Tom Zytaruk
Other
NORTH DELTA — What will Delta Rise, the municipality’s tallest tower, look like?
Politicians and journalists were given a sneak peek Wednesday at an architect’s model of the building, as well as a tour of two styles of suites the 37-storey building will contain.
The Blexo Developments Ltd. project won Delta council’s approval earlier this year and construction is expected to begin next June and be completed in 2016.
The apartment building project, just south of the Delta Shoppers Mall off Scott Road, will be located at 11941 80th Avenue and will be the community’s tallest building by far. Three 14-storey buildings currently share that distinction in North Delta. One is at 88th Avenue and 119th Street and the other are two across the street from where this new apartment building containing 317 suites will be built.
“It’s going to be a success,” George Harvie, Delta’s chief administrative officer, declared at Wednesday’s event.
There will also be 24,800 square feet of commercial space on the first four floors and 511 parking stalls in a four-level parkade, with two of those levels above ground, on the 1.5-acre site. The strata will feature one, two and three bedroom suites for sale. Each comes with generous balcony space, and a commanding view.
Blexo is a Surrey-based company that has been developing property in this area for 21 years now.
“We’ve seen what the market needs here,” said Blexo president Satish Sharma.
During a public hearing last December some residents expressed concerns about increased traffic the project will bring, and voiced their reluctance to see North Delta develop skyward like Burnaby.
Meanwhile, Delta council has been trying to put a fresh face on Scott Road by creating a bylaw that would allow for property tax breaks and other incentives to developers who help revitalize the Scott Road corridor.
The Scott Road Revitalization Bylaw covers Highway 10 to 96th Avenue, west to 118th Street. Eligible projects qualify for a three-year freeze on municipal property taxes. This includes apartment buildings or other mixed-use buildings 10 storeys or more that involve more than $10 million in new construction or $5 million in renovation. Other incentives to promote development or re-development of environmentally friendly projects include the reduction or waiving of development cost charges and other fees.
Municipal council has also approved an “Incompatible Uses—Scott Road Corridor” bylaw, with the corridor being from 96th Avenue in the north to roughly the 6200-block in the south.
Council decided to bar certain businesses—porn stores, cash for gold shops, cheque-cashing centres, dating and escort services, gun shops, massage parlours, pawn shops, private smoking clubs and tattoo parlours among them—from opening along the Delta side of Scott Road, but the ones that were already there are grandfathered.
© Copyright 2013