It was one of the top land deals of 2018 in Metro Vancouver, and the sale of the Saputo milk plant in Burnaby is set to transform the area around Sperling-Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station into a new town centre.
The 19-acre site was sold for $209 million to Peterson Group, a Vancouver-based developer behind developments like the Shangri-La Vancouver, Woodwards, 1550 Alberni and Hudson Walk 2 in Victoria. Cushman & Wakefield handled the sale to Peterson.
The Saputo milk plant will be moving to a new building in Port Coquitlam in 2021, and the former milk plant site is expected to be redeveloped into a high-density, mixed-use community.
Interestingly, the property directly adjacent to the Saputo site is also for sale, and is also being marketed as a transit-oriented development opportunity. The site was formerly home to a BCTel/TELUS operations building, which has been demolished.
The listing for 7000 Lougheed Highway by Colliers Canada says it’s a “unique opportunity to be at the forefront of neighbourhood planning to develop a visionary, master-planned urban village featuring an optimized mix of building forms and unit types largely unachievable in the Town Centre areas.”
“Site topography provides for stunning views overlooking Burnaby, Vancouver and the North Shore Mountains,” the listing states.
Redevelopment of the two sites could add thousands of new residents, commercial and job space to the area, which is in an ideal location along SkyTrain and overlooking Burnaby Lake.
With the redevelopment of nearby Brentwood Town Centre and Lougheed Town Centre well underway, Sperling-Burnaby Lake could be the area’s next big transformative project.
