Another stage in the asphalting of the Fraser Delta continues apace:
From Business in Vancouver:
The region’s largest new mall project in years, the 1.2 million-square-foot Tsawwassen Mills at the corner of Highway 17 and 52nd Street in Delta, is slated to open on October 5 and provide jobs for thousands of people. …
The 550,000-square-foot Tsawwassen Commons Shopping Centre, adjacent to Tsawwassen Mills, is expected to have a phased opening this fall, although it is unclear how many of its tenants will be open by the holiday season. …
“Metro Vancouver is nowhere near served by as much retail space on a per-capita basis as there is a capacity for,” said James Smerdon, who is a Colliers International vice-president and director of its retail consulting.
“There will be a spike in per-capita retail space when Tsawwassen Mills opens, but we have 50,000 people moving here each year.”
Sandy James, one of PT’s co-editors, will be doing a lot of coverage of what the Mall means in context – a tough subject to tackle given the involvement of the Tsawwassen First Nation. But more importantly what is the larger intent of the Province, which is directing billions of dollars in the construction of infrastructure that, not coincidentally, serves to feed this far corner of the region on its most sensitive, below-sea-level soils.
Another important question: Will the mall survive? The retail consultants, of course, think it will. If it does, what does that mean for the ALR and urban development South of the Fraser. If not, what happens then?
What other issues should be addressed?
Such an unbelievable waste of everything.
Invite some sub-urban shoppers to blog here to get some much needed perspective, too, please.
Not everyone adheres to a high-density-is-good mentality and actually prefers SPACE.
We can debate pricing of such space, of course, such as roads.
Also ask: why do we not make more land west and south of there, say in Boundary Bay, or north and south of Fraser Port or in Fraser River Delta.
Discuss airport expansion of the Boundary Airport, too, please. Abbotsford is thriving I hear, and the 2 top reasons are Hwy 1 widening and airport.
If people had to pay the true cost of roads then these developments would not exist.
Oh you got that right!
This and all its attendant projects represent a failure to address (or even recognize) the loss of irreplaceable resources, and a failure to give the future even a cursory thought when blindly building a deeper dependency on yesterday’s economic and planning models.
Moreover, it’s a stunning failure to generate any realistic or hopeful environmental policy out of Victoria when the premier cynically mouths platitudes about how much BC is affected by climate change while promoting projects that will increase emissions exponentially province wide.
It is also, sadly, a failure of the Tsawwassen First Nation to seek better advice and a clearer understanding of development and to afford higher quality public discourse on full accounting best practices on the surrounding land.
With so many international climate policies coming down the pipe and the world glut in oil coming to an end about the same time, fossil fuels are set to spike in price before the acreage in asphalt at the megamall needs its first major repair, the car lots start discounting thousands of overstocked SUVs, 5% of the Massey debt is paid down, subburbanites raise hell over the lack of transit, and the last coal train arrives at Roberts Bank.
Or not:
http://www.fool.ca/2016/09/19/the-ieas-latest-report-says-the-oil-glut-is-far-from-over-what-it-means-for-your-portfolio/
Your Fool source requires registration. This chart is from an oil analyst who regularly posts his studies free for all without having to sign in:
http://www.artberman.com/wp-content/uploads/Oil-Prices-in-2016-Dollars-1950-2016-.jpg
The future for oil prices and the global economy is frightening. I don’t know what beast slouches toward Bethlehem but I am willing to bet that it does not include growth. The best path forward is to face the beast. Acknowledge the problem, stop looking for improbable solutions that allow us live like energy is still cheap, and find ways to live better with less. Arthur Berman, independent oil analyst, July 2016.
The Fool, citing only the latest EIA snapshot (Berman writes on that too in his latest post), takes a decidedly short-term view. The long term view indicates a simple sawtooth pattern of ever-increasing price spikes and troughs set against a background of undulating production. That’s the definition of volatility.
We’re in a trough today, but that trough is attributable primarily to the over-production of US shale plays by debt-ridden companies fighting to maintain enough cashflow to make their loan payments through full-out production regardless of today’s lower prices. OPEC merely continued production, but they have limits too, namely in hidden production peaks in the largest supergiant fields in the world, political instability and civil war.
