A massive parking lot next to Home Depot in Port Coquitlam could see about 25 per cent of vehicle spaces redeveloped for a tire shop and a new dine-in restaurant.
The proposal would bring a 60-person dine-in restaurant to the Dominion Triangle area, a rapidly growing neighbourhood of homes and shopping including Costco and a Walmart Supercentre close to Lougheed Highway.
The existing site was developed in the late 1990s with a large warehouse-style building, landscaping and expansive parking for the Home Depot.
But the developer says not all the parking is needed, and it wants to build a Kal Tire and the restaurant on a piece of the parking lot.
Kubik Developments Corp. is proposing to rezone, subdivide and purchase a 42,000 sq-ft. portion of property at 1069 Nicola Ave. to develop a new 10,500 sq-ft. multi-tenant commercial building on the new parcel.
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The intended tenants are a tire service retailer and a sit-in restaurant, according to a city staff report.
Currently, the parking lot has 497 spaces, which are “highly under utilized,” according to the developer. After the development, there would still be 369 remaining, 25 more than required.
As well, the proposed new development would have 46 parking spaces and landscaping, including additional trees and sprucing up the rear of the Home Depot building.
Still, there are challenges, and Port Coquitlam council is being asked to take a close look at the proposal at its Tuesday (Oct. 19) council meeting.
Kubik wants the city to relax requirements for repaving along Dominion Avenue and construction of a lane on an unopened parcel.
The developer calls these requirements “too onerous to bear” given the small size of the development, less than an acre, and some of the works are not close to where the proposed building would be located.
City staff are supportive of the developer’s request as well as a proposal to rezone the property from highway commercial to district commercial.
“From staff’s perspective, this is a fairly unique situation where the city has an opportunity to support a commercial infill development, using a highly under-utilized parking area to support economic growth and job creation,” the report states.