Solving the Metro Vancouver Industrial Land Shortage?

[invisibleairwaves]

Originally Posted by casper

Alternatively the city gives up some of their zoning premium if a developer building strata ground floor industrial with high rise condos or offices tower on top. That would not work for heavy industry but what we are actually talking about is warehousing or light industry.

This definitely seems like something that could help a lot. I think it points to a flaw in the way we've built commercial space in the city for the past few decades- everything has to be an expensive glassy sidewalk-fronting CRU, and any business that doesn't need or want that format gets pushed into our dwindling industrial land. You go to almost any industrial area and it's full of karate studios, niche retail, arts spaces, just tons of low-impact uses that could totally coexist with residential. Find a way to provide spaces for them in mixed-use projects and you immediately free up a bunch of industrial land for more intensive industrial uses. Other than that one building on Hastings near Ray-Cam I can't really think of anywhere it's been tried though.

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

They have a timelapse of that multi-storey Riverbend warehouse project. They are just closing it in now.

https://app.oxblue.com/open/OxFord-P...-Business-Park

https://www.riverbendbusinesspark.com/the-multi-story

December 2022 completion

thanks for the post.

I wonder who takes that space ........ Amazon? I am surprised no one has snagged it yet. Maybe waiting to see it completed and now the 2nd floor truly works or does not?

[lionchild]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

They have a timelapse of that multi-storey Riverbend warehouse project. They are just closing it in now.

https://app.oxblue.com/open/OxFord-P...-Business-Park

https://www.riverbendbusinesspark.com/the-multi-story

December 2022 completion

Wow, so Vancouver is getting "Stack/Ramp-Up" industrial properties now? That's very interesting and new to Canada right?

The above mentioned development is like a baby version of what is seen in places like Singapore:

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

thanks for the post.

I wonder who takes that space ........ Amazon? I am surprised no one has snagged it yet. Maybe waiting to see it completed and now the 2nd floor truly works or does not?

I mean I'm sure it's fairly easy design wise to know how it will work from a traffic management perspective. I guess it depends on the pricing and how it compares to existing stock. It seems like Amazon has at least 4-5 warehouses around town and that probably works better than having one huge one in terms of traffic/access.

[madog222]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

thanks for the post.

I wonder who takes that space ........ Amazon? I am surprised no one has snagged it yet. Maybe waiting to see it completed and now the 2nd floor truly works or does not?

Amazon would be my guess. They will be loosing YVR3 sooner or later which is relatively close by.

[officedweller]

Don't know if any of these have been announced before...

Not sure where the "Port of Vancouver" one would be?

Amazon building 5 new facilities in Metro Vancouver
Don Wilcox
Commercial May. 7, 2021

Amazon has announced it is constructing five additional facilities across Metro Vancouver, including a 450,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art fulfillment centre at the Port of Vancouver.
...
The new facilities are:

– Vancouver: A 450,000-square-foot advanced robotics fulfillment centre in the Port of Vancouver will launch in late 2021. This is Amazon’s first robotics fulfilment centre in the province and it will create 1,000 jobs.

– City of Langley: A new sort centre that will open later in 2021, creating more than 500 jobs.

– Langley Township: A delivery station that celebrated its day one launch in mid-February, creating 200 jobs.

– Pitt Meadows: A delivery station will open later in 2021, creating hundreds of jobs.

– Delta: A delivery station will open later in 2021, creating hundreds of career opportunities.
...

https://renx.ca/amazon-build-5-new-f...vancouver-b-c/

[logan5]

Amazon is right now negotiating naming rights to the planet.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Don't know if any of these have been announced before...

Not sure where the "Port of Vancouver" one would be?

Probably a 422,000 sq ft warehouse on Blundell Road in Richmond

[officedweller]

Nice find, thanks!

[hollywoodnorth]

I guess they passed on the South Burnaby space.

they dont seems to be adverse to multistory facilities as in Ottawa Broccolini is building a 5 story MEGA space at 2.8 million sq >> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...rs-wish-lists/

[hollywoodnorth]

looks like the Langley Township Amazon Center is a new build amd located at >>

5636 272 St
Langley, BC V4W 3X1

[vanman]

Originally Posted by Changing City

Probably a 422,000 sq ft warehouse on Blundell Road in Richmond

Mystery solved!

