Downzoning

The market downturn is forcing developers big and small to adapt and revise their projects, and the latest example is Vancouver-based OpenForm Properties and their project set for the Edmonds neighbourhood of Burnaby.

OpenForm is the residential real estate division of OpenRoad Auto Group, which operated what was formerly the OpenRoad Honda Burnaby car dealership before the dealership relocated to 5723 Marine Way in Burnaby in 2023, making way for the site to be redeveloped.

New development proposals continue to pop up along the Fraser Highway corridor, as the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain currently under construction is expected to bring forth waves of new development.

On Monday, Surrey City Council considered a new rezoning application submitted by 1098261 BC Ltd. for a land assembly consisting of 15284 and 15296 Fleetwood Drive, located near the intersection of Fraser Highway and Fleetwood Way.

It’s been around a decade since plans were put in motion for Grand Park Village: a multi-block, mixed-use community proposed for 2 and 10 Audley Street and 29, 31, 39, 59, and 71 Portland Street. The series of addresses are a five-minute walk from Mimico GO, which has drawn plenty of development focus in recent years. (Think: Grand Central Mimico, which was at one point on track to be Ontario’s first transit-oriented community.)

The most recent iteration of the plans come from Minto Communities and call for 42-, 54-, 52-, 39-, and 34-storey towers that would sit in a triangular cluster around an interior courtyard, the GO Transit Rail Corridor running past the south side of the site. True to its name, the community is set to be a contemporary urban village that’s not only a hub for residents, but draws in the public with new retail, daycare, roads, and parkland dedication occupying around 10% of the site.

Montreal-based Cromwell Management appears to be on a development proposal streak after filing its third major application with the City of Toronto since the spring. The latest plans are for a 45-storey mixed-use building at 525 Eglinton Avenue East, where it would be a five-minute walk from the recently-opened Leaside Station of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

Because of the 10-storey rental building already on the site, Cromwell’s plans call for 53 replacement rentals, in addition to 473 net new rentals, for a total of 526 units. That also breaks down into 45 bachelor units, 342 one-bedrooms, 113 two-bedrooms, and 26 three-bedrooms, with all units slated for floors two through 45.