Brentwood Sky Dec 31, 2011

The last sunrise of 2011 was nice to look at this morning.

Brentwood Mall Redevelopment Open House

Although Public Hearings on its project will not occur until mid 2012, Shape Properties has placed a Notice of Open House in the Burnaby Now and the Burnaby NewLeader to consult with the public on its proposed rezoning application to redevelop Brentwood Mall.  The Open House will take place at the food court at Brentwood Mall on Monday, January 9 from 4:00-7:00 pm.

This is a good move by Shape Properties to ensure that locals are given an opportunity to consider the ramifications of the mega project as well as receive input or new ideas in its approach to developing Brentwood Mall into an urban centre of Burnaby.  I'll definitely take the opportunity to attend the open house.  Hopefully other local residents will come out to provide feedback and to express any concerns regarding possible traffic pattern changes affecting the Brentwood Park neighbourhood located north of the mall.

For those that do not attend the open house, I will provide as much info as I am able to on this blog.
The following excerpt is from the notice in today's issue of the Burnaby Now and Burnaby NewsLeader:

The intent of the proposed rezoning is to establish development guidelines in accordance with the City of Burnaby's existing adopted Brentwood Town Centre Development Plan, which would provide a framework for guiding future detailed rezoning applications for specific phases of new development.

The Brentwood Town Centre Development Plan (the "BTCDP") designates the subject property for mixed-use redevelopment, including high and medium residential densities.  The BTCDP specifically indicates low-rise residential forms along the rear lane that separates the subject site from the abutting single and two-family dwellings.  The BTCDP also conceptually indicates tower locations toward the interior site and along Lougheed Highway & Willingdon Avenue intersection.  A primary goal of the BTCDP is to balance commercial and residential uses.  A(s) such, it designates a large portion of the site for high density commercial uses with a focus on the Lougheed Highway & Willingdon Avenue intersection. The BTCDP indicates a significant public open space component.

The proposed preliminary development concept for the property is to transform, over time, the property into an urban "town centre" environment with a focus on street-orientation and very high quality public spaces.

The open house will be held on Monday January 9, 2012 between the hours of 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm at Brentwood Town Centre Mall in the food court.  The public is invited to attend this open house to view information on the proposed development as well as provide comments.

For additional information contact Benj Nelson at nelson@shapeproperties.com or

 604-681-2358. 

Public hearings for Brentwood Mall Redevelopment not until mid 2012

According to the following story in the Burnaby NewsLeader, public hearings for the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment will not begin until mid 2012.  The story also confirms that Destination Toyota will relocate from its current location at Madison and Lougheed to the new auto mall at Still Creek.  This will undoubtedly open up the space for another high-rise development.

Burnaby NewsLeader - News 

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LOOKING BACK/AHEAD: Highrises galore in Metrotown, Brentwood

The parking lot at Brentwood Town Centre could soon be redeveloped into condominiums.

MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER

By Wanda Chow - Burnaby NewsLeader
Published: December 27, 2011 1:00 PM

It may seem that Metrotown and Brentwood town centres are experiencing a spike in developments, but the construction activity is actually spread throughout the city, says Burnaby’s director of planning Basil Luksun.

In fact, over the past five years, Metrotown isn’t even in the top two in any of the density categories, he said.

For low-density projects, the Royal Oak and Edmonds neighbourhoods have been leading the way, for low-rise multi-family development, it’s Brentwood and Royal Oak, and in the high-density highrise category, it’s Brentwood and Edmonds.

But in 2011, Metrotown and Brentwood have certainly garnered their share of headlines.

In Metrotown, there are just over 1,500 housing units under construction right now, with another 1,100 units still going through the city’s rezoning approval process. Over in Brentwood, about 480 units are under construction, with another 1,300 units at the approval stage.

Appia Developments’ project on the southwest corner of Lougheed Highway and Willingdon Avenue, dubbed Solo, is a major project that will be phased in, likely built over 10 years depending on market conditions, Luksun said.

Brentwood Town Centre is also getting set for a major makeover with recently released promotional materials for the mall indicating the possibility of six residential towers being added to the 28-acre site ranging in height from 30 to 60 storeys, as well as offices and additional retail spaces.

Luksun noted that, contrary to a recent NewsLeader story, the property owner, Shape Properties, has not yet submitted a master concept plan to city hall for approval. The planning department is working with the company but a public hearing isn’t likely to take place on the project until the middle of 2012.

Once the concept plan is approved, the company would have to apply for rezonings for each phase of the project.

Burnaby city hall has long had plans in place for the Lougheed corridor even before the Millennium SkyTrain line was built, he said. It had planned to add density there back when light-rail was still being considered as it had always envisioned a transit station at Brentwood.

Spurring development in the area is the moving of car dealerships that used to call Lougheed home. Morrey Nissan has moved to new digs off Willingdon and Still Creek, while the Toyota dealership will move nearby into an auto mall under development.

The Carter GM dealership site on the eastern side of Willingdon is also designated for future development but city hall has yet to receive a proposal for that property, Luksun said.

