Riders will get off trains just a few feet from stores
Bruce Constantineau
Sun
A transportation reformation New Westminster is planning to transform part of its downtown through a “transit village” concept. Here are a few details of the project, due to roll out over the next three years: A $250-million, four-tower housing development with 800 condominiums to be built on 5.3 acres. New Westminster’s SkyTrain station will become the heart of a $60-million retail project, to include: 170,000-square-foot retail centre with 37,500-square-foot grocery store. 17,500-square-foot drug store. 11,600-square-foot liquor store.
CREDIT: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun SkyTrain CEO Doug Kelsey (left) and Mayor Wayne Wright look over a model of the project.
The New Westminster SkyTrain station will become fully integrated with a $60-million, 170,000 square-foot retail project to be developed over the next three years, city and SkyTrain officials announced Wednesday.
The development is believed to be the first in North America to fully integrate an elevated transit system with a major shopping and housing complex. The station platform is expected to be widened to accommodate SkyTrain riders who will get off and walk to shops before resuming their travel.
The retail project will be part of a $250-million development — Azure at Plaza 88 — that will see four residential towers with a total of 800 condominiums built on a 2.1-hectare site at 8th Street and Columbia, across from the New Westminster Quay.
“This is the type of project that will bring New Westminster to where it should be and truly revitalize the downtown,” New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright said in an interview.
The retail development will be anchored by a 37,500-square-foot grocery store, a 17,500-square-foot drugstore and an 11,600-square-foot liquor store. Project developer Michael Degelder said they are in the final stages of negotiations with Save-On-Foods to occupy the grocery space.
SkyTrain chief executive officer Doug Kelsey said SkyTrain won’t get any revenue from the New Westminster retail development because it’s a private project but noted the transit system is pursuing retail projects at other stations on land it owns so it can gain additional revenues. He said the Lougheed Town Centre station is a likely candidate for future retail development.
“Developments like this move a station from being just a train station into a true community station, with services that make sense for riders on their travels,” Kelsey said.
He said criminal activity that takes place around SkyTrain stations such as New Westminster station can be driven away by developments such as Plaza 88 that encourage people to congregate in public places.
“Where there are people, there is typically less crime,” Kelsey said. “You end up moving the people that don’t belong there and they go elsewhere. We have seen that in other rejuvenations.”
He noted the retail project will use features such as open spaces and extra lighting to deter criminal activity.
“This particular station has been very long on my hit list of places that need to be rejuvenated,” Kelsey said. “We want to do anything we can to reduce the incidence of crime. Our vision is for SkyTrain to be a place where you go to be safe.”
The SkyTrain passenger-level shopping area will feature 120,000 square feet of retail space while another 50,000 square feet of space will be built on the lower level under the SkyTrain guideway.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005
