Three More Towers Coming to Metrotown

Three more residential towers are going to Burnaby City Council this week for permission to move to public hearing. All three are located in Metrotown, near the Skytrain line; a rapidly developing area with more than 20 highrises at various stages of approval and construction.

Details of the three current applicaitons are summarized below:

6562 Telford Avenue

Intracorp‘s rezoning application for 6525 Telford Avenue is seeking approval to move to public hearing. The 48,833 SF site sits on the West side of Telford Avenue, just South of Beresford.

The site is designated RM-5s in the Metrotown Downtown Plan.

The proposal calls to build a 33-storey highrise residential tower that includes:

• 298 condo units;
• 81 studios, 81 one-bedrooms, 91 two-bedrooms & 45 three-bedrooms (including 8 townhouses);
• a total density of 5.0 FAR;
• a total building height of 319 ft.;
• 331 underground parking spaces.

The application describes the design rationale: “The proposed development plan is for a single 33-storey apartment building and two three-storey townhouse buildings, in which the overall development is oriented towards Telford Avenue. The design inspiration for the development, a bamboo plant, is expressed in the architectural elements, features and materiality of the buildings. The use of clay brick masonry, bamboo coloured wood materials, and other architectural details at the apartment building base and townhouse buildings are unifying elements that tie the overall development together. All parking is to be provided underground with vehicular access provided via the rear lane.”

The architect for the project is NSDA Architects.

Intracorp acquired the site in 2016 for $20,888,888. The site is currently improved with an older 54-unit apartment building.

5977 Wilson Avenue

BlueSky Properties is seeking to go to first reading next month for a site in the Central Park East neighbourhood of Metrotown. This 53,000 SF site sits just North of Patterson Station. This project also falls within the City’s RM-5s district guidelines in the Metrotown Downtown Plan.

The plan calls for a 39-storey highrise building that includes:

• 293 units;
• 34 studios, 92 one-bedrooms, 138 two-bedrooms & 29 three bedrooms (including 6 townhouses);
• a total density of 5.0 FAR;
• a total building height of 430 ft.;
• 323 underground parking spaces.

The application describes the design rationale: “The design concept for the overall development is a celebration of modem architecture through simplicity in design. The tower base features a fully glazed double-height lobby that is inwardly-set to convey a sense of “airiness”. The tower body, which is rectilinear in form, features a verticd mullion pattern that carries to the top of the tower. Architectural interest to the building is enhanced by a horizontal break at the mid-section of the tower, which features a double-height framed box. The overall design of the tower is also expressed in the architecture of the townhouses, which are oriented towards Wilson Avenue and the proposed east-west neighbourhood linkage along the south property line of the site. Allparking is to be provided underground with vehicular access provided via the rear lane.”

The architect for the project is Gensler Architects.

6433 McKay Avenue & 6366 Cassie Avenue

Belford Properties have submitted their formal rezoning application for “Cassie & McKay”, a two lot assembly located between the above-referenced streets, just south of Beresford. The 65,547 SF site is located in the RM-4s area of the Metrotown Plan, allowing a density slightly lower than the above two sites, this one at 3.60 FAR. 

This will be Belford’s second project in Metrotown, after the success of Sun Towers, currently under construction.

The plan calls for a 31-storey tower that includes:

• 274 units;
• 58 studios, 87 one-bedrooms; 89 two-bedrooms & 40 three-bedrooms;
• a total density of 3.60 FAR;
• a total building height of 327 feet;
• 331 underground parking spaces.

The application describes the design rationale: “Key architectural elements of the apartment building include the use of a series of “woodstyle” frames that zig-zag along the east and west elevations, juxtaposed by a south elevation that is air-like in character and defined by two vertical fins that extend from a sloped building roof feature to the base of the building and extensive use of glazing material. Architectural features, materials and colour palette from the apartment building are replicated in the townhouse buildings, unifying the overall development. It is also noted that the townhouses, which are two-storeys in height, are designed to have a three storey appearance in order to provide a continuous street wall that also relates to adjacent developments in the neighbourhood.”

The architect for the project is Buttjes Architecture.

Belford acquired the site in 2017 for $40,000,000.