Maple Ridge’s proposed 35-storey, 252-unit apartment tower on Brown Avenue is closer to becoming a reality.
The project went through a public hearing last month, and on Nov. 25 city council gave the necessary bylaws third reading. All that’s left is council’s final approval – often a formality at this point of the approvals process.
It would be the tallest building in Maple Ridge by a considerable margin, dwarfing the 13-storey Baptist Housing Society Tower at 222nd Street and Lougheed Highway.
Located downtown on lots 22576, 22588 and 22596 Brown Avenue, councillors noted it was close to the Haney Place Exchange transit hub, and to the downtown core, which makes it an appropriate place for this project.
“I did kind of struggle a little bit with this one, just because this is really the first time Maple Ridge has seen a building of this height,” said Coun. Korleen Carreras.
“When you look at our OCP (official community plan) this is what we envision,” she said, noting the project is close to transit, near infrastructure, aligns with provincial objectives, and would bring more density downtown.
Carreras added that she has concern about what the rest of the block will look like, not wanting an isolated tower, but rather a “node” of towers as envisioned in the architect’s drawings. She hopes the city can encourage similar buildings in future.
Tan noted that more than 40 per cent of the units were two and three bedrooms, to allow for families.
“It really shapes the downtown we want to have,” said Tan. “I’m very happy to see it go forward.”
The tower would have a five-storey podium, with a tower above. There would be 276 parking spaces in the podium, in two levels of underground parking.
No parking is prescribed in city bylaws, as it is close to transit, but the developer provided the amount deemed necessary to market the units.
At the public hearing, Kirk Grayson of the Maple Ridge Climate Hub said the carbon impact from taller steel and concrete construction is worse than with wood construction. Grayson noted updates to the B.C. building code allow for mass timber construction up to 18 stories in height. She asked the city to encourage mass timber buildings, to limit carbon emissions.