Throughout history there have been many famous portmanteaus. Combining breakfast and lunch into one meal? Brunch. Getting angry because you’re hungry? You’re hangry. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez are back together? Congrats, Bennifer.
In British Columbia, our most famous portmanteau is Burquitlam, the neighbourhood located on the Coquitlam side of the Burnaby-Coquitlam boundary. The neighbourhood is situated south of the City of Port Moody, and has become its own burgeoning neighbourhood that stands alone from the bustling Lougheed neighbourhood located immediately to the south.
From a real estate development standpoint, there are few areas in British Columbia that are like Burquitlam — we’re including the Oakdale area as part of Burquitlam — in the sense that the list of developers with recently-completed, ongoing, or planned projects in the area reads like a who’s who of Metro Vancouver developers.
Ready?
Projects in Burquitlam that have completed in recent years include the three-building Heart of Burquitlam by Concert Properties, Meridian by Townline and Nicola Wealth Real Estate, Highpoint by Ledingham McAllister, Alina by Strand, Jinju by Anthem Properties, and Smith & Farrow by Boffo Developments.
Projects that are currently under construction then include Band by Townline and QuadReal Property Group, the four-building Gardena by Intracorp Homes, Komo by Strand, Elmwood by Marcon, and Ironwood by Qualex-Landmark.
Projects that are pre-construction include Olo Homes by Rize Alliance, the multi-tower Burquitlam Park District by Intergulf Development Group, a recently-proposed project by StreetSide Developments, a recently-proposed project by Cressey, and the recently-proposed six-tower Burquitlam Plaza redevelopment by Morguard.
We could go on.
So, what gives? Why have all these developers flocked to the 10 blocks between Kemsley Avenue and Cottonwood Avenue?
To find out, STOREYS spoke to two developers with multiple projects in Burquitlam: Evan Allegretto — President of Intracorp, which has the aforementioned four-building Gardena project — and Mike Mackay — CEO of Strand, which has three pairs of condo-rental projects: Alina & Layla, Komo & Harper, and Kora & Reagan.
What Developers Saw
Prior to this recent wave of development, Burquitlam was mostly single-family homes with good neighbourhood amenities like shopping and parks, serviced by the Millennium Line SkyTrain’s Burquitlam Station. Allegretto described it as “a neighbourhood in transition” and Mackay described it as “somewhat of a forgettable throughfare for people as they transit from Burnaby to Coquitlam.”
Both developers said that what unlocked the development taking place now was the City of Coquitlam, in the sense that they are good to work with, opened the area up for development with land use plans, and helped make development viable.
“A lot of cities kind of have this unwritten code with their taxpayer bases: ‘We densify these core locations and we promise not to touch the single-family neighbourhoods.’ That was how planning was originally done,” said Allegretto. “Neighbourhood centres just kept getting more and more density because, politically, politicians didn’t want to touch the single-family land. So a little bit of it is, developers wanted to be in these neighbourhoods because they’re amenity-rich, but they’re also forced to go to these neighbourhoods 'cause they really didn’t have any planning opportunities elsewhere.”
Myriad (back left), Highpoint (centre), Jinju, Meridian, and Precidia in Burquitlam. (Ledingham McAllister)
What started to unlock things in Burquitlam was when the City introduced the Burquitlam-Lougheed Neighbourhood Plan in 2017, which set the stage for the area around Burquitlam Station — south of Como Lake Avenue — to be redeveloped with high densities. The Oakdale part of Burquitlam — north of Como Lake Avenue up to Port Moody — was carved out and became the focus of the separate Oakdale Land Use Concept in 2021. Much of the development activity we’re seeing reflects that, with many towers constructed south of Como Lake Avenue and many of the planned projects set for the northern side.
For Strand, whose first project in Burquitlam was The Oaks, three low-rise condo buildings that were completed in 2023, Mackay said what appealed to them was getting in early, and the relative affordability they could achieve for buyers.
“We really liked the idea of being part of the early growth of the neighbourhood,” he said. “Now, there’s obviously dozens of towers sprouting up, but helping shape that story was really appealing to us. On a pricepoint basis, when you compare Burquitlam to Lougheed and Brentwood, there was also a very attractive delta for the pricing that we were able to sell our units at, relative to those competing nodes.”
What Developers See Now
What’s a unique about Burquitlam is that it’s becoming its own node, despite how close it is to the Lougheed node. That makes for an easy comparison, with Burquitlam now more than capable of holding its own.
Mackay says Burquitlam is challenging Lougheed in terms of desirability and attractiveness because it has much of what Lougheed can offer — including the proximity to Lougheed itself — plus more of a connection to nature, as there are severals parks in the area, in addition to Burnaby Mountain. Allegretto says that he believes Burquitlam will become known just like the Metrotown and Brentwood neighbourhoods of Burnaby are known.
All that development and all those developers being clustered in the same area is also a positive for those looking to buy (or rent) in the area, as competition usually benefits consumers.
The Gardena project by Intracorp Homes. (Intracorp)
“The thing that competition does is, there are really good comparables,” said Allegretto. “When you look down the street, you can say ‘Hey, there [are] homes that sold at that project for this price,’ so when you reflect on an Intracorp project, the decision-making feels safe when it comes to price.”
“It’s going through a big change right now; there [are] still a lot of pockets mixed with single-family homes, but eventually once the economy settles and [projects] start to pencil again, those secondary sites will start being more viable,” he added. “All the ones that were left behind had some kind of hair on them, like a creek. You always gravitate towards the best locations and the easiest locations at the beginning.”
Asked how far along the neighbourhood is toward what it will look like fully built-out and complete, Mackay used the analogy of a nine-inning baseball game, saying he believes Burquitlam's progress is around the fifth inning.
“We’re really at the midpoint of the densification of Burquitlam,” he said. “Obviously, the current market has somewhat stalled that progression, but over the next decade I could see a doubling of housing, with a different mix of typologies — townhouses, six-storey woodframe, and obviously high-rises. It’s a really nice mix that creates a complete community.”
