Bold Properties has submitted a revised application to the City of Port Moody for a seven-lot land assembly they own on Clarke Drive between St. Johns and St. George streets, next to the site of the old Barnet Hotel.
Plans for the 62,000 SF site include two 6-storey buildings entitled ‘Paramount‘. Details:
163 condo units;
one studio, 78 one-bedrooms, 75 two-bedrooms & 10 three-bedrooms;
an overall density of 2.40 FAR;
217 resident parking spaces and 27 visitor spaces;
270 bicycle parking spaces.;
land dedication for an additional northbound travel lane & multi-use pathway on Clarke Road and St. Johns Street;
improvements to the existing trail from the end of St. George Street to Moody Secondary School; and
an affordable housing approach based on BC Housing’s Affordable Home Ownership Program.
The application describes the revised affordable housing proposal:” to offer potential first time home owners who are currently renting, with an option to enter the housing market. However, the City is not being asked to consider any fee waivers as initially requested and as such, it is not involved as a partner. While the details of the revised program are still being developed, Bold has confirmed that there will be a locals-first marketing program, and BC Housing indicated that they would be open to responding to individual situations on an as-needed basis if units need to be vacated before the five-year residency requirement has been satisfied.
Staff will continue to work with Bold and BC Housing to understand all of the program details, but some known issues which require clarity include:
the extent of the price discount in terms of the actual percentage reduction and the number of units to which this would apply. This will ultimately be dependent upon project costs which may not be known until the building permit is issued;
details on how the BC Housing mortgage proceeds will be re-invested back into the City;
how the program will prioritize residents currently renting in Port Moody;
confirmation of the total household income range applicable to each type of unit; and
confirmation that BC Housing will manage the process of selecting eligible households.
In order to reduce project costs and improve the affordability of the project, the applicant has suggested that a reduction in the amount of parking required would reduce the extent of the underground parkade and, therefore, construction costs.”
one level of underground parking providing a total of 48 parking spaces, having vehicular access from the lane.
The application describes the design rationale: “The building forms are simple and elegant while responding to the shape and slope of the site. The volumetric form is broken down by material, textural and colour change to reduce the scale of the massing, create interest and reinforce the overall design concept. Contrasting colours and textures of the exterior materials and finishes are key features to the strength of the proposed modern architectural style while respecting the context.
The building typology is designed to keep with the general language currently found within this part of the Cambie Corridor. The proposed two and three storey building height correlates with the prescribed transition from the mid-rise buildings fronting Cambie Street and W King Edward Avenue to the single-family homes currently located in the neighbourhood.“
Under the site’s existing RM-8A zoning, the application is “conditional” so it may be permitted; however, it requires the decision of the Director of Planning.
Lynn Valley is one of North Vancouver’s two Town Centre areas. It’s also the District of North Vancouver’s Municipal Town Centre in the Metro context, which is defined as “a municipal-wide centre or hub with medium and higher density uses including residential, commercial, employment, recreational and civic”.
Located in the heart of Lynn Valley, the Town Centre core is currently focused around Lynn Valley Centre, and the new Lynn Valley library and civic plaza. From the District’s OCP: “Heritage buildings and features, parks and views to local mountains reflect the rich cultural and natural history of Lynn Valley. Building on the quality design, liveliness and sense of place initiated by the new Lynn Valley library and civic plaza, there is an opportunity to revitalize the Town Centre into a more vibrant, pedestrian oriented, mixed use centre with housing choices and inviting street level shopping along a High Street with sidewalk cafes and community spaces. Redevelopment of the Town Centre also provides an opportunity to increase the diversity of housing choices in an area close to services, shops, jobs and transit.”
There has been solid growth of residential development over the past several years, though future inventory remains low given the lack of land for development coupled with the District of North Vancouver’s more recent efforts to slow new development.
The Policy Background
The District of North Vancouver created a new Official Community Plan (“OCP”) in 2011, and the land use objective for Lynn Valley Town Centre was to “accommodate approximately 2,500 new units” over a twenty year time horizon.
The OCP was further refined for Lynn Valley in 2013/2014 and opened up a number of development opportunities, but confined these opportunities to primarily the relatively small area between Mountain Highway and Lynn Valley Road.
