Details Emerge for Bosa’s New Westminster Waterfront Project
Bosa Development has submitted a formal development permit application for their ambitious New Westminster waterfront project, originally announced last year.
The site at 660 Quayside Drive, currently a surface parking lot, was previously owned by Larco and had been envisioned for redevelopment as far back as 1996 with as many as five towers originally proposed with approximately 1,000 units and above-ground parking.
A revised rezoning proposal for three towers including a hotel was put forward in 2014 before the site was ultimately sold to Bosa Development in August 2016 for $63,000,000 ($79 per buildable SF).
The current proposal is now for a two-tower scheme that includes:
- two residential towers: 53-storeys (phase 1) & 43-storeys (phase 2)
- building heights of 584 ft & 472 ft.
- 665 units
- 156 one-bedrooms, 441 two-bedrooms & 68 three-bedrooms
- a total density of 4.52 FSR
- a 3-storey commercial building with retail at grade and childcare above
- 40 space childcare facility
- 2 acre of new public park including extension of Westminster Pier Park
- 929 parking stalls on 3 levels of underground parking
The application describes the overview of the project:
“The proposed project will be a major and positive contribution to the downtown waterfront and the City of New Westminster. The development combines two residential towers, retail space, daycare, public park, underground parking and riverfront esplanade to create a dynamic mixed use project. The site is an important gateway to the waterfront and a key component in the City’s Waterfront vision for a continuous waterfront experience, improved neighbourhood connections and year-round public spaces.”
I think the Pier West waterfront development by Bosa is very exciting. I love the idea of two extraordinary towers, but I fear that a golden tourist opportunity is being overlooked.
Can you even begin to imagine what a publicly accessible 53rd-floor view room could mean for the city? It would be a major tourist attraction bringing in tens if not hundreds of thousands of tourist dollars into the city. It would be a shame if New Westminster failed to make these towers – at least one of them – something residents and tourists alike could actually be a part of and not just look at from afar.
The last thing anyone needs is yet another monument to wealth. Something people could only look at – but not touch. And a nominal fee of perhaps $2 could be charged that could benefit local charities. You could have a ‘public use only’ elevator between the hours of 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. It would be very easy to program the elevator to open only on the view room level. And staffing wouldn’t be a problem. You could hire two security guards. One for the lobby and one for the view room. And have volunteers from charities that would like to benefit financially help out.
I encourage the mayor, City of New Westminster and Bosa to work through any possible stumbling blocks to make this happen. It’s not too late.
I’m very excited about this development, it would also be nice to have a decent sized marina for boats which could bring in more visitors to our city.