21 huge developments near SkyTrain shaping Metro Vancouver's future (RENDERINGS)

Daily Hive
                                                                                national news
                                                                                Vancouver, BC
                                                                                May 28, 2019

Urbanized, Development, Architecture & Design, News

21 huge developments near SkyTrain shaping
Metro Vancouver's future (RENDERINGS)
      Kenneth Chan
      May 28, 2019 3:43 pm   11,705

                                                 Artistic rendering of the Coquitlam Centre redevelopment. (Morguard Investments)

Much of Metro Vancouver’s future — where residents live, work, and play — will revolve around areas
served by SkyTrain stations, where the region is already experiencing its greatest urban transformation
projects.

See also

  Richmond successfully raises $32 million to build Canada Line's new Capstan Station
  This
  City website uses cookies
       of Coquitlam  createstoaensure you
                                plan to   getitself
                                        give  the best  experience
                                                    a 'vibrant'    on our website.
                                                                downtown   area Learn more
  This massive $7-billion redevelopment is the future of Lougheed Town Centre (RENDERINGS)
                                                  Got it!
  Massive food hall and pub coming to Oakridge Centre redevelopment (RENDERINGS)

Vancouver and Surrey rethinking redevelopment opportunities next to future SkyTrain

Buoyed by municipal and regional policies that encourage dense developments around SkyTrain
stations, also known as transit-oriented developments, tens of thousands of new homes and millions of
sq. ft. of new commercial spaces will be oriented around the region’s rail rapid transit system.

A recent report by commercial real estate rm Avison Young calls these developments, many the size
of neighbourhoods and on shopping centre sites, the region’s new urban enclaves.

“With land at a premium, traditional regional shopping centres — most having been built in the car-
centric 1960s with expansive parking lots and later connected to regional public transit systems — were
identi ed as unrealized sources of developable land,” reads the report.

“While traditional metrics of valuing shopping centres were based on traf c and sales per square foot,
the value of the land — and its potential for redevelopment — rose to prominence in developers’
estimation of its value, particularly in land-constrained markets such as Metro Vancouver.”

Artistic rendering of the late-2018 design of the Canada Line’s new Oakridge-41st Avenue Station entrance plaza. (Oakridge Centre project team)

The economics of these large-scale types of developments, planned over decades and built over many
years, have only become better understood by the local development industry since 2013.

Moreover, public opposition to high-density projects along transit corridors has been relatively limited,
compared to the “ferocious” outcry received by in ll proposals within low-density residential
neighbourhoods.

In accordance to the Metro Vancouver: 2040 Shaping Our Future plan, approved in 2011 and a revision
of a similar 1996-approved plan, many of these shopping centres within areas near SkyTrain stations
are already designated as regional centres or town centres — commercial nodes and high-growth zones
— by Metro Vancouver Regional District and municipal governments.

Over the coming 20 years, the region’s population is expected to climb from 2.57 million today to 3.4
million people by 2041, with the number of jobs growing from 1.34 million to 1.75 million over the
same period. A more recent longer term projection forecasts a regional population of up to 4.6 million
— larger than the Montreal region’s current population — and 2.1 million jobs by 2050, based on a
higher growth scenario.

The most updated Regional Land Use Designations in Metro Vancouver. (Metro Vancouver Regional District)

By focusing a large share of the region’s population and employment growth and new major urban
public spaces, community facilities, and cultural amenities around areas well-served by public transit,
a far greater proportion of the population will be signi cantly more likely to get around by walking and
riding public transit, effectively reducing the use of private automobiles by way of positive
reinforcement.

To date, much of this pattern of growth has been centred within the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby,
but increasingly developers and investors are turning to SkyTrain areas across the region.

And the largest of these neighbourhood-scale redevelopments — speci cally Brentwood Town Centre,
Lougheed Town Centre, Metrotown, and Oakridge Centre — will act as a catalyst for development
activity in the surrounding areas and greatly increase the population density around these new urban
enclaves.

Dense transit-oriented developments are also expected to sprout around future SkyTrain extensions
along Vancouver’s Broadway Corridor and Surrey and Langley’s Fraser Highway Corridor.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of 21 of the largest transit-oriented developments within close proximity
to SkyTrain stations:

Oakridge Town Centre (Vancouver)
The redevelopment of the Oakridge Centre mall will serve as the pinnacle of the new density being
introduced into Vancouver’s Cambie Corridor.

A 2018-approved master plan for the area framed by 16th Avenue to the north, Ontario Street to the
east, Oak Street to the west, and the Fraser River to the south will create 32,000 new homes for
approximately 50,000 residents over the coming decades, with the greatest densities located around
the four Canada Line stations serving the area.

