The Brentwood neighbourhood will be home to Burnaby’s tallest tower after the second phase of the SOLO District development held its groundbreaking ceremony Saturday.

The project by Appia Developments will stand more than 550 feet tall, second in B.C. only to the Shangri-La in downtown Vancouver. The 55-storey building will have 48 “floors” due to some levels being double height.

Commercial units, including office space, will take up the first 14 floors, while 280 residential units will make up floors 15 to 48. A 5,000-square-foot, indoor-outdoor amenity space for building residents, dubbed “Club 55,” will take up the rooftop.

A public preview of the new homes was held last Saturday with sales to start this weekend, on June 22.

Recent reports of a slowing real estate market and concerns about an oversupply of condos don’t concern Jim Bosa, president of Appia.

Read more: http://www.burnabynewsleader.com/news/212005321.html

From the press release:

VANCOUVER, June 19, 2013 /CNW/ – Holborn Group and TA Global Bhd. today confirmed plans to welcome the city’s first Trump development, Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver®. Situated on Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver’s Coal Harbour, the premium $360-million Arthur Erickson-designed tower will include a world-class hotel and residences.

In addition to 147 guest rooms, the luxury hotel will include a Champagne lounge, signature restaurant, Trump Spa, and banquet and conference centre. It will also be home to Vancouver’s first pool bar nightclub. Above the hotel will be 218 stylish residences, offering residents spectacular views of the North Shore and beyond. When completed, the twisting tower will stand at 616 feet (63 storeys).

The original twisting design of the tower maximizes the window features and views in every suite, making each unit distinctive, with no two views exactly alike. Attention to detail and personalized service will further differentiate the development. Residences will range from 644 to 2,117 square feet with the penthouses between 3,500 and 4,400 square feet.

Official announcement regarding Trump International Hotel and Tower streaming live at 1:30pm today on CTV.

Pix by Built Form @ SSP

Donald Trump, who first found fame as a real-estate developer, has put his name on mens’ fragrance, mattresses and neckties in recent years. But there is one type of product he hasn’t licensed his name to since the beginning of the financial downturn: a U.S. building.

The last time Mr. Trump signed a deal licensing his name to a U.S. real-estate project was in 2007, when he agreed to put it on the Trump Soho, a hotel-condo project in downtown Manhattan. He also sold his name to a golf resort in Puerto Rico in 2008.

It isn’t that Mr. Trump has lost his taste for seeing his name stamped in capital letters on other developers’ undertakings. He is just doing it overseas instead. In recent years, Mr. Trump has licensed his name to more than a dozen real-estate developers in Turkey, the Caucuses, Brazil and other corners of the globe.

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump is expected to unveil plans for a Trump-branded hotel and condominium tower in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, according to executives familiar with the project.

Plans for Trump-branded condominiums, resorts and commercial centers also are under way in the Philippines and Azerbaijan. In March, Trump Organization opened an office in Shanghai to identify Chinese branding deals for the company.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323836504578553492930645794.html

North Shore Outlook – Seylynn heralds new era for North Vancouver.

The District of North Vancouver added some real meat to the bones of its official community plan this week, unveiling its “new urban heart” in Lower Lynn.

That’s how district planner Brian Bydwell described the future town centre anchored by the Seylynn Village condo project at the new development’s official launch over the weekend.

Condo marketer Nick Askew was more evocative in describing the project.

“A little bit of Coal Harbour” on the North Shore is what the Pacesetter Marketing president called the soon-to-be three-tower, 790-unit condo development near the Second Narrows Bridge.

 Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/211423381.html

Vancouver endorses plan for Oakridge redevelopment, including multiple highrises.

The City of Vancouver has endorsed a plan to radically redevelop the aging Oakridge Centre into a high-density retail and residential hub.

The massive project will now proceed to a public hearing, where area residents worried their quiet corner of Vancouver will be lost in a sea of glass towers and chic new shops and cafés will be able to voice their objections.

“I am sure you can imagine the shock when you learn that ‘downtown’ is going to (arrive in our) single-family neighbourhood,” said Tracey Moir, a representative of the neighbourhood group Oakridge Langara Area Residents, in an interview on Tuesday at Vancouver City Hall.

Earlier, Mayor Gregor Robertson and council agreed to endorse a proposal by property owner Ivanhoe Cambridge and developer Westbank Development to transform Oakridge into a new urban centre on par with Metrotown, Surrey City Centre and Coquitlam Centre.

The plan builds on a more modest redevelopment proposal approved by the city in 2007, with the addition of up to 13 highrise towers and double the existing retail space.