Major office development in Metrotown cancelled, pivots to some housing | Daily Hive

Major strata office development in Metrotown cancelled, set to pivot to include some residential uses

2021 artistic rendering of Capital Point at 4330 Kingsway and 5945 Kathleen Avenue in Burnaby. (Slate Asset Management)

Due to pandemic-induced impacts on the feasibility of construction, a significant office development in Burnaby’s Metrotown district has been cancelled.

Capital Point was supposed to be a transformation of the 1983-built office complex at 4330 Kingsway — near the southwest corner of the intersection of Kingsway and Willingdon Avenue — through the complete modernization renovation of the 19-storey and 10-storey, both the interiors and exteriors.

You might also like:

Moreover, the renewal of the 220,000 sq ft building would have created premium AAA-class office space, and a significant infusion of strata ownership office space, which deviates from the typical construction of leasable office space.

Major construction activities were supposed to begin in Spring 2021 for completion in Spring 2023. However, as of this month, there has been no visual progress on the project, and the previous tinted glass facade that gives the complex the moniker of “Golden Towers” remains unchanged.

The unchanged condition of the exterior of the Capital Point complex, as of April 26, 2023. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

“Unfortunately, a number of external factors persistently challenged the real estate industry during that time — from the overarching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to ongoing supply chain issues, surging construction costs driven by heightened inflation, and most recently, the unprecedented rise in interest rates,” reads Slate Asset Management’s statement to Daily Hive Urbanized.

“We explored every viable option to proceed with the project as planned. However, despite our best efforts, we were not able to meet the key conditions required by the purchase agreements to move the project forward and were unable to proceed with the original project scope and timeline.”

Slate’s Metrotown office complex was previously the longtime headquarters of Metro Vancouver Regional District, until 2017 when it relocated its headquarters to the newly-built Metrotower III, part of the Metropolis at Metrotown Mall complex next to SkyTrain Metrotown Station.

4330 Kingsway 5945 Kathleen Avenue Burnaby Golden Towers

Site of Golden Towers at 4330 Kingsway and 5945 Kathleen Avenue, Burnaby. (Google Maps)

Capital Point 4330 Kingsway 5945 Kathleen Avenue Burnaby

2021 artistic rendering of Capital Point at 4330 Kingsway and 5945 Kathleen Avenue in Burnaby. (Slate Asset Management)

As a result of the decision to cancel the project in its current form, Slate has terminated all purchase agreements for the strata office space and provided a full refund on any deposits, along with any interest accrued to date.

They add that they have now deemed the “best use” for the property is a mix of residential and commercial uses, and will be returning to the municipal government this year with a new rezoning application outlining a revised redevelopment strategy.

This also comes at a time when there is weakened office demand, as evident by the creeping rise in vacancy rates for leasable office space. According to commercial real estate firm CBRE, in the first quarter of 2023, the leasable office vacancy rate reached 8.4% in Metro Vancouver, including 10.4% for downtown Vancouver and 6.2% for the suburbs, which includes areas like Metrotown. However, it should be noted that this region has some of the lowest office vacancy rates among Canada and the United States’ largest urban centres.

2021 artistic rendering of Capital Point at 4330 Kingsway and 5945 Kathleen Avenue in Burnaby. (Slate Asset Management)

You might also like: