More change proposed for Hastings

A mixed-use project is being proposed for the former site of a Super Save gas station on the northwest corner of Hastings Street and Madison Avenue.

Citimark-Omicron Madison Project Ltd. is seeking a rezoning to redevelop the vacant lot at 4295 Hastings St. to include retail space at ground level with three-and-a-half storeys of apartments above.

The design approach will be similar to one used in the Vancity development on the southeast corner of the intersection, said a city staff report.

In that case, it looks like a four-storey building from Hastings with a double-height commercial space at ground level below three levels of residential.

But from the rear lane, it appears as a five-storey structure, with four levels of residential above one level of commercial.

Meanwhile, the developers of a project at the southeast corner of Hastings and Gamma Avenue are applying for a second rezoning on its site.

Back in October 2012, Burnaby council gave final approvals to a rezoning of 418 Gamma Ave. to allow construction of a four-storey, mixed-use project. The building, on a triangular-shaped lot, was to include retail on the ground level, offices on the second floor and apartments on the third and fourth floors.

But Epta Properties has not built the project "due in large part to the difficulties the developer has had leasing or selling the office space in the previously approved development form," said a city staff report. "The office component is further challenged by the sites' irregular geometry."

Epta now wants to redesign the building to remove the office component, and go instead with one floor of retail underneath three storeys of residential.

The city's planning and building department will work with the applications to prepare development plans suitable for presentation to public hearings in the future.

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More change proposed for Hastings