Master-planned community from Anthem Properties and Beedie Living a walkable, amenity-rich neighbourhood
ROBIN BRUNET
The Province
STATION SQUARE
Status: now selling
Year acquired: 2004
Year developed: ongoing
Site size: 12 acres
Number of buildings: five
Parking: 3,305
Location: 4600 Kingsway Avenue, Burnaby
Website: stationsquare.ca
Phone: 604.438.1113
Ever since its creation in the 1980s in conjunction with the launch of SkyTrain, Burnaby’s Metrotown has been a bustling destination for shoppers. But major redevelopment in recent years has now made it one of the most desirable places to live.
One of the most sought-after developments is Station Square – a five-tower, 12-acre community from Anthem Properties and Beedie Living. This past October, Anthem and Beedie sold 700 homes in the final two towers in only 30 days, breaking Western Canada’s all-time sales record.
Michael Ferreira, managing principal of Urban Analytics, says: “This is the most number of homes sold in the shortest period of time. Presale demand for quality projects at `centre ice’ locations like Station Square in Metrotown remains incredibly strong.”
For Eric Carlson, CEO of Anthem Properties, the bracing mix of retail and residential “captures the essence of how people want to live today. There’s something magical about the cool design, quality buildings, great restaurants, and creative energ y.”
Elva Kim, Anthem’s VP of sales and marketing, explains, “Station Square is one of BC’s first and largest transit-oriented developments. We are building homes where people can literally leave their front door and hop on transit, go shopping, have dinner and walk their dog. Our fifth and final tower is also the first mixed use tower designed by New York-based Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates [KPF] in Western Canada.” KPF has created some of the world’s most iconic buildings, with London’s Heron Tower and the Shanghai World Finance Center being just two examples. Part of KPF’s inspiration for the final 52-storey tower at Station Square was a New York art decostyle skyscraper.
Station Square has generated excitement, and success, ever since its inception. The first tower was completed in 2015. More than 270 homes sold out in 30 days. When homes in towers two and three went on sale, 650 sold in 60 days. They will be ready for residents to move in in early spring 2019. The final phase, towers four and five, are expected to be complete in 2021. The first four towers were designed by Chris Dikeakos Architects Inc.
Kim says, “The clear majority of buyers are locals who have indicated they will be end users.” That’s significant, considering upwards of 19,000 people registered to buy homes in Station Square.
Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan credits Anthem and Beedie for making Station Square, “a tremendous asset to the City and the region. In five years, Burnaby saw the sharpest increase in new business licenses this side of the Fraser River, with most businesses settling around transit hubs like Station Square.”
The developers knew Station Square would be a game changer. It has a retail strip base of over 500,000 square feet, designed with wide pavements, plazas, public art and cantilevered lights over the main arterial thoroughfare of Silver Drive, which is anchored by Cactus Club and Earls. “We intended the retail component to be pedestrian versus automobile-focused, with stores, coffee shops and boutiques spilling out onto elevated public spaces.” says Kim.
These mixed-use components took shape concurrent to the construction of the first tower, which includes 60,000 square feet of retail, with PriceSmart Foods and TD Bank among the first tenants. The two towers currently under construction will add 22,000 square feet to the retail component as well as office space.
This final phase of Station Square will continue the high standards of construction (the entire mixed use community is built around LEED standards for environmental sustainability), use of quality materials, and attention to detail that has already been established by the first tower.
The condos’ interiors were designed by McFarlane Biggar Architects + Designers. They exhibit an incredible diversity of features, beginning with ninefoot ceilings and wide-plank engineered real hardwood floors that sweep throughout the living and dining areas, kitchens and bedrooms.
As work progresses on Station Square, Anthem and Beedie continue to be inundated by inquiries from interested buyers from across Metro Vancouver – but this comes as no surprise to Beedie Living president Ryan Beedie, who points out that, “Burnaby is centrally located and dedicated to the kind of development that supports the urban lifestyle so many people seek.”
Kim believes that Station Square will ultimately serve as a model for the smart development of vacant or undeveloped land in the future. “Connectivity is what makes this project work on all levels,” she says. “Projects like this are extremely rare. We hope this development is used as an example of how to do it right.”
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