east and south sides of the buildings on the north side of Lougheed will have nothing to see but cement buildings. This will certainly lower the property values for all the buildings on the north side (but probably not their property tax assessments).

It appears Burnaby does not have anyone in its employ, or even a consultant with any idea of how to keep views for everyone. The new buildings should be lower than the buildings on the north side and any new ones to the south after these new buildings should be shorter than the proposed buildings. The whole area is turning into a mini-Toronto but with no amenities to match.

So now we have the option of selling and moving, or staying and suffering from lowered property value. What is wrong with Burnaby’s city council and planning department?

Patricia Muss

Burnaby