Was also wondering where the POV would have space for a 450,000sqft facility.

[SpongeG]

Developers hoping to hit Lower Mainland paydirt
Building over landfills, sweetening rezoning bids, paying record prices the new normal
By Frank O'Brien | May 11, 2021


The 170-acre Richmond Industrial Centre is being developed on a former landfill site | Omicron

As Metro Vancouver’s industrial land vanishes beneath concrete and asphalt, developers are throwing a wide net in their search for more space to meet intense demand that has driven industrial lease rates to the highest level in Canada.

One $300 million major project is rising above a Richmond landfill, another is bucking protests as it forges ahead with plans for 163 acres in a Delta peat bog while multiple bids are driving up land values from Vancouver to the eastern edge of the Fraser Valley.

Prices for brown site industrial lands, being bought for speculative development, have reached incredible levels.

...

https://biv.com/article/2021/05/deve...inland-paydirt

[jollyburger]

$15.7 million per acre for some North Vancouver industrial land

2.79 acres along West 1st

https://www.nsnews.com/real-estate-n...r-acre-3815744

[s211]

OK, I'm going to bet that for seismic reasons this can't be done in our region, but this is insane: instead of remediating a hot site, build a few hundred feet below the surface ?!?!?!?!? It's not as if there's a land shortage in the greater Chicago region, as far as I'd know.

https://theinvertchicago.com/

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by s211

OK, I'm going to bet that for seismic reasons this can't be done in our region, but this is insane: instead of remediating a hot site, build a few hundred feet below the surface ?!?!?!?!? It's not as if there's a land shortage in the greater Chicago region, as far as I'd know.

https://theinvertchicago.com/

It would cost them hundreds of millions to clean up the site so they dig in from some clean land and build underneath. This and the SubTropolis are built into excavated limestone deposits. The KC one is 6,700,000 SF and can expand another 7,300,000 SF.

https://huntmidwest.com/industrial-s...s-subtropolis/

[s211]

Originally Posted by jollyburger

It would cost them hundreds of millions to clean up the site so they dig in from some clean land and build underneath. This and the SubTropolis are built into excavated limestone deposits. The KC one is 6,700,000 SF and can expand another 7,300,000 SF.

https://huntmidwest.com/industrial-s...s-subtropolis/

I don't think subtropolis has the same clear height as is proposed for Invert. It'll be interesting to watch this play out.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by s211

OK, I'm going to bet that for seismic reasons this can't be done in our region, but this is insane: instead of remediating a hot site, build a few hundred feet below the surface ?!?!?!?!? It's not as if there's a land shortage in the greater Chicago region, as far as I'd know.

https://theinvertchicago.com/

There aren't too many 'hot sites' left in Greater Vancouver to deal with. The ones we had have mostly been successfully remediated, or capped and reused (mostly as parks). The seismic issue would make it difficult, but our geology would make it impossible. While there's a huge area of limestone on Vancouver Island (and on Texada Island) the glacial materials here wouldn't work in the same way. That's why tunnelling for transit isn't easy.

Developers could dig big holes to put industry underground, but it's not obvious what the advantage would be, here. We usually stick the parking underneath, unless the ground conditions don't work to even allow that. Having said that, it's exactly what BC Hydro are going to do under Nelson Park - but the new substation that will be buried there will still have a big pit dug out, not a tunelled chamber like the Chicago example, which just seems to be a workaround to avoid having to clean up the old steelworks and the contamination. I'm not clear how they avoid contaminated runoff seeping into the lower levels of limestone in that example.

[GenWhy?]

That looks prohibitively expensive.

[SeymourDrake]

Has there ever been a group look into claiming ocean space like they've done on various projects around the world?

Like Dubai for example.

I mean how deep is too deep?

I get that it might be to heavy a cost to benefit from it long term.

What about digging under the Airport property?