Lynn Valley Centre Land Use Map
A number of development projects have been initiated or completed (this is expanded upon below).
The rezoning designations contemplate mostly low to medium density woodframe residential except on key sites including the Lynn Valley Centre Mall site, which were given higher density designations. There are only a handful of properties with a commercial only designation.
Here is a video outlining the overall urban design/public realm concept:
Lynn Valley Centre mall was determined to be a focal point of the plan area. The 12-acre shopping centre was acquired by Bosa Development in 2003 for $36,000,000, or an 8.6% cap rate and subsequently rezoned in 2014 (further details below). The adjacent 2.8 acre Safeway site is separately owned by Crombie REIT.
As with the other growth centres in the District of North Vancouver, the appearance of rapid growth and attendant impacts such as traffic and construction has led to increasing opposition for new rezoning applications. The District of North Vancouver is now undertaking a lengthy review of their OCP to determine what adjustments need to be made to keep growth under control and to deliver on promises of affordability.
The Residential Market
Traditionally Lynn Valley has been a single family and ground-oriented community/submarket. Some older lowrise condo buildings exist on side streets near the mall site. The vast majority of condo product in Lynn Valley has been built in the Town Centre area in the last 15 years, mostly as a result of the new OCP in 2011.
The lack of condo buildings in Lynn Valley has generally supported increased pricing, particularly given price points relative to single family, which can reach well in excess of $2 Million for new product.
Here is a snapshot of the currently active condo listings on MLS:
# of Active Condo Listings
10
Median Sale Price
$620,000
Median Age (years)
10
Median $/SF (All)
$766
Median $/SF (2yrs old or newer)
$881
Older woodframe condos typically trade in the $500-600 per SF range, with newer concrete condos in the $850-950 per SF range.
Recently completed projects include:
Polygon’s 68-unit Juniper at 2517 Mountain Highway. It is woodframe construction. Completed in 2019. Recent resales show values of $825-850 per SF. Taluswood has been another successful subsequent phase nearing completion across Library Lane.
Bosa’s first phase of the Residences at Lynn Valley included a 108-unit, 7-storey concrete building on the Eastern portion of the Mall site. It was completed in 2018. Resales values range from $750-1,000 per SF.
Canyon Springs is another Polygon project just down the street, completed in 2015. 108-units and also woodframe, recent resales show a range of $750-850 per SF.
Overall, about 800 units have been built in Lynn Valley since the OCP was adopted, and most of these have now been sold.
New Construction & Proposed Units
Phases 2 and 3 of Residences at Lynn Valley are nearing completion. These terraced buildings up to 12-storeys in height total an additional 250 units.
Approximately 400 units are in the proposal stage for Lynn Valley, the largest of which is Mosaic Homes’ Emery Village project, just South of Lynn Valley Centre, which contemplates 327 condo units and 84 rental units in a phased development. The District approved rezoning in 2018 and development permit for the first phases in 2019.
Rental
The District of North Vancouver has a total inventory of only approximately 1,200 units of purpose built rental units, and less than a quarter of these are located in Lynn Valley (excluding Seniors’ residences which number several hundred more).
Polygon Homes recently completed Hawthorne at Timber Court, a 75-unit woodframe rental apartment building located adjacent their Juniper project. The Hawthorne building is taking registrations for lease, and has also recently been listed for sale.
The Land Market
After completion of the OCP and amid a rising residential real estate market, a number of larger development sites have transacted over the past five years as the market has continually justfied redevelopment of older lowrise apartment properties on relatively underutilized sites. Some of these include:
Mountain Court, this 4.1 acre site housed 72 older rental units and was acquired by Polygon in 2015 for what would eventually become Timber Court (Juniper, Hawthorne & Talisman). The $25,640,000 price tag equated to approximately $80 per buildable SF.
Mosaic Homes acquired the aforementioned 5.1 acre Emery Village site in 2016 for $39,550,000 or $75 per buildable SF.
There is currently approximately 300,000 SF of commercial space in the Lynn Valley Town Centre area, over half of which (170,000 SF) is in the Lynn Valley Centre mall. There have not been any significant recent investment transactions in the area.
