Planned community includes 2,600 units on 11 hectares on the waterfront
Jack Keating
Province
A 2,600-unit waterfront development will be built next to the Richmond Olympic Oval.
A massive 2,600-unit waterfront development on an 11-hectare site next to the Richmond Olympic Oval will be officially unveiled by the developers today.
“It starts to fill out the vision we have for the waterfront and for the area around the oval and our city centre.”
— — Mayor Mayor Malcolm Malcolm Brodie Brodie
Aspac Developments of Vancouver said the project “will be the largest and most upscale master-planned community ever built in Richmond, with more than three million square feet of residential and commercial property.”
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie will be on hand for this morning’s official launch of the project by Aspac and its marketing partner, Magnum Projects.
“I think it’s a terrific project for Richmond,” said Brodie Monday. “And it starts to fill out the vision we have for the waterfront and for the area around the oval and our city centre.”
Brodie said today ’s announcement will be for the first phase of the project that will include six residential buildings and 458 units.
“This phase is 100-per-cent residential in six buildings with a maximum height of 14 storeys,” said the mayor.
Brodie said the city’s vision when it agreed to build the Richmond Olympic Oval was to create a “vibrant and dynamic neighbourhood” around the oval. “And we wanted to extend our city centre and also have the connections right to the riverfront.”
Critics say environmental concerns, including flooding and earthquake protection, will have to be addressed.
“The environment is always a concern,” said Brodie. “And either those concerns have been addressed or they will be addressed.”
Brodie said Aspac is “taking a very sustainable approach to the neighbourhood. And it will be a green development.”
The project is expected to take 10 to 15 years to finish.