The City of New Westminster is seeing tremendous interest in development projects throughout the downtown.
Lisa Spitale, the city's director of development services, said projects like the Trapp+Holbrook building, the civic centre and a new school have created interest in the area within the development community.
"We are getting so many inquiries about the downtown," she said. "I have been pleased with the type of interest the elementary school has generated. It's great."
Spitale said developers are interested in building apartment and townhouse projects in the area around the Royal Avenue school site.
"What is unique is that we normally have to suggest townhouse development to developers," she noted. "In the case around the elementary school, projects are coming forward considering townhouses as an option. A couple of the sites are vacant and one site is a previously approved plan."
City hall has also heard from developers who are interested in the potential of building highrise projects elsewhere in the downtown. In some cases, inquiries are coming from property owners who have held sites for years and are only now pursuing potential redevelopment opportunities.
"I ask people, why now?" Spitale said. "It's always the same thing - lots is happening."
Spitale said they cite projects such as the city's Anvil Centre (and the cultural components it will bring to the downtown) and the award-winning Westminster Pier Park.
Spitale noted that the Trapp+ Holbrook project, which is being developed by Robert Fung and the Salient Group and sold by Rennie Marketing Systems, has also generated a buzz in the development community. She said the type of interest generated by Fung and Bob Rennie can only be positive for the downtown and the city as a whole.
"From a downtown perspective, that has been huge," she said.
