Ledingham McAllister is bringing a brand new era of thoughtful living to the City of Burnaby.
Southgate City, a revolutionary 60-acre master planned community in the Edmonds neighborhood, is one of Canada’s most significant and largest communities of its kind.
The project will eventually comprise 12,500 homes, more than 33,000 residents and up to 400,000 square feet of retail and office space.
Public amenities will include a five-acre central park, a 60,000-square-foot public plaza, five kilometres of bike paths, eight kilometres of pedestrian paths and a new community centre.
Dan Clark, Partner at Sitings Realty Ltd., which is leasing the retail and office aspects of the development, said a Safeway (50,850 square feet) will open the first phase of retail at Southgate City, joined by TD Bank (6,868 square feet) and CEFA Early Learning (20,817 square feet).
There’s also a small food and beverage unit of about 1,270 square feet to be leased in the first phase.
“We have roughly 25,000 square feet of second floor retail/medical space that we can see being leased to physiotherapists, dentists, specialty medical, small and mid format fitness operators. Retail that can thrive in a second-floor setting and take benefit of the slightly reduced rents in comparison to ground floor space,” said Clark.
The first phase of the commercial part of the overall development will be under construction soon with businesses expected to be open by 2028.
Clark is working with Nancy Bayly, Vice President, also of Sitings, to lease the project.
“I think we’re seeking everyday best in class service oriented tenants. So it’s more basic needs type of retail – grocery, pharmacy, liquor store, dental, medical, fitness. A typical grocery-anchored shopping centre lineup,” said Clark.
“Everyone, as a part of the neighbourhood that they’re living in, they want to have their grocery store. This site used to be home to the Safeway distribution centre. So they’re coming back into the property in a retail capacity which is great.”
The project, adjacent to the Edmonds SkyTrain Station, will include 26 highrise and 17 lowrise buildings with about 11 million square feet of residential area.
The SkyTrain has average daily riders of 23,833 on Monday to Friday and 13,372 average daily riders on weekends and holidays.
The total trade area had a population of 87,435 in 2022. And it’s projected to continue to grow to 120,304 in 2025, 160,830 in 2030 and 175,544 in 2035.
“The interesting thing about this area is that it’s going to consist on buildout of 12,500 homes and upwards of 33,000 residents in 60 acres. Very dense. It’s a city. It’s larger than many small city’s/towns in the province,” said Clark.
“It’s a great setting. A new residential community. It will be a great place to live within Burnaby.”
Ok sounds great, but how will the schools deal with all the new students. Does this plan include building or expanding the schools in the area.
Yes, new housing plans for thousands of families being planned. Currently, we lack doctors, clinics, schools, parks, improvement on commute, streets, etc.
It’s not all about bringing in more high rises, how will people get the much needed services? A lot of skilled workers who migrated in Canada are doctors, dentists, etc who are not allowed to work and practice their profession. How will the city deal with all these needs???
Any idea if any of these new residences will be set aside for affordable living; or with bchousing? So thousands of new, expensive homes going in and those in need of housing will be left out once again. Great planning!