Nearly two years after reaching the construction completion on the first phase of the new “City of Lougheed” mall redevelopment, Shape Properties is now preparing to kick it up another notch with a second phase.
This second phase would be a redevelopment of the southernmost parcels of the shopping centre — formerly known as Lougheed Town Centre Mall — that are closest to SkyTrain’s Lougheed Town Centre Station, directly fronting Austin Road.
A new rezoning application has been submitted to the City of Burnaby to redevelop the mall’s southernmost surface parking lot and the former Hudson’s Bay department store building wing, totalling five acres of land area.
Phase 2 site of the City of Lougheed redevelopment, replacing the Hudson’s Bay and the parking lot closest to SkyTrain. (Google Maps)
Phase 2 site of the City of Lougheed redevelopment, replacing the Hudson’s Bay and the parking lot closest to SkyTrain. (Google Maps)
Phase 2 site of the City of Lougheed redevelopment, replacing the Hudson’s Bay and the parking lot closest to SkyTrain. (Google Maps)
The parking lot will be turned into Tower 5 — a 43-storey mixed-use rental housing and commercial tower, including a two-storey base podium with commercial uses.
Tower 5 entails a total of 634 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 501 market rental units and 133 below-market rental units. The unit size mix is 236 studios, 160 one-bedroom units, 80 one-bedroom units with a den, 38 two-bedroom units, and 120 two-bedroom units with a den. Additionally, Tower 5 provides 38,500 sq ft of retail and restaurant space.
But the bulk of the second phase of the mall’s redevelopment will come from Tower 6, which will replace the Hudson’s Bay footprint. Including a three-storey commercial base podium, this will be a 46-storey mixed-use tower attached to a 12-storey mid-rise building — both with strata market ownership condominium homes as the primary use.
Tower 6, including the attached 12-storey building, will contain 809 strata market ownership condominium homes, with a unit size mix of 274 studios, 212 one-bedroom units, 106 one-bedroom units with a den, 77 two-bedroom units, 137 two-bedroom units with a den, and three three-bedroom units.
As well, Tower 6 will include the first segment of the new covered outdoor mall — a north-south, pedestrian-only spine that is weather-protected and lined with retail and restaurants. Most of the 134,000 sq ft of commercial space in Tower 6 will be found within this first segment of the outdoor mall, which will span from a pedestrian overpass over a new internal road to the existing indoor mall.
Existing condition:
Phase 2 site of the City of Lougheed redevelopment, replacing the Hudson’s Bay and the parking lot closest to SkyTrain. (Google Maps)
Future condition:
Preliminary concept for Tower 5 and the first segment of the pedestrian-spine/covered outdoor mall in the City of Lougheed’s second phase. (Shape Properties)
Preliminary concept for Tower 6 and the first segment of the pedestrian-spine/covered outdoor mall in the City of Lougheed’s second phase. (Shape Properties)
The pedestrian overpass forms a part of the main pedestrian route between the SkyTrain station and the City of Lougheed.
Over time, through the execution of additional phases of the redevelopment, the existing indoor mall will be at least partially demolished, making way for additional towers and the full extent of the north-south covered outdoor mall reaching just south of Cameron Street near the north end of the mall property.
However, it is noted that the roof for the entire length of the outdoor mall will be built in the later phases of the redevelopment to “provide a seamless and uniform design for the roof of the pedestrian spine.” This means that upon completion, the first segment of the pedestrian spine attached to Tower 6 will temporarily be an open-air mall.
According to the City of Burnaby’s master plan for the Lougheed Town Centre Core Area, the entire north-south covered outdoor mall between Austin Road and just south of Cameron Street will span a length of roughly 320 metres, with the first segment shown in the rezoning application for phase two spanning about 150 metres.
“The Pedestrian Spine is a pedestrian-only, weather-protected north-south connector that links Cameron Street to the Transit Plaza via the heart of the Core Area,” reads the municipal government’s master plan.
“It begins at Cameron Street as a semi-open retail ‘galleria’ space. It opens up as it intersects with Cross Creek to provide connections to the Central Open Space and to the Grand Promenade. Further south, the Pedestrian Spine adopts a more enclosed form before crossing Austin Road via an elevated architectural footbridge, enabling a direct connection to the Transit Plaza. The Pedestrian Spine functions as the main weather-protected shopping destination in the Core Area, with a wide range of retail shops, cafés and restaurants, and other commercial uses… The intended architectural character of the Pedestrian Spine is that of an outside city street or pedestrian galleria; building design and architectural expression, including choice of materials, must reflect this.”
