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Holyrood residents have been waiting with bated breath since November when city council rejected Regency Developments' plan to replace the strip of townhouse units bordering 85 Street NW and a future Valley Line LRT stop with multiple residential towers. The developer returned to the table Wednesday, revealing their revised proposal to the Holyrood community, who levied many of the same concerns as the last time.
Though the new scheme drops building heights from a maximum of 78 metres and 22 storeys to 60 metres and 18 storeys, within a 45 degree view angle, it redistributes that height across the site. Whereas the original plan envisioned three highrises — the tallest at 90 Avenue NW — with mid-rises between them, the updated proposal spreads the density to create what some in attendance likened to a "wall of buildings."
The unit count has also increased by 250 from the 1,200 that was first requested, offsetting the added cost of converting some of the wood-framed buildings in the original proposal to concrete structures. Coupled with the reduction in maximum building height is a reduction in the maximum floor plate size, which has been lowered from 1,200 to 750 square metres.
Density and massing continues to a subject of debate, with residents pursuing a gentler built form of mid-rises that minimizes shadowing and traffic impacts, issues that were and continue to be part of the discourse. City council will ultimately decide the fate of the proposal. Local councillor Ben Henderson, in step with his constituents', said more work is required with the community.
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