Major neighbourhood-size redevelopments entail not only Oakridge Centre, but also Pearson Dogwood,
Langara Gardens, the old Vancouver Transit Centre, and the old RCMP headquarters on the Heather
Street Lands.

Just beyond the station nodes, the Cambie Corridor Plan calls for an outward transition of mid-rise
buildings, low-rise buildings, and townhouses.

The future Cambie Street Corridor skyline from West 33rd Avenue to Marine Drive. (Canada Lands Company)

Oakridge: The Living City

   Site: 29-acre redevelopment of Oakridge Centre
   SkyTrain access: Oakridge-41st Avenue Station
   Developer: Westbank
   Lead architect: Henriquez Partners Architects
   Number of residential towers: 14
   Number of new homes: 2,600 units
   Of ce space: 430,000 sq. ft.
   Retail space: 1 million sq. ft.

Artistic rendering of the Oakridge Centre redevelopment, February 2019. (Oakridge Centre project team)

Langara Gardens

   Site: 21-acre in ll development of Langara Gardens, located on the northwest corner of the
   intersection of Cambie Street and West 57th Avenue
   SkyTrain access: Langara-49th Avenue Station (and a possible future 57th Avenue Station)
   Developer: Concert Properties

Lead architect: James Cheng Architects
   Number of residential towers: 7
   Number of new homes: 2,100 units

Preliminary conceptual artistic rendering of Langara Gardens. (James Cheng Architects / Peterson Group / Concert Properties)

Pearson Dogwood

   Site: 25-acre redevelopment of Vancouver Coastal Health’s former Pearson Dogwood property
   SkyTrain access: Langara-49th Avenue Station and Marine Drive Station (and a possible future 57th
   Avenue Station)
   Developer: ONNI Group
   Lead architect: IBI Group
   Number of new homes: 2,800 units

Conceptual rendering of the Pearson Dogwood redevelopment just south of Marine Gardens. (ONNI Group)

Future neighbourhood map showing the Langara Gardens redevelopment (top) and Pearson Dogwood redevelopment (bottom). (City of Vancouver)

Metrotown District (Burnaby)
The recent renovations and capacity upgrades to Metrotown Station provide an indication of the scale
of the massive changes Burnaby’s Metrotown Station is expected to see.

Over the long-term, the municipal government’s 2017-approved Metrotown Downtown Plan even
envisions the complete demolition and redevelopment of the existing Metropolis at Metrotown indoor
mall into a new mixed-use neighbourhood with the street network extended onto the site.

Lower-density areas around the mall have also seen signi cant new residential tower developments.

Approved master plan for the Metrotown area in Burnaby. (City of Burnaby)

Station Square

   Site: Redevelopment of the 12-acre Station Square site immediately west of Metropolis at
   Metrotown
   SkyTrain access: Metrotown Station
   Developer: Anthem Properties and Beedie Living
   Lead architect: Chris Dikeakos Architects
   Number of residential towers: 5
   Number of new homes: 1,800 units
   Of ce and retail space: 450,000 sq. ft.

Artistic rendering of the Station Square redevelopment, next to Metropolis at Metrotown, in Burnaby. (Anthem Properties / Beedie Living)

Concord Metrotown

   Site: Northeast corner of the Metropolis at Metrotown shopping mall property, on a nine-acre
   parcel fronting Kingsway that is currently mainly used as parking
   SkyTrain access: Metrotown Station
   Developer: Concord
   Lead architect: IBI Group
   Number of residential towers: 7
   Number of new homes: 1,310 units (Phase 1)

Artistic rendering of the proposed Sears Metrotown redevelopment. (IBI Group / Concord Paci c)

Brentwood Town Centre (Burnaby)
The redevelopment of Brentwood Town Centre shopping mall into The Amazing Brentwood, complete
with residential towers and a signi cant new and refreshed infusion of retail, will “set the tone for
Burnaby development in the coming years.”

The rst phase of the shopping centre is scheduled for an opening in the fall of 2019, while the second
phase is slated to be completed in 2021.

Artistic rendering of the potential developments within the wider Brentwood Town Centre area beyond The Amazing Brentwood. (SHAPE Properties)

Burnaby’s Brentwood area will also be the location of Metro Vancouver’s new tallest building: a 700-ft-
tall residential tower within the Gilmore Place redevelopment will take the title from the region’s
current tallest — the 660-ft-tall Shangri-La Hotel in downtown Vancouver.

A proposed 37-storey of ce tower at Gilmore Place with nearly 700,000 sq. ft. of commercial oor area
will also be one of the region’s largest upcoming of ce developments.

