Two housing projects in downtown New West are heading into the homestretch.
After years of construction, two projects on Carnarvon Street are getting closer to completion, with hundreds of residents set to move into the downtown. Work on the interior and exterior of projects in the 600 and 800 blocks of Carnarvon Street is continuing.
Ovation, located at 813/823 Carnarvon St., consists of 204 market strata units, as well as 66 affordable housing rental units that will be operated by Performing Arts Lodges and BC Housing. The project also includes five street-level retail units.
“As for the status of the project, it's at the wrapping-up-stage, waiting for some street work done, and expected to get an occupancy permit soon,” Tracy Dong, a director with Vintop Development Corp., said in an email to the Record.
Dong said details about the retail tenants has not been confirmed, but a coffee shop, a restaurant and some other small-scale business operations are being considered.
Ovation consists of a 32-storey condo building. An eight-storey building will contain non-market housing for Performing Arts Lodges (PAL) Vancouver, a non-profit that will provide affordable housing for veterans of the performing arts industry.
Not far away, Skyllen Pacific is building 618 Carnarvon, a 33-storey tower at the corner of Sixth and Carnarvon streets. It will also include street-level retail.
As part of the development of this project, which is adjacent to the SkyTrain tracks, the developer enclosed the tracks to reduce noise. Greenspace will be created on top of that space.
618 Carnarvon St. consists of 262 residential units, more than 5,000 square feet of at-grade commercial space, and a 938-square-foot pocket park at the corner of Sixth and Clarkson streets. Thirteen townhouse units and parking have been built atop the encapsulated SkyTrain guideway.
Mike Watson, the city’s acting manager of development planning, said these two “exciting developments” would bring some much-needed housing to New Westminster, helping to address city council’s strategic priority related to homes and housing options.
“While city departments are working closely with the developers’ project teams to steward these projects forward, control of the construction schedule rests with the project teams,” he said. “There are a number of required milestones the project teams are currently working on. Once those are completed, the city can finalize next steps with the developer and move toward occupancy, anticipated in the new year.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone is looking forward to seeing the projects completed for a couple of reasons, including getting construction off the street.
“I know there is a lot of construction weariness downtown,” he said. “I think those are both projects that were really disrupting to the neighbourhood when they were happening; I heard a lot about that, and I feel that.”
Johnstone believes new residents in the neighbourhood will benefit the downtown.
“I think that it's a very good thing for downtown to have hundreds of new residents moving in, potentially thousands of new residents moving in downtown,” he said. “I think that's great for the downtown businesses. They have struggled. Between COVID, the construction on Columbia Street, and some of the challenges we're having now, it’s been a struggle downtown.”
Restaurants, noted Johnstone, have struggled with issues related to staffing and food prices.
“There's a lot of pressures,” he told the Record. “So I think having more people moving living downtown and shopping downtown and walking downtown it's a good thing for everybody.”
