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But this site near Brentwood, which is in the very early days of seeking approvals and about a decade from completion, is a different ambition covering two city blocks.

The parcels have a combined assessed value of $273 million and are currently occupied by an old, eight-storey office building and some surface parking space. There used to be a car dealership.

They are also surrounded by an array of highrise towers popping up along the SkyTrain route.

“The area has hit a level of maturity in terms of a critical mass of people, retail amenities and transit,” said Ward, citing increasing foot traffic and transit ridership numbers, as well as other developers having already broken ground.

“So we can come in and be part of the last 10 years of building a complete community.”

It’s part way through a longer plan in Burnaby of transforming transit areas into a so-called forests of towers at a time when there are some conflicting views about higher towers, rental housing and transit-oriented development.

Grosvenor plans to seek approval for five towers up to 51 storeys, plus four other buildings of up to six storeys and 280,000 square feet of office, retail and restaurant space.

There are already some very tall buildings in the works here and elsewhere in Burnaby. Nearby, Onni Groups’ Two Gilmore Place will be 64-storeys and some 214 metres tall, putting it over Vancouver’s tallest existing buildings, the Living Shangri-La and the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Over at Lougheed Town Centre, also in Burnaby, developer Pinnacle International is proposing an 82-storey condo tower.