Colliers’ Q4 2012 retail report shows that the Metro Vancouver retail leasing market sustained healthy growth heading into 2013. Notable highlights from the Colliers retail report.:

• From a leasing perspective, there was a spike in activity with many international, national and eclectic retailers looking for space. This is evident through the vacancy rate decreasing to 3.5% this quarter from 3.9% in the second quarter of 2012.
• The most notable changes in vacancy were in Squamish decreasing from 7.1 to 3.3 percent; Chilliwack decreasing from 10.9 to 9.3 percent; North Delta decreasing from 5.9 to 3.6 percent; and Richmond decreasing from 6.2 to 4.7 percent.
• Both transactional sales volume and deal velocity maintained a steady pace through the last quarter of 2012. From the fourth quarter of 2011 to the end of the third quarter of 2012, 125 transactions closed in the improved retail property category (for properties valued over $1 million).
• Harbour Centre unveiled plans for a multi-million dollar redevelopment of the landmark Harbour Centre building in Downtown Vancouver. In the spring of 2013, they will embark on an extensive redevelopment of the food court, a refresh of the lower level common area, and a newly revitalized streetscape of the complex.

In an effort to improve the viability of development proposals in the Hastings Heights area, the City of Burnaby is proposing that the number of storeys in the C8 and C8a District be changed in rezoning to allow for a residential mezzanine floor (or a 5th storey) in the rear portion of the grade level commercial envelope. Design details include:

• Development of a residential mezzanine should not impact the viability of grade level commercial uses fronting Hastings Street.The residential mezzanine must occupy the rear, upper portion of the commercial envelope.
• Taking into account the minimum depths for the commercial and residential mezzanine units and the established front and rear yard setback requirements of the C8 and C8a District, lots with a minimum depth of 112.5 ft. would qualify for consideration for a building with a residential mezzanine floor.

Source: City of Burnaby

New Westminster News Leader – Breathing life into New Westminster’s main streets.

Lots of places to eat and drink, few storefronts that aren’t retail oriented, and at least some representation of chain outlets are all signs of successful main streets, according to a university term paper written by a New Westminster councillor.

Along with sitting on council, Jonathan Coté is also an urban studies student at Simon Fraser University, and has written the paper “Reviving New Westminster’s Main Streets,” which looks at what makes a main street work and what New West’s streets need in order to improve.

“New Westminster has a tremendous advantage in that we have traditional main streets already in existence. For most municipalities in the Lower Mainland these don’t exist except in Vancouver. We have the bones in place. The challenge is how do we bring these to life and make sure these are neighbourhoods our residents want to shop in.”

Coté found the highest vacancy rates were on Twelfth Street (11.6 per cent) and East Columbia in Sapperton (11.4), while Columbia in the Downtown area was just 6.4 per cent and Sixth Street was 8.7. The latter two compared favourably to a pair of Vancouver’s most dynamic retail streets, Robson (6.9) and Denman (5.4).

Read more: http://www.newwestnewsleader.com/news/186342442.html

North Shore Outlook – Towering concerns touch Lynn Valley.

A couple hundred people packed a District of North Vancouver council meeting Monday, as vocal resistance to high-density neighbourhoods in North Vancouver continues.

Proposed Lynn Valley Town Centre

Most were there to protest the Lynn Valley Town Centre Implementation Plan, a rigorous public consultation process on the future of new development in Lynn Valley. Attendees told council they felt the consultation plan would merely pay lip-service to residents’ concerns while high-rise development plans for Lynn Valley would go ahead regardless of the public’s wishes.

In actual fact, the implementation plan is just the next step in the district’s Official Community Plan (OCP), a long-term growth management strategy ratified in 2011 after two years of public consultations. That next step, approved unanimously by council Monday, merely directs staff “to undertake an intensive and focused community engagement initiative in early 2013 to seek further feedback to shape and refine the Lynn Valley Town Centre Implementation Plan.”

Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/186176101.html

The City of Vancouver is recommending changes to the I-1 Zoning as part of the City’s Metropolitan Core Jobs Plan. The changes are intended to enhance the use of sites within the I-1 zone in Mount Pleasant, which was generally limited to light industrial or mixed use at a density of 1.0 to 3.0 FSR. Included in the changes is more flexiblity for office use.

Summary of Proposed Changes:

• A variety of service uses have been proposed for increase in allowable density, while still remaining within the overall 3.0 FSR density limit.
• Several service uses that were previously not permitted are proposed to be allowed as conditional uses, like entertainment.
• A greater variety of office uses are proposed to be permitted. In the existing zoning, several categories of General Office use are not allowed. In the proposed zoning, all of the categories of General Office use will be allowed.
• This means a mixed use building could be comprised of 1.0 FSR of the identified light industrial/service space on the ground floor and 2.0 FSR of General Office space above.
• There will be an opportunity with a potential Parking Payment-in-lieu District in the area for the developer to partner with new developments in the same area in order to provide additional parking over and above specific site requirements. This will be important for smaller sites to get to 3.0 FAR.