Over in the Metrotown area, a major redevelopment of Station Square Mall is going through the approval process with a plan that includes five towers ranging from 35 to 57 storeys each. The first phase being proposed is for offices and housing along the Kingsway frontage. The developers hope to start construction in 2012 with the entire phased project expected to take about 10 years to complete.

Bosa Properties’ Sovereign, currently under construction at the northeast corner of Willingdon and Kingsway, will be 500 feet tall, with a 169-room hotel topped by 202 units of condominiums. It sold out in six hours last February.

Polygon’s 37-storey Chancellor highrise, next to Bonsor Recreation Centre, also sold out quickly and is under construction, with a 35-storey tower by Concord Pacific Holdings Ltd. set for a site kitty-corner, on the other side of Nelson Avenue. New condo towers are also earmarked for sites on Beresford Street at Dow and Telford avenues.

Metrotower III, the third office tower in the complex adjacent to Metropolis at Metrotown mall, recently announced it will restart construction in January after work was halted due to the effects of the 2008 economic downturn.

Luksun said city hall will be working with TransLink in the new year on a redesign for the Metrotown SkyTrain station to better integrate it with the surrounding area and the planned redevelopment projects.

As it is for the rest of the city, redevelopment is moving ahead according to plans that have been in place for many years.

“Council is very consistent in its application of policies and plans,” he said. “It makes the rules and guidelines for the development community quite clear.”

Brentwood Mall 'High Street' will create nightlife

Each day as the evening approaches, the area around Bentwood Mall becomes a gloomy void as street-level human activity significantly wanes when the stores in the mall begin to wind down their operations.  With no amenities other than the disorganized chaos that is Zellers and the London Drugs at the rear of the mall opening outside regular mall hours, the place becomes quite desolate.

The Brentwood Redevelopment, if planned well to create a good balance of retail and entertainment amenities, should jolt the area out of its current pattern of falling into a sleepy lull by 8pm.  Along with the introduction of an entertainment plaza that will include restaurants and a movie theatre, the redevelopment will include a "High Street" running from the northwest to the southeast of the mall site between Willingdon and Beta Avenues, north of Lougheed Hwy.  This street will have 2 distinct sections with a "Fashion District" towards the northwest end and a "Village District" at the southeast end of the site.

The Village

According to the retail brochure from Shape Properties, 10, 000 sf of retail space will face out at street level on Lougheed Hwy and Beta Ave in the SE corner of the development.  This retail space will be situated between Beta Ave and a new entrance off of Lougheed Hwy.  Immediately above this retail space will be another 10, 000 sf of retail along with 82, 000 sf more of retail space throughout the Village at the first level.  The second level will include more than 26, 000 sf of additional retail space in the west end of the Village near the Alpha Ave entrance.  The corner of Beta and Lougheed will see a 40-story, 320-unit residential tower above the retail space there.  West of this tower will be a 50-story, 400-unit residential tower above the retail space just east of the Alpha Ave entrance.

Considering the size of the retail space envisioned in the Village, we can expect a grocery store to serve the 3000 plus new residents of the site (half of them in the Village itself) and the existing residents immediately east and north of the mall.  An IGA marketplace-type of grocery store would be a nice fit here (though nothing has been confirmed) and it may be a bit of a stretch, the recent closure of the IGA in the Montecito area near Burnaby Mountain Golf Course is fuelling my speculation.  Other amenities in the Village might include a coffee shop or two, a family restaurant, a neighbourhood pub, medical clinic, specialty bakery, a liquor store,  a dry cleaner or other service-related business.

Pedestrian access from the northeast end will be facilitated by stairs into the Village from the single family residences there.  The pedestrian access will go to/from Beta across the street from Ridgelawn Drive.  The new entrance off Lougheed will provide access to the scores of pedestrians that currently enter off Beta Ave from Brentwood Drive.  The entrance on Beta Ave will be closed to make room for retail space.

Fashion District

Although I'm not a "fashionably astute" consumer, it will be nice to see a variety of clothing and footwear choices for the odd day that I need to replenish my "wardrobe".  For me, this stretch of "High Street" will merely serve as an access to and from Brentwood Station or the entertainment area next to it...unless a Tim Horton's steeped tea gives me good reason to make a stop along this stretch.  Here's hoping.

As one walks westward towards the "Fashion District" (FD), the atmosphere should begin to take on a livelier tone with the presence of commuters going in and out of Brentwood Station/Bus Loop.  This part of the street will have shops that will tend to open later than the stores inside the mall and will certainly see a spill-off of people from the station and the entertainment plaza next to it.

The street-level entrance to the FD off of Alpha Avenue will include 6, 700 sf of retail space at the east corner  (Village) and 9, 000 sf at the west corner (Entertainment Plaza).  The first and second levels of the FD will each include over 85, 000 sf for a total of over 170, 000 sf of retail space.  Now that's a lot of clothing and shoes.

Brentwood Sky December 22, 2011

It will be interesting to see the difference between this view and the one we'll see by 2016.

Vantage from Sears rooftop

In keeping with the spirit of this time of year, the crane at the Vantage project on Rosser and Lougheed has become visually prominent in the evening.

