VREP #160 | Master Planning with Wesgroup's Brad Jones

Real estate takes visionaries: people who can look at 130 acres of industrial land on the bank of the Fraser River and envision a community with 15,000+ residents, a town centre with over 250,000 square feet of retail space, 25 acres of green space, and 1.5 kilometers of bike and hiking paths. This type of large-scale community – Southeast Vancouver’s River District – does not just appear over night but rather takes decades of careful planning, major infrastructure, and negotiations with multiple stakeholders over time. And perhaps more surprising than the daily building challenges is what the process tells us about ourselves - as consumers, as urban dwellers, and as a city and culture in constant flux. Wesgroup’s VP of Development Brad Jones sits down with Adam and Matt to discuss the half way point of this 40-year endeavor, a career-defining labour of love, and the intricacies that go into planning a community so many will call home.