A well-known office building at the border of Vancouver and Burnaby is undergoing a renovation as part of a masterplan development that will eventually include 2,535 homes and new commercial space at the site. 

Anthem Properties, Crestpoint Real Estate Investments and New Brunswick pension manager Vestcor are developing the boot-shaped former Telus headquarters at the corner of Kingsway and Boundary in Burnaby. The first phase, now under construction, will include 724 rental homes in a pair of 38- and 34-storey towers over a shared podium. 

The first phase also includes the renovation of The Boot, a 21-storey, 512,000-square-foot office tower initially built in 1976. The full plan aims for five towers, including three towers in the next phase with 1,559 condos and 252 non-market rental units.

Known commonly as ‘The Boot’ by Vancouver locals due to its stacked, L-shape, the office building will officially be renamed The Boot at King + Park.

Location, location, location

The master plan for the site aims to capitalize on the property’s gateway setting between Burnaby and Vancouver along Kingsway, said Rob Blackwell, executive vice president, development with Anthem.

It's located across the street from Burnaby Central Park and Swangard Stadium and within walking distance of both Joyce-Collingwood SkyTrain Station in East Vancouver and Patterson Station in Burnaby, near Metrotown. 

Blackwell told RENX the renovation of The Boot is ongoing with existing tenants remaining in their office spaces throughout the process. Demolition has already completed on an adjoining 10-storey tower that was added to the complex in the 1980s. That section of the property will make way for the condo buildings in a future phase. 

The office building is currently 17 per cent leased, Crestpoint told RENX. It was initially designed as a single-tenant building for Telus until the telecom company shifted its main offices to Telus Garden in downtown Vancouver. 

Renovations aim to make building suitable for several tenants 

Blackwell said most of the renovations will focus on the common spaces of the building including improvements to the lobby on the ground floor and upgrades to make the building more convenient for multiple tenants. 

"There's a theatre room where they used to hold events for Telus, and then there's a big cafeteria on one of the upper floors in the podium that leads us to a big terrace," Blackwell said. "They'll be redoing all that."

He said other improvements will focus on upgrading the furniture, ceilings, lighting and wall coverings and that most of the renovation work should take about 12 months with the goal of eventually bringing in several new tenants. 

The building is unique architecturally in that some of the available lower floor plates are massive (in the foot of the boot). "We have some floors that are 30,000 square feet," he said. 

He said Anthem bought into the project about a year-and-a-half ago. 

Regional office market shows signs of stabilization 

The renovation happens as the Metro Vancouver office market shows modest signs of recovery. 

The regional vacancy rate fell by 60 basis points quarter-over-quarter in Q1, bringing the overall rate down to 11.8 per cent, according to Avison Young's first-quarter office market report. 

The report said all office classes in the region experienced a decrease in availability in the quarter. In Burnaby, total vacancy is now 11.7 per cent. 

Crestpoint and its investment partner on the project, Vestcor, first made an investment in the property in 2014. “Since then, we have steadily increased our commitment to Burnaby and to realizing the full potential of this site,” said Crestpoint Real Estate Investments executive vice president and head of asset management, Max Rosenfeld in a release.

“It is a distinct opportunity to honour heritage and reimagine a site simultaneously. We are thrilled to be partnering with Vestcor and Anthem on the execution of a vision for King + Park that will have a positive, lasting impact.”

Anthem’s Blackwell said prospective tenants could include professional service firms, or tech companies, or businesses that require lots of space and value a central location with transit options and proximity to the park. 

He said a future phase of the project will add more than 40,000 square feet of commercial-retail space, and the first rental towers are expected to complete in 2030.