Burnaby reaches for the sky
Eastern neighbour outpaces Vancouver in building residential towers
Burnaby is putting up a forest of highrise residential towers over the next 25 years, far outstripping anything contemplated by Vancouver.
Targeting land around rapid transit nodes and four malls — Metrotown, Brentwood, Lougheed and Edmonds — developers have at least 106 highrise residential buildings with more than 30,000 units proposed or under construction. Of those, 47 are 40 storeys or more in height, according to data collected by a real estate expert with Colliers International. By comparison, there are 68 high-rises under development in Vancouver, of which only 13 are 40 storeys or taller.
Around Brentwood and Gilmore SkyTrain stations, no less than 46 towers, ranging from 25-65 storeys, are planned.
And at Lougheed Town Centre, on the eastern edge bordering Coquitlam, at least 23 towers up to 65 storeys are planned around the soon-to-be finished Evergreen SkyTrain line.
The expansive former Dairyland and Safeway industrial complex near Edmonds will have 19 towers reaching as high as 44 storeys.
David Taylor, a specialist with Colliers International, said Vancouver’s restrictive building policies and the lack of developable land are largely why developers now target Burnaby with such dramatic results.
“In Vancouver, outside of downtown there are effectively less than a handful of projects where you can do towers. You’re not going to find a site in Vancouver to build a highrise, so where are you going to build it? You are going to find it in Burnaby or Coquitlam,” he said.
Anne McMullin, the CEO of the Urban Development Institute, said Burnaby’s planned development closely aligns with its regional growth strategy. What makes the difference, she said, is that a lot of the land being redeveloped is non-controversial and doesn’t pit neighbourhoods against the developers.
“It’s a lot easier than in Vancouver. These are malls or industrial areas like the Safeway lands,” she said. “It’s a lot less controversial and it involves higher densities around transit hubs.”
But developer Michael Geller said many of his colleagues choose Burnaby over Vancouver for simplicity.
“I think most developers will tell you they like working in Burnaby because it’s the place where the political side and the staff side are on the same page,” he said. “For years, developers have been saying that, given the way Vancouver manages its planning and approval process, we’re not building in Vancouver.”
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said defined community plans around the town centres and clear rules for how extra density is awarded are why his city attracts big developers.
“We stand out for being consistent in our policy decisions. Every developer who comes in can expect to get the same deal as the developer before him and the one after him,” he said. “They don’t want to think that the next guy might do better than them.”
Burnaby levies extra fees from developers for community benefits. Corrigan said 20 per cent goes into an affordable housing fund and the rest toward local benefits such as libraries, parks and pools.
“We extract a lot from our developers, too. I don’t want to leave the impression that we’re leaving anything on the table. We’re very aggressive. We are very clear about what you have to do and how much you have to pay.”
Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs dismisses such comparisons. He said his city applies a rigorous rezoning process that may be slow compared to Burnaby, but it gets better results.
“I think they’re different places at different stages of development,” Meggs said. “I’m not sure how many people in Vancouver would want to win that race anyway.”