But like spring’s first crocus pushing through the beaten, salty dirt—or Superman—a beacon of hope has finally appeared. On Monday, Ekistics Plan+Design will present its 116-page plan for what are known as the Cogswell Lands to council (with no stadium in sight!).
Among Ekistics’ recommendations for the area are rerouting Barrington Street toward Upper Water, leaving “old” Barrington up for an urban greenway; a roundabout at Barrington and Cornwallis Streets and a park in Granville Mall. The plans call for 2.5 million square feet of new construction: 573,275 commercial/1,974,080 residential (with 55,000 in street-level retail); up to 2,000 new units (80-90 percent multi-family rental, remaining condos); a single office tower and the potential for fun accessories like more parks, bike lanes, plazas, a solo bike path (imagine!), a bunch of parking and a transit hub.
But it’s not the speediest of processes, as you can imagine—land acquisition will take up to 20 months, and building of all the new things will take from eight to one million years.
Comb through the report yourself here.
