I haven't seen the illustration of the bought land but I just read the article online that was posted on one of the discussion boards.
I'm having a hard time imagining how this stadium is going to fit on the rail lands so I'm unsure of whats going to happen to my property value. My property value has a sizeable premium built-in because of the incredible view to the harbour. However, it also sits right next to train tracks and the noise from the locomotives mildly detract from the value.
My apartment is directly across from Crab Park and the train tracks right outside my window are at a narrowing point where the main track starts to branch, so I don't think they can fit a stadium in there that could block the view. From what I've heard about city planning for Vancouver, the silhouette of the city has to be on a decline from the high point which means the stadium can't be taller than the buildings right next to it. (to the south) The buildings next to the rail tracks are about 6-8 stories. This means that they would have to dig deeper to fit railtracks plus a stadium on top of them, and the trains would have to enter under the stadium on a decline, and exit from the stadium on an incline. I can't see how CP Rail would agree to this as their fuel costs would go through the roof for their locomotives coming out of the stadium on that incline. The residents (including me) would complain because the noise from a locomotive climbing an incline would be unacceptable, unless the incline is actually enclosed under the stadium or some kind tunnelling.
If the stadium is somehow built in front of my building (which I don't think it will) then my property value will plummet.
If the stadium is built away from my building but the locomotive noise increases then my property value will decrease, but not as much as it would if the view is blocked.
If the stadium is built away from my building but the locomotive noise stays the same then my property value will be unchanged, aside from benefitting from economic development that goes along with bringing in a stadium.
My ideal scenerio is that they take out the rail tracks altogether and eliminate the noise from the tracks and build the stadium away from the view of my building, and they build manicured practice fields next to the stadium.
At the end of the day, the stadium will block some views. (unless they get rid of the tracks and dig real deep so the field is well below street level) The owners of the buildings who will have blocked views will fight hard to get the project rejected as they can lose millions of dollars if they lose their views of the harbour.
I'll try to get an aerial shot from google maps to give anybody interested a better idea of what i just described.