5 towers, 1,400 homes proposed to replace Best Western near Lougheed Station

5 towers with 1,400 homes proposed to replace Best Western near Lougheed Station

Artistic rendering of the first phase of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

Another major redevelopment has been proposed for a site in Coquitlam just southeast of SkyTrain’s Lougheed Town Centre Station.

The municipal government has received a rezoning application by local developer Anthem Properties to turn the six-acre site at 319 North Road – the northeast corner of the intersection of North Road and Delestre Avenue, next to Highway 1 – into a redevelopment with five towers containing 1,386 market condominium homes and about 66,000 sq. ft. of commercial area within the podium levels for office, retail, and restaurant uses.

Currently, the site is occupied by Best Western Plus Coquitlam Inn Convention Centre – a four-storey, 1982-built hotel. Much of its lot is used for surface-level parking.

Site of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (City of Coquitlam)

Site of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (Google Maps)

The so-called SOCO project by Anthem Properties will be built in four separate phases, with phase one entailing two towers – 31 storeys and 27 storeys – and significant commercial spaces.

The latter three phases will be mainly residential, with three towers at 24 storeys, 34 storeys, and 44 storeys.

Site layout of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

A new road grid will run along the northern perimeter of the site, and a portion of Delestre Avenue adjacent to North Road will be replaced by a new road that will connect with North Road along the site’s northern edge.

This necessitates the developer to purchase a portion of Delestre Avenue and a City-owned parcel along North Road.

Site layout of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

Overall, the proposed total floor area of the entire project with all phases completed is nearly 1.2 million sq. ft., providing a floor area ratio density of 4.5 times the size of the lot.

The developer can only achieve this level of density by providing the City with $44 million in density bonus funds and $1.9 million in community amenity contribution funds.

Artistic rendering of the first phase of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

For the first phase, which occupies the western half of the lot, there will be 494 homes within the levels of both towers. The unit mix is 50 studio units, 192 one-bedroom units, and 252 two-bedroom units.

No larger family-friendly units with three or more bedrooms are planned for this phase, as the developer believes such units are more appropriate for other phases located away from the noise of North Road and the SkyTrain guideway.

Residents in this phase have access to nearly 43,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor amenity space, such as a running track, green spaces, playground, fitness area, multi-sport court, and meeting room.

Artistic rendering of the first phase of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

These towers will sit on a four-storey commercial podium, which contains a large 7,501-sq-ft restaurant unit and four retail units totalling 7,990 sq. ft. of retail space on the ground floor, and 50,316 sq. ft. of office space within the top three floors of the podium.

Within eight parkade levels, four of which are underground, there will be a total of 843 vehicle parking stalls and 1,007 bike parking spaces.

Artistic rendering of the first phase of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

IBI Group Architect’s design for the first phase is intended to support the site’s designation as a gateway into the Burquitlam-Lougheed neighbourhood.

“An architectural frame element visually separates the ground-level retail from the offices above, and draws attention to the prominent corners of the project,” reads a City staff report.

“The towers are characterized by strong vertical articulation on the north elevation, and prominent balconies on the east and west elevations. Locating the balconies on the east and west elevations provide shading in the morning and evening and limit noise impacts from the Trans-Canada Highway to the south. An architectural frame element similar to that used in the podium is incorporated into the design of the towers, highlighting the vertical nature of the towers.”

This is just one of many redevelopments planned or already underway for the North Road/Clarke Road corridor between Burnaby and Coquitlam. About two dozen towers accompanied by new retail spaces are planned for the redevelopment of the existing Lougheed Town Centre shopping mall, and over a dozen other towers are slated for sites further north on the corridor.

Artistic rendering of the first phase of SOCO at 319 North Road, Coquitlam. (IBI Group Architects / Anthem Properties)

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