Coquitlam approves Burquitlam condo tower and midrise rental

It’s a 56-fold housing increase.

Eight single-family homes on Westley Avenue, Gardena Drive and Kemsley Avenue about a half-kilometre from Burquitlam SkyTrain station are set to be replaced by a 35-storey condo tower and a six-storey rental building totalling 455 units.

Coquitlam council gave the project final approval without discussion Monday evening.

The condo building includes 321 units while the rental building consists of 117 market rentals and 17 below-market rental units.

Despite previous urging from Couns. Robert Mazzarolo and Steve Kim, the project is set to include 39 three-bedroom units, 8.6 percent of the total.

The city would generally require 45 three-bedroom units for a development of this size, equivalent to 10 percent of the total.

“I really encourage the applicant to get to 10 percent,” Mazzarolo said during a previous council discussion.

Staff also encouraged the developer to bump up the number of three-bedroom units, according to a city staff report.

“However, the applicant justified the proposed unit count based on census data related to household size,” the report stated.

The developer is expected to pay the city approximately $19.5 million in development cost charges and density bonus charges and community amenity contributions.

The project was initially set to include 504 parking spots. However, given the proximity to transit and a substantial increase in bike parking, the number of stalls has been reduced to 435.

In the neighbourhood

Despite a holdout lot, Coquitlam recently approved two six-storey condo buildings consisting of 184 units on Smith Avenue, Fairview Street and Vanessa court.

A 37-storey, 347-unit is set to be built at Cottonwood Avenue and Whiting Way. The project includes 54 non-market units.

Council also recently approved a 12-storey mass timber apartment and a seven-storey wood-frame building totalling 204 units at Dogwood Street and Lea Avenue.