At the July 25th Burnaby City Council meeting the council authorized a public hearing for the rezoning application related to UniverCity Parcel 24. All rezoning applications are required to present a development plan which undergoes a public hearing prior to approval. The council also approved the first reading of the bylaw that would authorize the rezoning. The Parcel 24 hearing will take place on August 30, 2022. If you would like more information about the hearing or would like to participate, contact the City.
The development plan for Parcel 24 is available here. Parcel 24 has a prominent position in the community, on University High St. across from the Cornerstone building, in the area currently occupied by sales centres and the now-decommissioned temporary bike park.
The rezoning application proposes that Parcel 24 will be split into two lots, a north lot and a south lot. The proposed development on the south lot will include a 17-storey apartment building at the southeast corner, with the remaining site housing a 6-story plaza with SFU use on the ground floor and residential space above. The building's profile on the High Street side will be similar to that of the Centre Block building. The building will house 234 residential units, all of which will be 1- or 2-bedrooms, and 48 of which will be adaptable units. The 1-bedroom units will range from 548-637 sq ft, and the 2-bedroom units will range from 708-853 sq ft. The space on the ground floor will be rezoned to allow its use as institutional and event spaces for the university, but will also retain its commercial zoning in case SFU at some point wishes to rent part or all of it out for commercial use. The uses that SFU intends for the space include:
SFU Legacy Event Centre;
Cafe/Bar;
SFU Spirit Store;
"Meet and Greet" Lounge and Seating Area;
Interpretive Theatre; and,
Catering Kitchen Space.
The north side of Parcel 24 will house a bus layover facility for Translink, with SFU retaining ownership of the site. In addition to the bus layover area, the north lot would also house a temporary landscaped plaza, which will later be replaced by some other kind of SFU use.
The new bus layer area is being created in anticipation of the current SFU Transit exchange eventually being decommissioned and replaced by curb-side bus pickup in the streets adjacent to this area. Bus stop locations have been approved by SFU and Translink and reviewed by Burnaby's Engineering Department but have not yet been finalized.
