In March we wrote about the “all star” team of consultants that Concert has assembled in order to transform Harbourside into a destination mixed-use community. Today we focus on two talented members of the Concert development team who have been championing this vision for Harbourside over the past four years.
Lisa Lock – Vice President, Development
In Lisa’s 12 years with Concert she has managed the development of several award-winning large and mid-scale residential projects in Vancouver, West Vancouver, Richmond and Victoria. She has extensive experience working with City officials and community groups to reach successful, mutually beneficial agreements. Within Concert, Lisa is the senior development team member on Harbourside and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the process. Lisa has lived on the North Shore for 15 years, previously in the City of North Vancouver for 11 years in a heritage home she and her husband restored.
Farouk Babul – Development Manager
Farouk has seven years of broad-based experience with Concert where he has worked in sales and marketing, acquisitions and ultimately development. Having worked on over a dozen projects, he now handles all of the day-to-day operations in the rezoning process for Harbourside under Lisa’s oversight. Farouk also serves as Concert’s representative on the North Shore Chamber of Commerce.
Both Lisa and Farouk have been involved with the revitalization plans for Harbourside from the very beginning in early 2009. In speaking to either of them, it’s difficult not to share their excitement about the project. They are both intensely passionate about how Harbourside could be transformed into a unique mixed-use community with its own very distinct character and sense of place. They see this as a one-of-a-kind opportunity to help create the framework to foster community for generations to come.
A summary of what’s happening in the Harbourside planning process.
Continued dialogue with TransLink
Recognizing that good public transit service is integral to the success of any community, Concert has continued exploring options with TransLink for how to best increase transit service to Harbourside. Several ideas have been put forward including the introduction of a new bus route that would service Harbourside in addition to others who aren’t currently well-connected by transit (such as the Norgate comunity or SPAN). Concert is proud to have the distinction of being the first developer to be working collaboratively with TransLink to ensure the viability of transit usage prior to construction commencing.
Development Permit Area Guidelines
City staff, advisory bodies and Concert have been working to finalize the Development Permit Area (DPA) guidelines document. These guidelines control the form and character of a development in addition to regulating the look and feel of the surrounding public realm.
For more information, click here to read the article we recently posted which discusses these guiding principles in detail.
Timeline Update
Earlier this year we had been operating under the assumption that Concert would be able to bring Harbourside to a Town Hall meeting, and subsequently a Public Hearing in the Spring. However, the determination of the appropriate type and magnitude of community amenity contributions (CACs) have taken longer than expected. A plan for proposed CACs – things like parks, public art, rental housing, street upgrades and cash donations for Council’s discretionary use – must be finalized before the plan for Harbourside can go before either a Town Hall meeting or Public Hearing. It is anticipated that we will be able to schedule a Town Hall Meeting this Summer and then a Public Hearing for early Fall.
In order to ensure a large master-planned community comes together as envisioned, it is important to have a series of guiding principles in place to influence all aspects of the development before a shovel goes into the ground. In Harbourside’s case, these guiding principles are contained in the Development Permit Area (DPA) guidelines document which has been a collaborative effort involving City staff, advisory bodies and Concert. Harbourside’s DPA guidelines will control the form and character of the development in addition to regulating the look and feel of the surrounding buildings and public realm. The document can be broken into two board categories:
Environmental guidelines
Environmental sustainability will be kept top of mind at Habourside. The primary objectives include designing the land use mix, transportation systems, buildings and energy systems to exceed the energy and carbon performance of conventional developments at the time of construction. Other environmental guidelines include effective management of rainwater and the reduction of potable water usage.
Form and character guidelines
As a mixed-use development, Harbourside aims to revitalize waterfront land by creating a vibrant destination which is seen as a “complete community”. This attractive destination would include a mix of retail, office, residential and public spaces to animate the City’s waterfront. Specific objectives include:
- Ensuring the form and character of residential, multi-family, commercial and mixed-use development are a desirable addition to the City of North Vancouver.
- Revitalizing an existing commercial node.
- Delivering desirable public realm, landscaping and building exterior design.
Concert and the City of North Vancouver are currently working to finalize the DPA guidelines. Once finalized, this document will be submitted to City Council for consideration at Public Hearing, as part of our rezoning application.
