Port Coquitlam to mull biggest development proposal in city’s history

Port Coquitlam councillors may face some tall orders in 2025.

The city is set to consider a six-tower, 2,000-unit development recently submitted by Wesbild development company.

“This is the largest and most complex application ever submitted to the city,” stated the city’s director of development services Bruce Irvine in an email to the Dispatch.

Stretching over 8.4 acres at Lougheed Highway and Westwood Street, the project would replace the PoCo Place shopping centre with approximately 80,000 square feet of retail space.

“This will significantly revitalize the property with new pedestrian activity, retail and housing in an area that is currently a suburban strip mall,” stated Wesbild senior vice-president Lilian Arishenkoff in a press release.

Ranging from 31 to 45 storeys, the development would include three condo towers, two rental buildings, and one highrise which include market and non-market rental.

The seven-storey office building would be retained.

The project is also set to include an 8,000 square foot childcare facility and a grocery store.

The city is working with Wesbild toward a “common goal” of seeing the application considered by the city in 2025, Irvine stated.

If approved, the city could issue development permits for the first phase of the project by late-2026, according to Irvine. Construction could ramp up by 2027, according to Wesbild.

The last big one

In 2022, the previous city council unanimously approved a pair of approximately 300-foot tall towers on six lots at Westwood Street and Woodland Drive.

In evaluating the 556-unit project, Mayor Brad West noted its proximity to Lincoln SkyTrain station.

“We don’t want to have a sprawling region that takes up agricultural land and turns it into housing. We don’t want to have a region that clearcuts forests and turns it into housing,” he said at the time. “That means that we need to exist within a footprint in Metro Vancouver.”

Housing in Port Coquitlam

Port Coquitlam recently reapplied for the Housing Accelerator Fund in a bid to use federal funds to boost housing in the city.

With the city’s population projected to reach 72,000 by 2031, Port Coquitlam must add about 550 new dwelling units each year, according to a 2022 housing needs report.