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.

More rezoning applications head to Burnaby City Council next week. Below is a brief summary of some of the larger projects planned which, this week, includes only Metrotown highrise sites (of which there are many!):

6525 Telford Avenue

This 48,553 SF site, owned by Intracorp, is located just south of Beresford in Metrotown and is improved with an older walkup apartment building. Now designated RM5s in the Metrotown Plan, the site is slated for a highrise tower at 5.0 FAR, which will be Intracorp’s ninth tower in Metrotown.

6556-6596 Marlborough Avenue

This 36,361 SF site assembly of five lots is located at the northeast corner of Marlborough Avenue and Grimmer on the East side of Metrotown. The application, by Accorde Properties, proposes a residential highrise with townhouses under the RM4s designation at 3.60 FAR.

5852 Patterson Avenue

This is a 20,000 SF site located mid-block on Patterson between Kingsway and Central Boulevard. The site is in the “Central Park East” neighbourhood of the Metrotown Plan and has an RM5s designation. The plan includes 31 rental units in addition to market condo units. The total density is 4.7 FAR. The developer is Artillery Developments, with development consulting by Brook Pooni. A variance is required as the site is under the 24,000 SF minimum site area in the Metrotown Plan.

5895 Barker Avenue

Yet another Metrotown highrise application!  The fourth highrise tower rezoning application for Metrotown is 5895 Barker Avenue by Concord Pacific. The 46,285 SF site is located at the southwest corner of Baker Avenue and Olive Avenue and is designated under the RM5s high density residential guidelines which allow up to a density of 5.00 FAR (in this case 4.99 FAR). The site is also occupied by an older 3-storey walkup apartment building. The tower will be in the range of 30-40 storeys. 

Intracorp has submitted a rezoning application for a 32,438 SF site in Metrotown at 6438-6468 McKay and 6443-6467 Silver Avenue. The proposal is for a 32-storey residential tower under the RM4s designation provided in the Metrotown Downtown Plan. Details include:

• 298-units;
• 84 studios, 88 one-bedrooms, 94 two-bedrooms and 32 three-bedrooms;
• a total density of 3.6 FAR;
• a building height of 322 ft.;
• 333 underground parking spaces.

The proposal also includes an expansion of Maywood Park to Maywood Street through a density transfer approach that involves Intracorp’s acquisition of the 27,442 SF park site at 4305-4325 Maywood Street).

Thind Properties has applied to the City of Burnaby to rezone a 57,809 SF site at 6525-6585 Sussex Avenue for a new mixed use development including market residential, non-market rental and retail and office uses. The original rezoning application was made over a year ago, but the details have now been finalized and it is now ready to move forward to public hearing.

As detailed in the Burnaby Now, the project is a partnership between Thind, New Vista Housing Society and BC Housing. 

The existing site is located just a few steps East of Metrotown Skytrain Station on Beresford and is comprised of three lots improved with three older walkup apartment buildings totaling 64 units.

The plan calls for rezoning per the Metrotown Downtown Plan to RM5s, RM4 and C2 zoning districts. Details include:

• a 48-storey tower including 10-storeys of office and 38-storeys of residential on the North portion of the site
• 327 market residential units
• 160 one-bedrooms units, 125 two-bedroom units and 41 three-bedroom units;
• 4,700 SF of retail uses at grade;
• 69,515 SF of office space;
• a 14-storey tower with 125 non-market rental units on the South portion
• A combined total density of 8.0 FAR;
• Building heights of 520 ft. and 155 ft;
• 544 underground parking stalls

A number of rezoning applications head to Burnaby City Council next week. Below is a brief summary of some of the larger projects planned:

4716-4780 Hastings Street

This 1.22 acre site is controlled by Adera Development and is a collection of seven individual parcels including the Destination Honda dealership. The site totals 459 feet of frontage and is located in the Hastings Street Area Plan Extension, which allows a total density of up to 2.40 FAR. The proposed plan is a new 4-storey project with retail, office and 59 residential units.

2751 Production Way 

This 223,495 SF site is located at the southwest corner of Production Way and Broadway, next to the Metro Vancouver Operations Centre and is currently improved with a vacant industrial building. The site is located in the Lake City Business Centre Plan area and is seeking rezoning for a new multi-tenant light manufacturing/ warehouse/ office development with a total height of 4-storeys and density of 1.0 FAR.

4828 Lougheed Highway and 4829 Dawson Street (Concord Brentwood Phase 2)

This rezoning application is for the second phase of Concord Pacific’s ‘Concord Brentwood’ project. The 2nd phase is within the Flatlands Precinct of the master plan for the overall site. This phase will include two high-rise residential towers, a midrise tower and townhouses with a commercial and amenity podium. Access to the below and above ground parking will be from Dawson Street.

4500-4554 Dawson Street and 2223-2375 Alpha Avenue

This is a 9.3 acre site (totaling 7 parcels) in Brentwood Town Centre that we reported as sold to Aoyuan Group back in June for $152 Million. The site is large enough to require a master plan and phasing which is the subject of this rezoning application. The master plan will include multiple residential towers, as well as commercial space and new north-south pedestrian linkage through the site. Most of the site will require above-ground parking due to soil conditions. Aoyuan’s website indicates that the plan includes “1,400 condominiums, 50 townhomes and a mix of commercial and retail units”.

4455 Alaska Street 

This site is also located in the Brentwood Town Centre area and is slated for a tower. The 35,951 SF site is located at the corner of Alaska Street and Willingdon Avenue and is designated under the RM-4s high density residential guidelines which allow up to a density of 3.60 FAR. The developer for the proposed project is Amacon.