URBAN DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE AWARDS
Celebrating industry excellence in British Columbia market
Several years ago, few people believed Abo Taheri when he predicted that his company ’s three-tower Seylynn Village development, just off the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge in North Vancouver, would become a magnet for everyone from first-time buyers to retirement-age downsizers.
After all, when he and Denna Homes began planning the development in 2011, the light industrial area was populated by autobody shops, fast-food outlets and modest single-family homes and duplexes that few thought had a future as a desirable area in which to locate new development.
Taheri said his own grown children had dismissed the idea of moving to North Vancouver from tony Coal Harbour. “They had never thought about moving to North Vancouver, but now they live in Compass (one of the three Seylynn Village towers),” he said, adding he himself is making the leap from Coal Harbour to a penthouse in Seylynn later this month. “Most of the people in our second tower are also young people who had not thought of North Van as a possible home.”
The quality of the development by Denna Homes, of which Taheri is managing partner, has also won over B.C.’s development community. The Urban Development Institute named Seylynn recipient of the UDI’s award for the best MultiPhase/Master-Planned Community at the industry organization’s bi-annual UDI Awards banquet Nov. 22 in Vancouver.
Lynn Creek, where Seylynn is located, is one of four community centres designated by the District of North Vancouver. It is now on course to become home to about 6,000 people over the next 20 years as several developers of highrise, medium and low-rise residences have joined Denna with their own projects there. As well, about $1 billion in infrastructure development has been planned for the area, including new bridges, and major enhancements to the Phibbs Exchange bus terminal.
Meanwhile, Nic Jensen, a spokesperson for Onni Group, said his company credits people’s familiarity with the company’s Northwest development at Southwest Marine and Cambie for winning the UDI/Vancouver Sun Readers’ Choice Award. It’s a highly dense corner where a lot of people both driving and on public transit have exposure to the site,” said Nic Jensen, Onni’s vice-president sales. “It’s a recognizable building on a very popular corner.”
It was the second award that Onni captured from the prestigious non-profit industry organization. It also received the Mixed Use award for its Centreview project, a residential-retail development at Lonsdale Avenue and 13th St., in North Vancouver. It includes a Whole Foods grocery store and a daycare, both of which have been well-received by the community, he said.
Meantime, David Podmore, chairman and co-founder of Concert Properties and an Order of B.C. recipient, was inducted into the UDI Hall of Fame at the awards gala for his 40 years of contributions to the development industry. Virginia Bird, of Pottinger Bird Community Relations, received the Maureen Enser Future Leader Award.
“This evening is all about recognizing extraordinary innovators and their towering achievements in building design, community amenities, social housing and so much more,” UDI president and CEO Anne McMullin said of the awards gala, which was attended by more than 850 industry participants. “Congratulations to all the winners who can take great pride in this peer recognition for building B.C. communities for everyone to live, work and play.”