Not the final detailed design; Pedestrian-spine/covered outdoor mall concept for the Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan for Shape Properties’ City of Lougheed mall redevelopment site. (City of Burnaby)
Not the final detailed design; Pedestrian-spine/covered outdoor mall concept for the Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan for Shape Properties’ City of Lougheed mall redevelopment site. (City of Burnaby)
Not the final detailed design; Pedestrian-spine/covered outdoor mall concept for the Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan for Shape Properties’ City of Lougheed mall redevelopment site. (Shape Properties)
Not the final detailed design; Pedestrian-spine/covered outdoor mall concept for the Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan for Shape Properties’ City of Lougheed mall redevelopment site. (Shape Properties)
Not the final detailed design; Pedestrian-spine/covered outdoor mall concept for the Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan for Shape Properties’ City of Lougheed mall redevelopment site. (Shape Properties)
Both towers in the second phase form the crucial gateway into the new City of Lougheed mall and residential neighbourhood from the SkyTrain station and bus exchange.
Additional project details and artistic renderings on the rezoning application for the second phase are expected in early 2025.
Altogether, Tower 5 and Tower 6 will generate a combined total of 1,443 homes and nearly 173,000 sq ft of commercial uses. These towers will also share an underground parkade containing a total of 708 vehicle parking stalls, including 417 stalls for strata and rental housing residents and 291 stalls for commercial uses. The total building floor area will be about 1.15 million sq ft.
Upon the full buildout of the entire 37-acre redevelopment by Shape Properties, the City of Lougheed could have up to 20 high-rise towers with over 10,000 new homes, 1.5 million sq ft of retail and restaurant space, one million sq ft of office space, and acres of new public parks and open spaces.
Not the final detailed design; Lougheed Town Centre Core Area Master Plan for Shape Properties’ City of Lougheed mall redevelopment site. (City of Burnaby)
Artistic rendering of the City of Lougheed mall redevelopment, including the detailed design of the first phase. (Shape Properties)
The 2023-built four towers of the first phase of the City of Lougheed mall redevelopment. (Shape Properties)
In 2023, construction reached completion on the first phase of the City of Lougheed at the southeast corner of the mall site — immediately east of the second phase site. The first phase entailed four towers with over 1,500 homes and 90,000 sq ft of restaurant and retail space, including the anchor retail tenant of PriceSmart Foods grocery store.
In preparation for the second phase, Hudson’s Bay permanently closed its department store at the mall in 2023, within a building wing that was built in 1969.
In 2019, a brand new food court opened at the existing indoor mall, representing one of the first changes as a part of the long-term redevelopment.
Currently, large units at the indoor mall are temporarily home to both the Cameron Library branch and Cameron Community and Recreation Centre. These facilities operated by the municipal government will remain at the mall until 2028, when the new $280 million Cameron Community Centre — situated just northwest of the mall — opens to the public. Construction on the new community and recreation centre and library began in 2024.
As well, a picketball facility is expected to open later in 2025 within the mall’s former Safeway space, which closed in 2018. This will be a temporary use of the grocery store wing until it is ready for a later phase of the redevelopment.
The parcels south of Austin Road (immediately adjacent to the transit hub) were previously also owned by Shape Properties. However, in 2018, Shape Properties sold this parcel to Pinnacle International, which subsequently proposed a significant multi-tower mixed-use residential and commercial development, including an 850-ft-tall, 80-storey tower. In 2024, the municipal government approved Pinnacle International’s first phase, including the tallest tower that will be Western Canada’s tallest building.
Shape Properties is also the owner and developer of The Amazing Brentwood mall. They are in the process of revising their master plan for the redevelopment of the former Brentwood Town Centre Mall with additional towers and thousands of additional new homes — far over and above what was previously contemplated in the original master plan.
2022 concept artistic rendering of Pinnacle Lougheed at 9850 Austin Road and 9858-9898 Gatineau Place, Burnaby, with the first phase highlighted. (JYOM Architecture/Pinnacle International Development)