A full decade after acquiring the property, Toronto-based Starlight Investments is now making new headway with its plan to provide the Lougheed Village apartment property with a significant increase in residential density that nearly quadruples the number of homes on the Burnaby property.

This is not a complete demolition and redevelopment of the housing complex at 9500 Erickson Drive — which is roughly a five-minute walk west from SkyTrain’s Lougheed Town Centre Station — but an infill development. It is also located just west of Cameron Elementary School and the immense City of Lougheed mall redevelopment into a high-density, mixed-use district.

Currently, the seven-acre Lougheed Village site contains 528 rental homes within four 1971-built buildings, including two 25-storey towers and two nine-storey mid-rise buildings. All of these existing residential buildings will be retained; the project will not displace any existing tenants, but there will be significant temporary disruptions due to the scale and nature of the construction project.

Three additional towers will be added to the site by demolishing some of the existing parkade and surface parking facilities, demolishing the existing commercial building known as “Lougheed Village Mall” (containing retail and restaurant space and a fitness facility), and removing some of the landscaping that serves as outdoor amenity space for the complex.

Site of the existing Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (Google Maps)

Site of the existing Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (Google Maps)

Site of the existing Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (Google Maps)

The landscaping changes include the removal of a sizeable man-made pond — home to a significant number of turtles and other wildlife — near the core of the property, as part of the third phase of construction. Instead, as part of the first phase, there will be a new replacement pond situated on the southeasternmost corner of the property, fronting Lougheed Highway — featuring landscaped pathways around the new water feature, various seating fixtures, gardens, a picnic area, an outdoor fitness gym area, and an outdoor stage next to an amphitheatre-like area.

The project’s first phase entails a 45-storey south tower with 572 rental homes fronting Lougheed Highway — adjacent to the new pond — while the second phase is a 37-storey middle tower with 442 rental homes and the third phase is a 38-storey north tower with 453 rental homes fronting Erickson Drive.

Altogether, the project provides a net gain of 1,467 rental homes for Lougheed Village for a total of 1,995 secured purpose-built rental homes when combined with the existing buildings. All of these new units will be rented at market rates, following Burnaby City Council’s March 2025 decision to exempt market rental housing projects from the new inclusionary rental requirements — a move intended to support the financial viability of such rental housing projects.

The overall unit size mix within the new towers is 202 studio units, 704 one-bedroom units, 96 one-bedroom units with a den, 390 two-bedroom units, and 75 three-bedroom units.

Based on the industry standard of averaging 1.5 to 1.8 residents per unit, when complete, the expanded Lougheed Village complex could see as many as about 3,600 residents living on-site.

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

Furthermore, this infill development is also under the municipal government’s newly implemented Height-Based Framework, which regulates development based on building height (defined as the number of floors) instead of the conventional method of floor area ratio (FAR) density calculations. With that said, the existing and new buildings will generate a total floor area of 1.582 million sq. ft., establishing a FAR density of a floor area that is 4.92 times larger than the size of the lot.

In addition to the significant rental housing uses, there will be some minor mixed uses, including a possible childcare facility within the base of the new north tower and some retail/restaurant space within the new middle tower.

Designed by NSDA Architects, the new towers adopt a contemporary interpretation of Lougheed Village’s existing “minimalist” style, while introducing subtle colour variations to create visual interest and aid with wayfinding.

“The proposal recognizes these differing but complementary architectural expressions and attempts to respond to both. The expression of the towers is intended to reflect a complementary approach unifying Lougheed Village as a community,” reads the application.

Each tower is distinguished through the use of colour palettes inspired by the natural environment. Gradual shifts in tone — from deeper, more saturated hues at the base to lighter shades at the top — accentuate verticality, guiding the eye upward and visually elongating the buildings. Three complementary colours were selected to reflect the landscaping concept: a darker blue-green, a sky blue, and a vibrant light green.

According to the architectural firm, the choice of colours is also rooted in inspiration drawn from First Nations cultures.

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

2025 concept of the infill development of three additional towers for Lougheed Village at 9500 Erickson Dr., Burnaby. (NSDA Architects/Starlight Investments)

As construction progresses on the multi-phased project, there will be new replacement and improved landscaping and outdoor amenity spaces. In addition to the aforementioned new replacement pond, other areas will see new gardens, landscaped paths, seating areas, a children’s playground, a multi-use sports court, covered games area, and a multi-use lawn/dog run.

The new landscaping and outdoor amenity spaces will be built over new underground parking up to five levels deep. Currently, the site has 856 parking stalls for residents, with the project calling for an additional 442 net new stalls, which accounts for replacing stalls demolished for the development.

Additionally, some new internal roadways will be established on the site, and the segment of Lougheed Highway fronting the property will be redesigned to the municipal government’s new “Primary Arterial Town Centre Standard” with setbacks, separated pedestrian sidewalks and bike lanes, lighting, street trees, and rain gardens.

As well, there will be a specific setback away from Lougheed Highway to retain the municipal government’s future ability to widen the road’s westbound arterial capacity from two to three travel lanes, but this future road lot would remain under Starlight Investment’s ownership until the City proceeds with such a widening project.

As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized over the past decade, Starlight Investments acquired the property in 2015, and began planning the infill development the following year. The project has evolved over the years — initially a proposal with two new towers for about 1,000 rental homes, followed shortly after by the addition of a third new tower to concept that grew the total number of new rental homes to 1,200 units. Previous architectural concepts also carried a contemporary design that highly contrasted with the existing structures.

Pending municipal regulatory approvals, some construction could begin as early as 2026.