The Amazing Brentwood

   Site: 26-acre redevelopment of Brentwood Town Centre shopping mall
   SkyTrain access: Brentwood Town Centre Station
   Developer: Shape Properties
   Lead architect: James KM Cheng Architects and Stantec Architecture
   Number of residential towers: 11
   Number of new homes: 6,000 units
   Of ce space: 1 million sq. ft.
   Retail space: 1.1 million sq. ft.

Artistic rendering of The Amazing Brentwood. (SHAPE Properties)

SOLO District

   Site: 6-acre site located immediately southwest from The Amazing Brentwood
   SkyTrain access: Brentwood Town Centre Station
   Developer: Appia Developments
   Lead architect: Chris Dikeakos Architects
   Number of residential towers: 3
   Number of new homes: 920 units
   Of ce space: 230,000 sq. ft.
   Retail space: 80,000 sq. ft.

Artistic rendering of SOLO District in Burnaby. (Appia Developments)

Concord Brentwood

   Site: 26-acre redevelopment located southeast of The Amazing Brentwood
   SkyTrain access: Brentwood Town Centre Station and Holdom Station
   Developer: Concord
   Lead architect: James KM Cheng Architects and Francl Architecture
   Number of residential towers: 11
   Number of new homes: 2,610 units

Artistic rendering of Concord Brentwood in Burnaby. (Concord)

Gilmore Place

   Site: 12-acre redevelopment surrounding Gilmore Station
   SkyTrain access: Gilmore Station
   Developer: Onni Group
   Lead architect: IBI Group
   Number of residential towers: 7
   Number of new homes: 3,500 units
   Of ce space: 1 million sq. ft.
   Retail space: 450,000 sq. ft.

Artistic rendering of the rst phase of Gilmore Place. (Onni Group)

Artistic rendering of the rst phase of Gilmore Place. (Onni Group)

Lougheed Town Centre and Burquitlam (Burnaby)
The redevelopment of Lougheed Town Centre shopping mall into the City of Lougheed, with new
residences and an expansion of retail and of ce, will be an immense catalyst for new development in
the area and along the North Road corridor between Lougheed Town Centre Station and Burquitlam
Station.

The City of Lougheed’s rst phase alone will entail 119,000 sq. ft. of new retail space by 2022 and 1,570
new homes by 2023.

Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan. (City of Burnaby)

Just west of the mall site, there is a proposal to add two towers with over 1,000 rental homes to the
Lougheed Village rental housing complex.

And up North Road around Burquitlam Station, Concert Properties’ eight-tower residential
redevelopment — including a 50-storey tower — accounts for roughly half of the total number of towers
planned or already underway for the area around the SkyTrain station.

The City of Lougheed

   Site: 37-acre redevelopment of Lougheed Town Centre shopping mall
   SkyTrain access: Lougheed Town Centre Station
   Developer: Shape Properties
   Lead architect: James Cheng Architects and GBL Architects
   Number of residential towers: 20
   Number of new homes: 10,000 units
   Of ce space: 1 million sq. ft.
   Retail space: 1.3 million sq. ft.

Artistic rendering of the rst phase of the City of Lougheed. (Shape Properties)

Artistic rendering of the City of Lougheed’s transit plaza area. (Shape Properties)

SOCO

    Site: 6-acre redevelopment at the northeast corner of the intersection of North Road and Delestre
    Avenue
    SkyTrain access: Lougheed Town Centre Station
    Developer: Anthem Properties
    Lead architect: IBI Group

Number of residential towers: 5
   Number of new homes: 1,390 units

Artistic rendering of the rst phase of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

Concert Properties-YMCA Burquitlam

   Site: Two sites along the North Road corridor
   SkyTrain access: Burquitlam Station
   Developer: Concert Properties
   Lead architect: Endall Elliott and Raymond Letkeman Architects
   Number of residential towers: 8
   Number of new homes: 2,700 units

Artistic rendering showing both parcels – Burquitlam Park (right) and Whitgift Gardens (left) – of Concert Properties’ redevelopment in Burquitlam.
(Concert Properties)

Edmonds (Burnaby)
A single redevelopment by Ledingham McAllister will completely transform the Edmonds area, which
has been one of the quietest in Burnaby in terms of development activity in recent years.

Southgate City

   Site: 51-acre redevelopment of the former Safeway distribution and dairy plant
   SkyTrain access: Edmonds Station
   Developer: Ledingham McAllister
   Lead architect: IBI Group
   Number of residential towers: 20
   Number of new homes: 6,400 units
   Of ce and retail space: 200,000 sq. ft.