- What Grovsenor receives final approval for Brentwood Block development
- Why The project will bring 3,500 residential units and Canada’s tallest rental tower
- What next Phase one is slated for completion in 2029
Grosvenor Group is cleared to move forward on a residential project in the Vancouver suburbs that includes one of the largest purpose-built rental components in western Canada.
Burnaby city council last month delivered the final approval for Brentwood Block, which is slated to encompass six towers and 2,450 rental units, 450 of those at below-market rates. Phase one rental towers will be 53 and 64 storeys with a 42-storey condo tower and retail space.
Including condominiums, the project will add 3,500 residential units. There will also be 250,000 sq ft of retail, office and restaurant space. A community centre to be operated by the City of Burnaby will be onsite. The development will be pedestrian-only, with underground parking.
Construction on the 7.9-acre project is expected to begin later this year, and the first of two phases is estimated to be completed in 2029.
Grosvenor Group will hold and operate the property.
“We intend to maintain our ownership in the project,” said Marc Josephson, senior vice president of development at Grosvenor. “We always go in with the intention to hold long-term, and Brentwood’s no different.”
Grosvenor said the percentage of rental homes for the project exceeds similar developments by 250%.
Retaining and operating rental properties it develops is common for Grosvenor, Josephson said. The company believes there is a need for rental housing, and sees it as a viable investment.
“We were able to create a unique and valuable vision in what’s one of the most exciting and most appealing submarkets in Canada, let alone Metro Vancouver,” Josephson said. “We have historically been interested in developing rental housing at this scale, but it has been a challenge to find those opportunities.”
The decision to build such a tall rental structure was arrived at over time, he said.
“That came after a number of years of working through the process with the city internally, making projections on absorption and things of that nature,” he said. “That tower will potentially be the tallest all-rental tower in Western Canada.”
In particular, the Brentwood submarket is enticing because it’s a newer neighbourhood, amenity rich and connected to transit.
Josephson wouldn’t divulge details of the development’s financing.
“Like any project there is financing, and we have limited equity partners in all of our projects typically. Brentwood is no different,” he said.
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