"A monstrosity of a six-storey building"
Opposition to a Metro Vancouver Housing non-market project in Burnaby with 120 apartments
Metro Vancouver Housing is planning to build a 120-unit, six-storey apartment building in Burnaby, near Edmonds SkyTrain station. “All homes will provide some level of affordability and the building will be mixed income for low to moderate income working households.”
There was a public hearing on June 27. Lauren Vanderdeen, Burnaby Now: Burnaby homeowners decry 6-storey rental proposal as 'eyesore'.
A proposed non-market rental building in Edmonds Town Centre is drawing opposition from homeowners in the neighbourhood.
The six-storey development with a child-care facility proposed on public land at 7388 Southwynde Ave. would provide affordable housing in a city that has the third worst rents in the country and has been continually losing purpose-built rental housing.
Some colourful quotes:
“To put a monstrosity of a six-storey building right on the edge of Byrne Creek … that is really going to be an eyesore, not only for the community to have this one building that towers over all the others, but it’s going to make a very uncomfortable transition from the suburban land.”
“This six-storey, relative to the other buildings, is going to be like a skyscraper in here. What is that going to impact the rest of the neighbourhood in terms of property values and everything long-term?”
If I understand correctly, council will decide at their next meeting on Monday July 10.
History of the site, from the staff report:
In 1996, a number of vacant City properties were consolidated into seven development sites with the intent to offer the development sites for Public Tender over time. In order to provide development guidelines, Council approved a master rezoning for the sites.
Since Council’s granting of Final Adoption of Rezoning Reference #96-14 on October 07, 1996, five of the seven development sites have been tendered, rezoned, and developed.
7488 Southwynde Avenue (constructed in 2003)
7428 Southwynde Avenue (constructed in 2005)
6438 Byrnepark Drive (construction to be completed in 2023)
Two development sites were consolidated into 7418 Byrne Park Walk (construction completed in 2010).
The two remaining development sites, 6488 Byrne Park Drive and 7388 Southwynde Avenue remain under City ownership.
On 2020 March 23, Council authorized staff to respond to a Metro Vancouver Housing (MVH) Expression of Interest (EOI) seeking lands from member municipalities that could be leased or sold to MVH at a nominal cost to develop new non-market rental housing.
More
Agenda and video for June 27 public hearing. The rezoning is item 3.2.
Metro Vancouver page (it’ll be called “The Steller”)
Almost 300 new affordable homes coming to Burnaby with provincial money. Lauren Vanderdeen, April 2023. Describes BC Housing contributions to two Burnaby projects, including this one.