ben.thebean1
Active Member
RioCan is looking to redevelop a large portion of their property at Burloak and Wyecroft in Oakville into a large Costco including a gas bar and "underground" parking.
The redevelopment removes a large portion of the plaza which at one point functioned as an outlet mall, but is basically dead at this point (see map below). It includes 15,662 square metres of floor space, 673 regular and 16 accessible surface parking spaces, and 305 standard and 6 accessible below-grade parking spaces for a total of 1,000 parking spaces. The site sits on an incline, so the "underground" parking beneath the store will be accessible via 2 right-in-right-out driveways at the "rear" of the site, directly on Wyecroft. The main surface lot and gas bar will be accessed via 3 driveways on the remaining 3 sides of the site.
I want to add, I think this is pretty well justified. The following little rant/explanation is more for anyone who doesn't know the area well:
There are a few things missing from the Google Maps screenshot; firstly is the fact that by the end of the year, Wyecroft will be connected via 2 new bridges across the Bronte Creek ravine, not only making this site much more accessible from the east, but also making this a much busier section of road, being one of just a handful of ways to cross the ravine at all. Secondly, addressing the Costco itself, one is needed here whether you like it or not. I'm never a fan of giant sprawling buildings with even bigger parking lots fueling suburban hell, but a Costco is needed here (I would love to see a green roof, but that's beyond the point). The existing Costco in Burlington has gotten so busy that many Burlington residents, myself included, won't even drive in that part of the city on weekends unless absolutely necessary because of the Costco, and I'm not exaggerating. Giving the people in east Burlington/west Oakville/south Milton a new location to go to will be extremely beneficial. Lastly, one might ask "why not mixed-use!? this is RioCan, after all." Well, the other thing you can't see in the screenshot is how this area has filled in with warehouse industrial, in basically every open plot of land you see here, not to mention the Suncor/Petro Canada terminal which you can see a small section of on the far right. There are so many trucks moving around here at most hours of the day, and it's basically halfway between Appleby and Bronte GO stations, roughly 3km from both of them. Burlington and Oakville have lots of great mixed-use developments in the pipeline and more on the way for sure, but this isn't the place for that. Would not be a good place to live.
The redevelopment removes a large portion of the plaza which at one point functioned as an outlet mall, but is basically dead at this point (see map below). It includes 15,662 square metres of floor space, 673 regular and 16 accessible surface parking spaces, and 305 standard and 6 accessible below-grade parking spaces for a total of 1,000 parking spaces. The site sits on an incline, so the "underground" parking beneath the store will be accessible via 2 right-in-right-out driveways at the "rear" of the site, directly on Wyecroft. The main surface lot and gas bar will be accessed via 3 driveways on the remaining 3 sides of the site.
I want to add, I think this is pretty well justified. The following little rant/explanation is more for anyone who doesn't know the area well:
There are a few things missing from the Google Maps screenshot; firstly is the fact that by the end of the year, Wyecroft will be connected via 2 new bridges across the Bronte Creek ravine, not only making this site much more accessible from the east, but also making this a much busier section of road, being one of just a handful of ways to cross the ravine at all. Secondly, addressing the Costco itself, one is needed here whether you like it or not. I'm never a fan of giant sprawling buildings with even bigger parking lots fueling suburban hell, but a Costco is needed here (I would love to see a green roof, but that's beyond the point). The existing Costco in Burlington has gotten so busy that many Burlington residents, myself included, won't even drive in that part of the city on weekends unless absolutely necessary because of the Costco, and I'm not exaggerating. Giving the people in east Burlington/west Oakville/south Milton a new location to go to will be extremely beneficial. Lastly, one might ask "why not mixed-use!? this is RioCan, after all." Well, the other thing you can't see in the screenshot is how this area has filled in with warehouse industrial, in basically every open plot of land you see here, not to mention the Suncor/Petro Canada terminal which you can see a small section of on the far right. There are so many trucks moving around here at most hours of the day, and it's basically halfway between Appleby and Bronte GO stations, roughly 3km from both of them. Burlington and Oakville have lots of great mixed-use developments in the pipeline and more on the way for sure, but this isn't the place for that. Would not be a good place to live.
