A developer proposing to build seven towers in Burquitlam on and around the former Coquitlam College campus cut out all office space in its latest drawings.
On Monday, Dec. 2, representatives from the Onni Group spoke before the city’s committee in council about their revised master plan for the area north of Brookmere Park, following an initial presentation at city hall this spring.
In their first outing, Onni officials proposed seven high-rise apartment towers on the Coquitlam–Burnaby border ranging from 28 to 50 storeys but, this week, they suggested 30 to 51 storeys for about 2,500 homes plus a 9,200 sq. ft child care facility on site.
Still, to double the common amenity areas — from the previous 24,000 sq. ft. to 47,000 sq. ft. — and to add 3,800 sq. ft. more retail space, Onni eliminated the 56,000 sq. ft. of office space it had sought in its original application.
Onni is citing post-pandemic challenges in the office leasing market, wrote Chris Jarvie, Coquitlam’s director of development services, in a report.
The move to cut out office space was largely criticized by council, which urged Onni to provide work areas given the 7.2-acre parcel is close to public transit and is now designated by Victoria to be in a Tier 3 of a transit-oriented zone.
Councillors also questioned about the density of 6.51 FAR, on a planned gross floor area of two million sq. ft, on a site that would typically yield a 5.5 FAR.
In exchange for the additional density, Onni plans an “extraordinary bonus density payment,” Jarvie said, an incentive that will be phased out next June as part of the provincial government’s sweeping housing changes enacted last fall and this year.
As a result of the time crunch, Onni and city staff will bring the master plan before council for adoption “so that the current zoning structure and density regime may be preserved through the proposed Development Agreement and Comprehensive Development Zone,” Jarvie wrote in his committee report.
Meanwhile, Robert Vrooman, Onni’s vice president of development, also flagged the properties at 554, 570 and 574 Brookmere Ave. that aren’t part of the land assembly.
The “hold-out lots,” he said before committee, “continue to be a challenge for us. We will continue to do everything possible to assemble those lots.”
City manager Raul Allueva said the proposed development, if approved, would move in phases, with the current “orphaned” lots in the last phase of building.
Coun. Brent Asmundson thanked Onni for including the changes that the committee asked for in the spring, as well as from the public consultation in June; a final public information session will be held next year before rezoning.
Councillors also pressed for a bigger dog park for future residents and for retail vibrancy on the ground level, with professional services above.
And Coun. Trish Mandewo encouraged the city’s economic development staff to work with Onni on tenancies.
“This is a very comprehensive application and I like what is coming through this applicant,” she said.
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