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New apartment pitched for Northumberland site in Maple Ridge

80 units to rise where notorious townhouse complex demolished.
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(THE NEWS/files) Northumberland Court was demolished in 2011.

The Maple Ridge property that once housed the notorious Northumberland Court townhouse complex is slated for a new development.

A new five-story, wood-frame, 80-unit apartment complex, with underground parking, is now proposed for the Fraser Street site, formerly a hub of criminal activity before and after a fire destroyed one of the old buildings.

Mayor Nicole Read said there were appreciative comments when a plan to rebuild on the site came before council at its Jan. 30 meeting.

“It’s nice to see this before us, given the history of that property,” Read said.

There is one property with five addresses (11701, 11709, 11715, 11723 and 11731 Fraser Street) that will need to be rezoned, from the current townhouse zoning, to allow medium density apartments.

Both that property and one at 11718 – 224th St., already zoned for apartments, will be part of the project.

The applicant is Atterra Development Group, represented by Trish Firth.

“I’m really hopeful that it’s going to help to start the development process of that 224th corridor,” she said.

“We’re still that small-town community with big aspirations,” Firth added. “It’s very exciting to see where it goes.”

Neighbours lined the streets and all of Maple Ridge council attended the demolition of Northumberland Court when it was brought down in October 2011.

“To quote Mr. Rogers, it’s a wonderful day in the neighbourhood,” said Ernie Daykin, who was mayor at the time.

It was supposed to be redeveloped after the demolition by an earlier property owner, both those plans fell through.

Coun. Craig Speirs said Northumberland was “really a stain on the community,” and that going from 20 units to 80 is an excellent use of the land.

However, he added that taking 20 units of low-cost housing out of the market is a problem for him, to be addressed as the rezoning process unfolds.

Read also suggested there may be opportunities for the developers to partner with other organizations to provide affordable housing units in the new development.



Neil Corbett

About the Author: Neil Corbett

I have been a journalist for more than 30 years, the past decade with the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.
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