Pros and Cons: The Pros
As for most important choices in life, the Task Force sees a number of positives and a number of negatives to Seylynn Village as a location, and to the deal we have explored with Hynes to build our new church there.
Set forth below is our listing of the positives, the "pros", to Seylynn Village as a location for our new church and to the possible deal structure we have explored with Hynes. The negatives or "cons" are listed on a separate webpage, under the tab marked "Cons".
Pros
- Because land and parking will be shared, there should be major cost savings as compared to scenarios where NSUC buys its own land and provides its own parking.
- This could allow more money to be put into the budget for building and equipping the new church
- Should be savings from Hynes’s economies of scale as developer of the entire project
- Hynes should be able to design and build NSUC's new church within Seylynn Village more cheaply than NSUC could design and build a comparable amount and quality of building as a one-off development
- We would have the benefit of having our new church designed by a first-class architect, such as Joe Wai, without having to pay for the architect up front
- Hynes has promised the District of North Van that Seylynn Village will be built to very high green building and energy efficiency standards
- Will meet or exceed LEED platinum standards
- Green roofs, living walls
- Geo-exchange & waste heat capture, etc.
- Hynes has also promised to meet very high accessibility standards throughout Seylynn Village
- 100% Level 1 adaptable design guidelines
- 50% Level 2
- 10% Level 3 full wheelchair access
- NSUC would have no responsibililty or costs for zoning the land to permit church use within Seylynn. That would be up to and handled by Hynes
- The deal would be structured so that NSUC does not have any risk or responsibility for construction cost overruns
- NSUC keeps its ultimate security (our Mathers property) until Hynes has performed its obligation to build the property and make it ready for occupancy.
- No need for NSUC to move into interim rental space during the design or construction phase. We stay put at Mathers until the new church is ready for occupancy
- Seylynn Village is located near public transit, Highway 1 and other public and community facilities.
- It will be within walking distance of Phibbs Exchange (bus depot), Park & Tilford shopping centre, Capilano University, Canadian Superstore, etc.
- The location will become increasingly desirable over the years as the Lower Lynn area develops
- Seylynn Village and the adjacent Lower Lynn area could eventually become a highly developed "town centre" for the District of North Van, as envisioned by the proposed Lower Lynn Conceptual Land Use Plan
- Our church should become closely integrated into Seylynn's visionary "urban village" , and intimately woven into the fabric of community life there.
- With the prominant corner location we would have and easy access to pedestrian and public transit , NSUC will be highly visible and easily accessible to both the Seylynn Village and the greater community
- Even though we would be in the midst of a high density community, we would be directly across the street from a public park (Seylynn Park) and Seylynn Recreation Centre, and close to other natural features (Lynn Creek, Bridgeman Park, etc.)
- Being so close to Second Narrows Bridge and Highway 1, we may be able to attract potential congregants from Burnaby and East Vancouver
- With 700 housing units, of diverse types and income mix, being built right near our doorstep, there could be opportunity for NSUC or its members to become involved with housing development of some type, such as senior or elder-care housing
