Residential Housing is Focus of Oakridge Transit Centre Concepts

This article originally appeared in REW.ca’s sister publication Vancouver Courier. To read the original article, click here – and for more local news and opinion, go to www.vancourier.com.

Three concepts for the TransLink-owned Oakridge Transit Centre (OTC) site were unveiled at an open house at the VanDusen Gardens visitor centre February 12. A second open house is set for February 16.

The city, at the request of TransLink, is creating a policy statement, to guide future redevelopment of the property.

Concepts for the 13.8-acre property, which sits between Oak and Willow streets and West 38th and 41st Avenues, envision mostly residential development with some ground floor retail, a park ranging from 2.2 to 2.6 acres, a daycare and buildings potentially ranging from three to 15 storeys.

The property is located near Oakridge Centre, which is slated for massive redevelopment. The OTC site is zoned for single-family use but has been used as a transit centre since 1948. Before the transit centre opened, it was used as an army barracks. The site now serves as an operations and maintenance facility, primarily for vehicle maintenance, commissioning and decommissioning, as well as for storage of retired buses. TransLink expects to redistribute those services among newer facilities in 2016.

Preliminary open houses for the OTC site were held last June as part of the city’s planning process for the policy statement.

Concept A features a linear “green promenade” that leads to a park at the north end of the site. It also includes residential buildings organized around courtyards, a childcare centre and the tallest buildings along West 41st with a “modest amount of local-serving retail fronting 41st.”

Concept B features a “mews” street structure and a greater variety of building types. The park would sit at the north end of the property, and as with concept A, the tallest buildings would be along 41st where again there would be a “modest amount of local-serving retail fronting 41st.”

Concept C includes a curved street that goes along the park and the tallest buildings would also be on 41st.

Susan Haid, the city’s assistant director of planning for Vancouver South, said these are very earlier concepts but feedback from the open houses last year identified the park and a daycare as critical elements.

Haid said only two 15-storey buildings are being envisioned for the site, both located on 41st.

“It’s really taking three storeys off of other parts [of the property] and adding them to these buildings in order to provide opportunities for more ground-oriented townhouses and more low-rise wood-frame [buildings], so more affordable housing,” she said. “So it’s really shifting density.”

Haid added that public input last June suggested the community supported a mid-rise district, with any areas for height closer to 41st.

The goal is also to include a 20 per cent target of affordable housing, which could take many shapes.

“That’s an area we need to do work on with the community and our housing people and also, in the next round of concepts, start doing some economic testing on what’s possible,” she said.

Participants in the first round of open houses indicated a “strong desire” for senior housing, family housing and affordable rental,” Haid said.

Diana Herbst, who’s lived in the neighbourhood since 1985, told the Courier at Thursday’s open house that she prefers concepts A and C – particularly C because more houses would overlook the park.

“I’m interested in the development and changes in this part of the city,” she said. “You need to do something with it obviously and I like that it’s going to be residential. That’s important and that’s needed in Vancouver.”

Herbst questions whether retail space is necessary since the property is close to Oakridge Centre and other businesses, but she accepts the fact that it will be redeveloped and agrees taller buildings should be along 41st.

“I think it’s fait accompli that we’re getting taller buildings. It’s inevitable. Vancouver is still growing, so it’ll have to grow upwards,” she said.

After the February 16 open house, online input will be accepted for about another month. Then, staff will summarize feedback and identify a preferred concept or a concept that combines some elements of each one, which will be unveiled to the public for further feedback, possibly by June.