A unique land exchange and partnership between the City of Coquitlam, local developer Concert Properties, and YMCA is paramount to a mixed-use redevelopment proposal planned for SkyTrain’s Burquitlam Station area.

On Monday, City Council will consider a redevelopment plan, designed by Endall Elliott and Raymond Letkeman Architects, that exchanges 2.15 acres of Burquitlam Park’s green space to Whitgift Gardens, located about one block south.

This will allow an expansion of the green space at Cottonwood Park, which is currently a small park located east of Whitgift Gardens, and in exchange the allowable developable density at Whitgift Gardens will be relocated to Burquitlam Park.

As a result, the eight-tower redevelopment is comprised of two separate sites at Burquitlam Park and Whitgift Gardens.

When the developments at both sites are combined, the project entails over 2,700 residential units for as many as 7,000 residents, with 1,622 units of market condominiums, 929 purpose-built market rental units, 132 purpose-built seniors market rental units, and between 20 and 40 below-market units.

While there will be plenty of public amenities, including a new YMCA recreational centre and improved park space, no major commercial spaces are planned.

The development is expected to generate $120 million in community amenity contributions (CACs), long-term operational benefits, and cost efficiencies.

Both sites will have 3,300 parking stalls combined, largely for the new residents.

Here is a breakdown of the redevelopment’s two sites:

Burquitlam Park and YMCA recreational centre

There will be two towers, 50 storeys and 30 storeys, at the Burquitlam Park portion of the redevelopment. The larger tower will contain 465 market condo units while the smaller tower will have 275 rental units.

At the core of the redevelopment’s Burquitlam Park parcel is a new 60,000-sq-ft, three-storey YMCA facility with a five-lane lap swimming pool, gymnasium, walking and conditioning track, daycare, cafe, studios, multipurpose rooms, and a new Community Police Station.

Additional floors can be added to the YMCA in the future, which will increase its floor area by up to 13,000 sq. ft.

A park-and-ride with 50 stalls for the adjacent SkyTrain station will be built under the site. Public space improvements are also planned, such as a redesign of the remaining 1.5-acre area of Burquitlam Park and new plazas and a multi-use pathway along Emerson Street.

The floor area (FAR) density of this portion of the project is 6.3 FAR.

Whitgift Gardens

Over at the significantly larger Whitgift Gardens site, eight towers are proposed, including two 37-storey rental towers with a combined 654 units, four market condo towers at 24, 25, 43, and 48-storeys with a total of about 1,187 units and the redevelopment’s entire seniors and below-market housing stock.

A standalone amenity building to be shared amongst all residents is planned, and there could also be outdoor amenity areas, with spaces for ping pong, chess play, a children’s playground, a harvest table, urban agriculture, and a butterfly garden.

Overall, the Whitgift Gardens portion of the redevelopment will have a floor area ratio (FAR) density of 5.5 FAR.

As a catalyst of the Evergreen extension’s station, the Burquitlam area is identified by the City’s Burquitlam-Lougheed Neighbourhood Plan as a major growth zone for transit-oriented development.

A number of sizeable projects are proposed, planned, or already in progress in the area, and even more growth is planned further south at Lougheed Town Centre and elsewhere along the Evergreen extension route.

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