As one of the older suburban newspapers in the Lower Mainland, the North Shore News has a long history of getting local residents riled up over just about anything. Not that that's hard to do, with all the cranky old-timers living on the North Shore.
Anyway, we were interested to come across a mildly supportive article about a proposed 36-storey (400 foot!) tower for the Lower Lonsdale area, which is sure to upset the NIMBY community.
In an obvious ploy to curry favour with seniors, the building's design is modeled after a 1921 luxury passenger liner that was once built at North Vancouver's shipyards. The building is going for LEED Silver certification, and will be hooked in to the area's geothermal heating grid.
As part of the deal, North Van would transfer density to the tower, in exchange for investment in amenities, among which are included a seawall, new public wharf, and public art.
Aside from this development, North Vancouver has for some time now been kicking around long-term plans for a new SeaBus terminal and bus loop, a new terminal for the Whistler Rocky Mountaineer, and an east-west street car.
As with other regional town centres, North Vancouver is already undergoing a fair amount of densification thanks to the multi-building Pier development, which is currently under construction.
Adding to the future bustle of the lower-Lonsdale area is the proposed National Maritime Centre, and a revamped Presentation House theatre.
For an overview (with plenty of photos) of development plans for the Lower Lonsdale area, check out this Price Tags article (link to pdf), which was originally published back in 2004.
Great write-up -- and overview of the happenings on the North Vancouver waterfront. Let's hope the North Shore Naysayers get out of the way for this one.
Great design, great location, great amenities. All in all, I think North Van has a winner on its hands. But one can never count out the nimbies!!
Posted by: TheLions | Tuesday, November 06, 2007 at 10:21 PM