An open house will be held Oct. 8 into the proposed redevelopment of the Safeway lot east of the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station, which has been identified as a key site in the Grandview-Woodland community plan.
The information session will be held by developer Westbank Projects and Crombie REIT, the owner of the Safeway site, at Federico’s Supper Club, 1728 Commercial Dr., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The plan is still being developed, but the proposal includes new high-density residential development, retail and office space.
The site is located in Grandview-Woodland, where a controversial area community plan was passed earlier this year. The 30-year Grandview-Woodland plan aims to attract 9,500 new residents and build 7,000 new homes, including towers as high as 24 storeys.
According to a City of Vancouver report, the city’s vision for the Safeway site includes new mixed-use development at a variety of scales, including mid-rise and highrise components from 12 to 24 storeys.
“The development will include office space, a mix of retail (including small-scale retail and large-format grocery) and ownership housing opportunities,” the report stated. “The site will feature a central public plaza with pedestrian paths connecting the plaza to adjacent streets, retail and transit facilities and other public spaces.”
As well, the building arrangements would “optimize the use of public open space (and) ensure the site design supports vibrancy in the plaza with varied, grocery and small-retail space, office and residential entrances fronting and/or overlooking the open space” and SkyTrain noise mitigation.
The site would “accommodate grocery retail of approximately 4,650 square metres (50,000 square feet), arranged in a one-or two-storey configuration.”
The city said Thursday that it has not yet received a formal proposal from the developer for the site.
