Andrew Peller Ltd. is reviving plans to overhaul the former Andrés Wines site in Port Moody, part of a slow but steady upswing in redevelopment interest among Moody Centre property owners.
The Andrés site, Mill and Timber (Flavelle), the Royal Canadian Legion and the Aragon property at Moody and Clarke streets are among the larger properties being looked at for or already on the way to redevelopment, but there are smaller pockets of interest as well.
Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay said he's hearing of a number of properties that are redevelopment candidates but few have definitive plans in the pipeline.
"There's a lot of murmuring but nobody is really doing a lot of concrete stuff right now," he said. "I think they float the trial balloons out and see what the reaction is."
The Andrés site owners last made a pitch in 2008 but came up against challenges with incorporating plans for the Murray-Clarke Connector (since shelved), the proximity to Reichhold Chemicals and issues with converting the five-acre site from industrial to mixed-use, as well as opposition to the proposed highrises. At an open house planned for Nov. 9, the property owners now plan to "re-initiate conversations with the community" and discuss priorities for the site, as well as share feedback from stakeholder workshops that were held in September.
Clay said he thought the owners would wait a bit longer to pitch a potential redevelopment since the property is contracted out to the Evergreen Line project until 2016, and suggested they may have been spurred by discussions on the Mill and Timber site (both are designated as Special Study Areas in the official community plan).
One project that is inching closer to reality is at the Aragon site at Moody and Clarke streets. The proposal was the subject of a community information meeting earlier this month, and the application for rezoning and OCP amendments (to allow seven storeys instead of six) goes to the land use committee on Nov. 3. Aragon is proposing 111 residential units in two buildings separated by a courtyard, and would mirror the Station building that faces St. Johns Street.
"The people living at the Station and the Lighthouse are concerned about the impact it will have on them," said Hazel Mason, president of the Moody Centre Community Association. "People at the Station are saying they bought there and were told there wouldn't be something higher going in to block their views, so they're not too thrilled about that."
Clay said larger mixed-use development proposals like Aragon's are hampered by the challenges with commercial viability, noting until the Evergreen Line is running (scheduled for fall of 2016), there is a limited client base in the area.
"It's a chicken-and-egg situation," Clay said. There are owners in the St. Johns corridor between Moody and Williams streets who are looking to consolidate properties for development but, for now at least, Evergreen construction is proving to be more of a disruption than a marketing tool.
"And the big builders are busy everywhere," he said. "Burquitlam is so busy right now with all the new stuff coming online, and with that much on the market, is it a good time to bring more?" Clay asked. "There are so many variables right now…and everyone wants to maximize their property values."
Smaller property owners are also starting to get in on the action, with the owners of 2621 St. Johns St. proposing a four-storey, 12-unit mixed-use development where there was once a single-family home.
There is a cluster of three land assemblies at the end of Clarke Street, Clay said, and another two on St. George Street, although nobody seems in a hurry to develop in the short term; as well, there's a potential townhouse development in the 3000-block of St. George Street, behind the police station.
And while there are few concrete plans in the works in Moody Centre, MCCA's Mason said residents are feeling the pressure from those looking to develop in the neighbourhood.
"There are a lot of things coming through the mail slot, a lot of people knocking on doors," Mason said. "It's kind of unnerving. We try to keep up with what's going on but we're never really confident that we are."
• The Andrés Wines open house is on Monday, Nov. 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Old Mill Boathouse at Rocky Point Park.
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