I wouldn’t bet a stock portfolio on oil beyond 2020. Our cities, some still brainwashed by last century’s planning practices, will be in big trouble in another generation or two unless they start to recognize the sheer depth of their dependency on this one exceedingly unstable energy source.
Great farm land is a rare commodity in this mountainous province. There is a distinct lack of places with a combination of good soil and lots of daylight. The best land in western Canada is the Fraser delta. We’ve already robbed it of the regular floods that created it in the first place and seem determined to convert what’s left to non agricultural uses. It’s very short sighted. Just look what’s happening in California. As the southern half of the state slowly turns into a dustbowl you can be assured that feeding themselves will take priority over exports to Canada. Will we then turn to suppliers thousands of miles farther away? Will we be able to afford it?
“Great farm land is a rare commodity in this mountainous province. ” .. and so is affordable housing, industrial and commercial land.
An adult debate about ALR vs residential (or industrial, retail or park) use is necessary in this province, as well as a debate about creation of more land in Fraser Delta, Boundary Bay or N/S of Delta Ports. Plenty of treed land close to N-Van, W-Van, Mission and Abbotsford too that could be used for housing. Intelligent land use is critical and that debate is somewhat stifled here in this fine province. MetroVan for 5M people needs a comprehensive redesign rather than using a framework that used to work for 1M people ! ALL options have to be on the people, not just “more density” or “public transit is the way to go” but also “where can we create more land”, “where do we not build”, road tolls, slow (diesel) buses vs rapid transit etc
Plenty of farmland further east btw, and that is why Canada is a net exporter of many products such as grains etc.
Your “adult debate” occurred in the early 70s when the ALR was created, in the 90s when the Livable Regions Strategic Plan was approved by 21 municipalities, and again in 2011 when the Metro Vancouver 2040: Shaping our Future (Metro 2040) report was approved by all municipalities. We are now in the fifth year of implementation. There has always been a strong and deeply justified emphasis on protecting the green zone.
You are out of sync, Thomas, except with the tiny minority of lobbyists who possess only one track minds and see all flat land as low utility stucco-clad subdivisions predominated by garage door architecture, and asphalted commons.
There is enough non-ALR land in the Metro to accommodate over 10 million people at the comfortable densities of Chelsea Kensington. We will be required to learn to live on slopes more, and to feed ourselves increasingly from local sources as California burns.
It appears that the 2040 plan approved by the municipalities did NOT get approved by the province (or the feds) as that is where the money for most (67%+) of the roads or transit is coming from. THAT is the disconnect, i.e. the missing adult at the table. Essentially teenagers designing a nice plan without asking the parents if they are willing to fund it.
Sweetly known in schools as a wish list.
Land use features prominently in the 2040 plan. We were talking about all the local agencies promoting maintaining the ALR.
So why are the mayors so upset then about SFPR or Massey Bridge ? Why is this not in their plan ? Who coordinates MetroVan’s wishlist with financial reality of federal and provincial budgets and priorities ? Who tells voters: Listen, if you want fancy wide bridges and roads we need road tolls ? Or: if you want rapid transit it’ll cost more than $2.10 to ride ? Who tells them “You voted for gridlock as we don’t have the money” ? Why don’t councils raise property taxes and residential parking fees so they can control the funding, rather than panhandling the province or feds for cash due to their dense housing choices and thus, congestion in streets ?
It makes sense that the Tsawwassen Nation would want a high-paying, long-term leaser in the form of a new mall. But I’m still puzzled that a market study would show that THIS is an advantageous location for one; especially an average one. It’s convenient for all 3,000+ residents of Pt Roberts and handy for people en route to/from the ferry, assuming they leave themselves time. But it’s otherwise hell-and-gone from any other human being in the Lower Mainland.
I suggest not getting too worked up about it. Nature will reclaim this space soon enough.
It will be difficult and expensive to make the soil suitable again for farming.
So difficult it would be the near side of impossible.
In 200 years you’ll never know it was there.
@ Dan: Gee, Holland flooded their low lying land 200 or so years ago and they are still here. We’ll just add a few feet to the dyke and a few bigger pumps and the land remains dry. It will not disappear Dan !
Why can’t we do this here on a larger scale and create a new Venice, or Holland in our marshlands ? Free of cars, beaches, bike and ped trails galore ! Rather than squeezing 100,000’s into more highrises like the ugly Lougheed town or Brentwood Mall area.
