The owners of the Stongs property at 4508-4560 Dunbar Street have applied to the City of Vancouver to rezone the property, and an adjacent single family lot from C-2 and RS-5 and to CD.

The proposed project includes:

• on the Dunbar Street site, a 6-storey mixed use building with new Stongs (20,124 SF) and two smaller commercial units on the first level and 72 condo units (74,935 SF) above the store.
• on the West 30th Avenue property, 11 3-storey townhouses (12,579 SF)
• a public plaza at the northeast corner of Dunbar Street and West 30th Avenue;
• a combined density of 2.51FSR
• 234 vehicle parking spaces, three loading spaces and 111 class A bicycle spaces (each site includes two levels of underground parking).

More information here.

Guildford Town Centre’s $280-million renovation driven by bid for young shoppers.

METRO VANCOUVER — The kids have wallets, and they don’t want to wait. As Surrey’s Guildford Town Centre unveils a $280-million expansion this week — with 70 new stores and a 1,034-seat food court — general manager Peggy White says that online shopping does not pose a real threat to modern shopping centres like hers.

When fashion-conscious 15- to 25-year olds go shopping, “they want to take (their purchase) home and wear it that night. Sometimes they wear it right out of the store,” White said.

Guildford owner/developer Ivanhoe Cambridge has assembled a sparkling new mix of stores — including Forever 21 (at 23,000 square feet), H&M (25,000 square feet), Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, Aritzia, The Lego Store and Disney Store — to woo young shoppers back from the glitter of downtown Vancouver’s Robson Street and Burnaby’s Metrotown.

The expansion increases retail space to 1.2 million square feet from 980,000, and includes a facelift for the existing mall, with waterfalls, soft seating, a much larger food court, and a giant 10,000-plant living wall that covers a connector straddling 104th Ave.

Proposed Richmond high-rise would house international students – Richmond Review.

A $150-million development proposed for north Richmond could become an international hub for education, boasting a potential to accommodate 600 foreign students, along with language schools, colleges and universities.

Dubbed Global Education City, the development would occupy a site on the west side of No. 3 Road, between Bridgeport Road and Sea Island Way, near River Rock Casino Resort.

Wensley Architecture Ltd. has submitted plans to city hall for a nine-storey office and campus building fronting Sea Island Way, a 15-storey dormitory building at No. 3 Road, and a six-level parkade and amenity building fronting Bridgeport Road, according to the city.

Planning staff are reviewing the proposal, which has yet to be considered by city council.

Read more: http://www.richmondreview.com/news/220748251.html

An analysis of year to date resales for concrete condos less than 3 years old shows that average pricing is approx. $800 per SF.

At 3.1% growth since 2006, average pricing has outpaced inflation, but pricing has been relatively flat in 2013, up less than 1% year over year.

Marpole residents rally against proposed zoning changes.

Close to 1,000 residents streamed into Marpole community centre Sunday to sign petitions and pick up lawn signs protesting proposed zoning changes in their neighbourhood.

The City of Vancouver’s draft community plan for Marpole includes rezoning to allow more highrises, apartments up to 12 storeys, stacked townhouses and mixed-use buildings.

Community spokesman Mike Burdick said the draft plan, which goes to council for consideration on October 24, came as a surprise to most Marpole residents.

“We are not opposed to rezoning or densification,” said Burdick, “but we need to slow down.”

Burdick said the city wants to increase the density of Marpole by as much as 50 per cent.

“Do the transit routes first, then take a breath and see if we need to do more.”