Downtown Port Moody could finally be getting a grocery store.
On Tuesday (Feb. 21), council's city initiatives and planning committee will get its first look at a pre-application from Cornerstone Architecture and Bosa Foods for a six-storey mixed-use building on the south side of St. Johns Street — just west of the Shell gas station.
The project would include a 9,400 sq-ft. specialty food store topped by four storeys of residential.
All 47 units would be market rental apartments comprised of:
- 29 one-bedroom units
- 11 two-bedroom units
- Four studio apartments
- Three triple-bedroom units
In its letter of application, Cornerstone said the grocery store will be similar to Bosa Foods' location on Victoria Drive in Vancouver, with a covered patio for outdoor seating along St. Johns Street where shoppers can enjoy fresh coffee, baking and sandwiches from the deli area.
The lobby and parkade entrance for the residential units would be located at the back of the building, off St. Andrews Street, while visitors to the grocery store would enter a separate retail parking area off Queens Street.
In a report, Port Moody senior planner Kevin Jones said the project would require an amendment to the city's official community plan and zoning bylaws because of the change in land-use designation from multi-family residential to mixed use, as well as to accommodate a six-storey structure instead of the currently permitted four.
As well, Jones said, the developer is proposing only four of the residential units be adaptable, well short of the 50 per cent required by the city’s zoning bylaw.
"Staff recommend the project be amended to meet this requirement," he said.
In its letter, Cornerstone said, despite challenges presented by a steeply-sloped site and a heritage home next door, the company calls it "a fantastic proposal that both serves the needs of the food store as the main driver of this effort, as well as supports the St. Johns' commercial corridor and surrounding residential neighbourhood."
Currently, Port Moody’s only grocery stores are at the eastern end of the city: the IGA next to NewPort Village and Thrifty's in Suter Brook.