The ocean is infiltrating the delta soil from beneath in places. There are doubts the soft soil will support the weight of taller dikes without settling. And one medium quake at high tide will result in a lot more than class action lawsuits against the engineers and governments who allowed development on a floodplain.
It is far better planning (not to mention prudent) to keep the floodplain land in farming until the sea dictates otherwise.
No it won’t.
All is good then?
It would be interesting to read the minutes of the meeting when the project was first introduced to the Metro Vancouver board.
It will be easy for Sandy James to critique the project since she is a strong supporter of walking and this mall will not see any walk-in customers.
With an advertised 6,000 parking spaces the mall must have generated some interest and comment from the Metro board.
Translink has been planning bus service to the mall for over a year but this is obviously mainly for staff.
With around 180 shops to splurge in buyers are going to need good sized vehicles to carry all those essential goodies.
“With around 180 shops to splurge in buyers are going to need good sized vehicles to carry all those essential goodies.” .. or e-bikes with trailers …
“With around 180 shops to splurge in buyers are going to need good sized vehicles to carry all those essential goodies.”
If only someone would invent some sort of service by which some purchases were delivered to the buyer’s location of choice. Maybe the postal service, or the many courier companies, or some freight delivery company could look into this and determine if it is possible. Seems like it might be a business opportunity.
This project arose from a conjunction of motives by provincial government to act on Gordon Campbell’s economic “gateway” concept, the involved corporate interests (who likely donated to the BC Libs) who use the Roberts Bank port to export raw resources and import foreign-made containerized products, and the Tsawwassen FN whose land these interests need in future. The Harper government was also involved through the Port, but it’s assumed Victoria led the process from the beginning. No decision on anything about it to my knowledge was made in public, least of with any significant influence by local government.
Metro Vancouver and other local governments had very little to do with the industrial and mall developments except now to provide services. The whole thing certainly violates the underlying basis of the Metro Van 2040 Plan, notably about protecting the Green Zone.
Also note the dearth of long-term economic feasibility studies that consider value-added economics, future projections of commodity demand and prices, and understanding the impacts of the external effects. Why did they assume shipping US thermal coal through RB will be a perpetual benefit to Canada?
Exactly. No adult debate. ALL parties have to be at the table. Why is this not happening ?
Here are a few articles on attractions at the mall.
In addition to merchandise, the Bass Pro Shops will have an archery range, bowling alley, boat repair/service centre and restaurants.
The West 49 store will have an indoor skate park.
Peek inside Bass Pro Shops’ epic new Outdoor World store, 1st in BC (PHOTOS)
http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bass-pro-shops-outdoor-world-tsawwassen-bc-vancouver-photos
Uncle Buck’s Fishbowl & Grill: Underwater-themed restaurant and bowling alley opens soon (PHOTOS)
http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/uncle-bucks-fishbowl-grill-bowling-alley-tsawwassen-mills-vancouver
Skatepark one of the attractions at Tsawwassen Mills</B.
http://www.delta-optimist.com/news/skatepark-one-of-the-attractions-at-tsawwassen-mills-1.2346776
Bass Pro Shops more than a retail mecca
Wow–those look disneylike ridiculous. This whole thing would be hilarious if it weren’t just so tragic.
I’ll stick the wildlife of Commercial Drive. It’s so original you couldn’t possibly create a theme park out of it. And it’s a lot closer.
Likewise, I wouldn’t expect Surrey and Delta residents to travel all the way to Commercial Drive or downtown Vancouver to dine in a restaurant or see a movie.
I know people who live in Surrey who practically never come downtown (they work in Surrey, so have no reason to travel so far).
Isn’t there another E-W highway planned parallel to the US border east from White Rock via Langley to Abbotsford Airport (I found this here http://fraservalleynewsnetwork.com/2015/12/08/two-proposals-for-an-eastwest-connector-abbotsford-to-surreylangley/ but there must be more details elsewhere) .. to ease E/W traffic along Hwy 1 ?
Those sound like arterial roads.
This article just mentions the arterial road improvements you mention.
http://www.langleytimes.com/news/321796501.html
Way back there was a plan for a freeway dover the Serpentine Valley form Hwy 1 – but that could be gone now with the SFPR already built.
From Hansard, Monday, July 7, 1997.
https://www.leg.bc.ca/content/hansard/36th2nd/h0707pm3.htm