They would be the first residential towers built on the current Metropolis site in Metrotown; Other skyscrapers in the neighborhood were built by other developers.
Article content
Metrotown may soon grow. Much larger.
A proposal submitted by Burnaby shopping center owner Ivanhoe Cambridge shows 15 new towers to be built on its 35-acre (14-hectare) site by 2054.
Article content
“In the first phase, the 15 towers, we are looking at 12,000 units, of which 2,000 of them would be (for the city of Burnaby’s inclusive rental (program), such affordable units,” said Maxime Allaire, director of Asset Retail Management in Ivanhoe Cambridge. “We estimate that 20,000 people live in those units.”
Advertisement 2
Article content
These would be the first residential towers built on the current Metropolis site in Metrotown; the other skyscrapers in the surrounding neighborhood were built by other developers.
The master plan for the site is still being drawn up with the City of Burnaby, so Ivanhoe Cambridge has laid out its plans in a new public participation website to get feedback.
“This is the master plan, it sets out the vision for the site, based on the downtown plan,” Allaire said. “We are not in the construction stage of the buildings, that would require another stage of construction permits.”
There are no numbers in the online presentation detailing the height of the towers, but some appear to be 60 stories or more.
But that is just a concept, nothing has been approved or designed yet.
“You can see in the renderings what we’re trying to aspire to, but that’s still in discussion with the city,” Allaire said.
The Metropolis at Metrotown shopping center is located between Kingsway, Central Boulevard, Station Street and Bonsor Avenue. The shopping center is in the middle of the site and the new towers will be built on “seven distinct parcels” in the northwest, southwest, southeast and eastern portions of the property over the next 30 years.
West Coast Houses
Article content
Advertisement 3
Article content
The last phase of the redevelopment will be the mall itself after 2054, “in parallel with the expiration of the leases of the main anchor tenants.”
Until then, Metrotown will continue to operate as normal. It attracts more than 20 million people a year to its 341 shops and restaurants.
“It’s a shopping center anchored in the community,” said Julie Bourgon, retail sales director for Ivanhoe Cambridge. “People come there to shop, to spend time, to meet people on a rainy day. Our plan is to continue providing those functions to the community.”
Burnaby liberated a plan in 2017 that requires Metrotown to become the official center of the city. The 2017 Metrotown plan said Burnaby seeks to add 125,000 people by 2041 as part of Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy, although it did not say how many would be in the Metrotown area.
In its online presentation, Ivanhoe Cambridge said its development seeks to provide “a central area focused on vibrant economic activity, services and public spaces”.
It has five “core” values: vibrant retail, access to nature, environmental and social sustainability, embracing the arts and embracing connections.
Advertisement 4
Article content
The presentation said the development will feature an “enhanced pedestrian network” with a “walkable center.”
There will be open spaces across “a series of interconnected green spaces and plazas, linked to four entrances on Kingsway and Central Boulevard.”
The plan also includes a neighborhood park along Sussex Avenue.
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know – add VancouverSun.com and LaProvincia.com to your favorites and subscribe to our newsletters here.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: for just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The province.
Article content