It is now almost 13 years since Vancouver’s most celebrated architect Arthur Erikson sat down to map out the master plan for the 16-acre City in the Park development in Burnaby.
Since then, five high-rises containing a total of 696 condominiums have been built around an outstanding two-acre, formal European-style garden with 75-foot reflecting pool, low box-wood hedges, alleys of maple trees and a grand staircase.
By the end of this year, work will be under way on the final two condo towers, bringing the $350-million neighborhood to completion.
During the last decade, City in the Park has attracted a constant stream of homebuyers from all over the Lower Mainland.
They have been wooed into making a purchase by the project’s convenient location next to the Edmonds Skytrain station, the relatively pastoral setting with its nature trails and green belt, the spacious interiors and high-end finishes in the suites, and the spectacular views from the towers.
In 2001, the neighborhood was recognized as an exemplary new community when it won an award for excellence for livability from the Greater Vancouver Regional District and the Urban Design Institute.
In representing the award, Vancouver city councilor Gordon Price said: “City in the Park combines high urbanism with suburban amenities – just what is needed to appeal to those whose choices would otherwise be limited to a traditional low density product.”
He added: “City in the Park makes living in a transit-oriented community extremely attractive and it does so in a suburban context.”
Built by Millennium Development Corp., the development has been nurtured with almost parental devotion from inception by company president Shahram Malek.
Always conscious of the need for the project to maintain a high standard of excellence, Malek took a firm stand when Burnaby municipality at first balked at the idea of connecting the seven towers with a grand formal garden with a style of landscaping echoing the famous gardens or Versailles.
Malek recalls: “Their initial reaction was that such a formal landscape was too ‘imperial’ – that was the word used – and that it would be too easily vandalized.
“But I felt it would have the opposite effect and would inspire people and make them feel good about the place and make them want to take care of it.”
While Arthur Erikson is always credited with drawing up the master plan for City in the Park, Vancouver architect Larry Doyle, working on occasion with other architects, actually designed and watched over the construction of the towers.
His first high-rise on the site was the 26-storey, 137-suite Savoy Carlton, built in 1991 at the corner of Southpoint Avenue and Station Hill Road.
Being the first of seven towers in the plan, it had to make a good first impression. And it did with its elegant façade and classy amenities including a pool pavilion, mini-theatre, library/billiard room.
At that time, two-bedroom, two-bathroom suites in the Savoy Carlton, ranging in size from 1,064 tol,227 square feet, sold for between $179,000 and $270,000-$168 to $220 a square foot.
Next came the 31-storey, 155-unit Belgravia high-rise, which also featured an adjoining greenhouse-type pool pavilion and even better views of the formal gardens.
This was followed in 1997 by the $35-million 166-unit Claridges tower, tucked behind the new market stop which is now run by choices.
Like its predecessors, Claridges also contained top-of-the-line amenities including billiards room, library, Hollywood-style screening room and swimming pool pavilion with whirlpool and sauna.
In 2001, work began on the dual tower Mayfair Place complex on the south side of the site.
Between them, these two 22-storey towers contain a total of 238 suites. When they came on the market last year, one bedroom and den suites with 706 square feet were available from $152,900 while two bedroom suites with 1,200 square-feet on the 19th floor were priced at $249,900.
Malek says residents of the other high-rises had a few concerns about how the twin Mayfair towers would affect their views. However, by turning the second tower on its axis it was possible to create excellent view corridors as well as achieve a more satisfactory architectural profile for both towers.
It was also decided to significantly raise the roof of the pool house to give the impression of an elegant glass pavilion with the look of an ornagerie, a style that would fit more attractively with the garden setting.
Malek wanted Mayfair Place to set a new standard of architecture and excellence by copying on the celebrated 1920’s Art Deco style of New York’s Rockefeller Center. Malek sees the Mayfair towers as “graceful” and having a “classical stepped silhouette above a stately masonry base.”
A cobblestone-patterned courtyard connects the towers. It was deliberately designed to provide a spacious, unobstructed entrance area with an ambience similar to an Italian Plaza
Although already 85 percent sold, there are currently about 40 units available, mostly two-bedroom condos priced from $177,900 to $437,500.
Yvonne Dawson, sales associate who has been with the project since the beginning in 2000, says the prime location has been the biggest selling point.
“Buyers have come from all over, a lot from Burnaby and Richmond and many from downtown who are looking for more space for the money.”
The building’s luxury amenities – the indoor swimming pool, billiard room and 17-seat movie theatre – have all helped clinch deals.
Standard features in suites include over-height ceilings, granite counter tops, over-height windows and entry doors, gas fireplaces and built-in computer stations.
A gatehouse checkpoint is manned by a concierge and all the underground parking is monitored by video cameras to increase the level of security.
Work on the final two towers at City in the Park is expected to begin this year. Malek says the goal is to design them in such a way that they will give the impression of having been the first rather than the last towers in the project.
