TransLink and PCI Developments held a ceremonial groundbreaking Wednesday for their Broadway-Arbutus project, the transit provider’s first foray into real estate development. TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn hailed the ceremony as “a historic milestone” for his organization. “Revenue generated through this development will be reinvested into transit, creating a new source of non-taxation revenue, helping ease the pressure on taxpayers and on our riders,” he told reporters gathered at the event. The 31-storey mixed-use building is now under construction at the southeast corner of Arbutus Street and Broadway, directly across from the Millennium Line’s future Arbutus SkyTrain Station. The project is slated to include 256 rental homes, 47 of them at below-market rates, along with ground floor retail space and a location for the Ohel Ya’akov Community Kollel, a Jewish cultural, education and neighbourhood centre. Plans also include a public plaza that will be integrated with the Arbutus Greenway and the future Arbutus Station. In a news release accompanying Wednesday’s event, TransLink said its plan to become a real estate developer draws inspiration from other transportation agencies around the world, including Hong Kong’s MTR. The idea is for TransLink to retain, rather than selling, valuable land near transit infrastructure and partner with experienced developers to build housing on it. The transit service intends to maintain “an ongoing interest in the value created” through the development projects. Two other developments are currently listed on TransLink’s Real Estate Development Program website. The organization has also proposed a mixed-use development in North Vancouver’s Moodyville neighbourhood, along the R2 RapidBus route, and a master-planned development in Surrey’s Newton Town Centre area. Construction on the Broadway-Arbutus project is scheduled for completion in 2029, according to TransLink.
