PARK Royal is aiming to be less of a mall and more of a neighbourhood.
The mall's management announced plans April 30 to add residential towers to the mix, along with a host of new stores and a refurbishment of the north mall.
"The vision is creating, as many shopping centres are doing today, a move from being a single-purpose delivery of goods and services . . . to becoming a much more inclusive neighbourhood. That neighbourhood would include, obviously, residential as a component of the deliverables," said Rick Amantea, Park Royal vice-president.
If approved by the District of West Vancouver, Park Royal will build two towers, 24 and 19 storeys in height, holding 289 units of housing at 752 Marine Drive, the location of White Spot today.
The company is also aiming to include a new movie theatre, storefronts and more restaurants in the commercial podium in the project
West Vancouver's official community plan foresees Park Royal as a commercial centre, so the land will have to go through an OCP amendment and rezoning public process. In exchange for the lucrative upzoning, Park Royal is going to have come up with some perks to offer the community.
"Obviously we don't want to put the cart before the horse. The community needs to have lots of input in that community amenity package and what uses might be there," Amantea said, though childcare space, a public commons area, as well as bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure are likely candidates, he added.
Reaction to the plan has been "mostly positive" Amantea said but, not surprisingly, the worry about increased traffic in the already bottlenecked chokepoint was the top concern.
"I can tell you in absolute honesty, nobody is more concerned about traffic than we are and anything and everything we do, we need to rationalize ourselves internally first. We need to be sure that the changes we are making do not, in any way, shape or form, significantly impact in a negative way, traffic in and around Park Royal," he said.
Amantea is hoping to attract a mix of seniors looking to downsize into a smaller, cheaper home as well as young people looking to get established in the housing market. Ultimately the market will decide what price the one-and two-bedroom units will sell for but the developer is expecting the smaller 650square foot units to start at around $600,000.
If all goes well, Amantea is hoping to have the rezoning in place by the end of 2013 with detailed designs and permits in place for a late 2014 construction start.
Meanwhile, Park Royal South is crowning its recent refurbishment by announcing heaps of new businesses including: J. Crew, Loft, Anthropologie, Aritzia, Lush, Sephora, Trattoria, Wear Else, White Spot, Zara and Five Guys Burgers and Fries, all of which are expected to be open by late fall.
Park Royal North is scheduled for a similar facelift, including new covered walkways that link both sides of the complex, and "remerchandising" in 2014.
"We are a long-term player here in the community. We continue to look at anything and everything we're doing not in a short-term perspective but in a longer-term perspective and where the community needs and wants to be in the next 10, 20 and 30 years," Amantea said.
