Aragon’s newest master-planned community in New Westminster, Port Royal, is helping revitalize the city’s Queensborough area. New homeowners in the neighbourhood, such as Janet Nacario, love the peace and quiet in the onceindustrial region. “ It feels safe. There’s less traffic,
and it’s off the beaten path.”
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Morningstar’s Sterling lets families get to know each other in Coquitlam ›› p.5
July 2, 2009
CMHC gives grant to GVHBA KOLBY SOLINSKY
Daisy Chia, sales-coordinator for Aragon at Port Royal in New Westminster, stands along the 1.7-kilometre riverfront walkway on Lulu Island. Rob Newell photo
Live with the river at your door A new community is revitalizing an old New Westminster neighbourhood TRICIA LESLIE Mighty and ancient, the Fraser River slowly winds its way past the shoreline, on its way to the Pacific. Nearly 1,400 kilometres long, the waterway is Canada’s fifth-
largest river system. It carries much history, from the days when First Nations tribes gathered on its shores, to the explorers, fur traders and gold prospectors who would eventually navigate its waters. From the 1.7-km river walk at Aragon’s Port Royal neighbourhood, residents can enjoy this piece of history every day. These days, tugboats and barges are more prominent than canoes, but among the log booms and water reeds, wild ducks and geese still play and search for food. Wild salmon,
trout and prehistoric white sturgeon still populate its waters, as they did years ago. Port Royal is a recent newcomer to the river’s shoreline. The multi-phase masterplanned community spans 50 acres in the heart of Greater Vancouver, in New Westminster’s Queensborough area. Located at the eastern tip of Lulu Island, the family oriented community offers a wide variety of housing types, waterfront properties, a CONTINUED ON P.2
Last week, through efforts put forward by its director of government relations, Amy Spencer-Chubey, the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association received the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s Affordability and Choice Today (ACT) grant in the amount of $4,450. The grant will fund an upcoming forum on municipal planning processes and procedures to improve the already-strong working relationship between the residential construction industry and municipal staff in Vancouver. “The City of Vancouver has a complex and regulatory process and it is sometime difficult for our members,” says GVHBA president Peter Simpson. “Ideally, it will result in faster approvals and Peter Simpson a more streamlined approvals process.” “The intent of the forum... is to work our way through the development application process and share feedback on what works and what doesn’t,” says Spencer-Chubey. This has benefits for both groups, as well as new home buyers who will feel a ripple effect whenever costs and processes are smoothed out above. “In the end, it’s all about the customer,” Simpson says. “Time is money, and if we can streamline the process somehow to make it easier for both the City and our industry to fulfill our obligations then those costs will be minimized and the home buyers won’t have to pick up the cost.” The forum will be another liaison in a long CONTINUED ON P.2