Once the Vantage tower is complete, its view from the Sears rooftop will not last very long as the Solo District development will rise in front of it at the SW corner of Lougheed and Willingdon.  That in turn will become blocked by the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment.

Drivability and walkability after the Brentwood Mall Redevelopment

Several of my posts have focussed on the need for improving walkability and cyclability in our neighbourhoods and my tone may appear to be anti-driving to those that would never consider walking anywhere other than to their car.  My seemingly anti-driving tone is only a product of the fact that our neighbourhoods and cities have been designed with the automobile as the centrepiece of moving people and goods over long distances with nearly no thought for other forms of movement.  Believe it or not, I am not a cycling fanatic (I have a bike but haven't ridden it for over a year) and I do own a car (in fact between my wife and I, we have 2 cars).   I have had the luxury of being able to use public transit to get to work and to walk for at least half of my shopping needs as I live near Brentwood Mall.  The convenience of having 2 cars for the busy moments of my life is still something I have been willing to spend (or waste) my money on.  My personal goal is to reduce my need for having 2 cars and eventually to having no cars as this area begins to add enough amenities to allow me to do everything within walking and cycling distance.  I digress...

Having had a chance to view the map showing the potential locations of the new car lanes, entry/exit points into the BW Mall property as well as the underground parking entries/exits in the BW Mall Redevelopment, some pedestrian and driving issues will be resolved but other potentially problematic issues may arise.  Let's start with the positives.

Positives

• The creation of a walkable outdoor strip (within the current BW Mall parking lot) lined with shops away from the noisy Lougheed Hwy will create a more calm environment for everyone to leisurely stroll around among the outdoor amenities of the new mall.  The "Fashion" and "Village" sections of the new street will be buffered from the noise of Lougheed Hwy by the placement of commercial fronts and high-rise towers along its outer length.   I know that I'm not the only one that ends up feeling a sense of urgency when I walk along a busy, noisy, high-speed street despite not having to get anywhere in a rush.  The noise of high-speed traffic is a source of unnecessary stress for pedestrians.

• In a previous post, a reader made a comment about the current chaos that occurs at the eastern exit from BW Mall, north of Beta and Lougheed and across from the Brentwood Gate complex at Beta Ave.  The nearly non-stop crossing of pedestrians at that uncontrolled intersection (instead of at Lougheed and Beta where traffic signals are in place) is a potentially dangerous situation for both pedestrians and drivers as it has become a frustrating bottleneck for drivers.  There you go... I just cited an issue that negatively affects drivers.  I speak of that location from the experience of having both walked and driven there (I don't intend to test my cycling prowess on those slopes of Beta though... anyone?). The closing of that exit and its relocation onto Lougheed Hwy will divert pedestrians coming out of Brentwood Drive down to Lougheed Hwy to cross Beta Ave.

Though calm during early mornings, this spot is a scene of constant chaos during the day as pedestrians and drivers navigate this uncontrolled intersection at Beta Ave and Brentwood Drive.

• The relocation of parking stalls underground will make the site less treacherous to the eyes of pedestrians trying to get to Brentwood Station.  I currently have to navigate through the parking lot to get to the station and am always looking over my shoulder during dark, early mornings as I have to walk in and out of car lanes.

Potential Negatives

• The envisioned plan for underground parking entry/exit points has them placed well within the mall site and would require vehicles to cross above-ground at intersections with the "Fashion" and "Village" streets where pedestrians would be crossing.  The Station Square entrance to the underground parking off Kingsborough and McKay has been a frustrating place for drivers since the day it was built.  It is always a constant bottleneck for drivers as they wait for pedestrians to intermittently cross the intersection.  The random, unstructured pace of pedestrian movement has never been compatible with the 4-way stop located at Station Square.  This situation leads to unnecessary idling as drivers are nervously lined up waiting to cross as the crowds unexpectedly appear, disappear and reappear.  A dark, rainy day or night makes it even worse.   It's no bed of roses for pedestrians either.  Solution:  Perhaps the entry into the underground parking could be placed at the outer edge at Lougheed Hwy and at Willingdon Ave from where vehicles could go directly underground via ramps.  An "emergency/service vehicles only" lane onto the "High Street could be created to meet safety and servicing needs.  The space that is opened up along the "Village" and "Fashion" streets from the removal of the intersections could be used for further enhancements or for more commercial space.

• The arrival of nearly 3000 new residents at the BW Mall and the increase in visits from surrounding areas of Metro Vancouver will end up creating more traffic woes for the residents of the single-family homes in the Brentwood Park neighbourhood.  Rat running is already becoming a problem as many drivers are becoming increasingly aggressive and rude as they cut though the neighbourhood, particularly along Brentlawn Drive between Willingdon and Delta Aves.  The BW Mall Redevelopment will only exacerbate the problem.  Solution:  Residents of the area must voice their concerns about traffic in their neighbourhood before the problem becomes worse.  Local residents must speak at the public hearings and the financial burden should fall on the developer and or City to fund traffic calming in BW Park and not on the residents as the Burnaby Local Area Services Program (LASP) currently requires.  The City might allow the developer to increase density in exchange for funding traffic calming in BW Park.  This will never happen unless enough local residents speak up at the public hearings.