[Coquitlam] Highpoint | 163m | 51fl | Completed

[Lexus]

2024, Dec 4

The tower on the right (504 Clark Ave) is now completed and occupied

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

[shoujikun]

Looks like some potential retail tenants have been released: https://sitings.ca/wordpress/wp-cont.../highpoint.pdf

Vancity, Popeyes, Tree’s Coffee and Cheesecake, AMC Insurance, Uncle Fatih’s Pizza, NuSmile Ortho, Dentist, Optimal Health Collective & Sushi California.

More banks and dentist offices

[Burquitlaman]

Originally Posted by shoujikun

Looks like some potential retail tenants have been released: https://sitings.ca/wordpress/wp-cont.../highpoint.pdf

Vancity, Popeyes, Tree’s Coffee and Cheesecake, AMC Insurance, Uncle Fatih’s Pizza, NuSmile Ortho, Dentist, Optimal Health Collective & Sushi California.

More banks and dentist offices

FAWK. I was hoping something decent would open up. This is useless. All along Austin Avenue and North Road it's all weird specialty clinics and dentist offices! WHY! How many dentist offices do we need in this area. I've switched dentists three times since 2021 LOL. They keep opening one even closer to me. Soon I'll have a dentist office in the lobby of my building.

/rant

Why is Vancity moving here? Vancity is a 5 min walk down the street and the building they're in is new. The coffee shop is something I guess. Sushi California too. Everything else seems meh.

[Zepfancouver]

Originally Posted by Burquitlaman

FAWK. I was hoping something decent would open up. This is useless. All along Austin Avenue and North Road it's all weird specialty clinics and dentist offices! WHY! How many dentist offices do we need in this area. I've switched dentists three times since 2021 LOL. They keep opening one even closer to me. Soon I'll have a dentist office in the lobby of my building.

/rant

...

News of the day in 2013 Alleged illegal dentist surgery raided in Vancouver
In 2012 I first heard about illegal home dentistry, the government was cracking down and scaring those illegal operations to go legit.
From 2013 to 2019 it was a good part of my call outs for coring holes for a new dentist office. It was and is an ongoing good business for contractors.

[fromthelake]

Retail gentrification is mostly to blame for the large influx of dental offices, banks, and physio offices into new CRUs in Burquitlam. The asking rent for many of these new CRUs is much higher than what a lot of existing businesses in, let's say, Burquitlam Plaza could afford with their current business strategy. I know one business owner in Burquitlam Plaza has been paying $2800 a month, and when he inquired about the rent of a new CRU in the area, it was more than 3X what he was currently paying (Plaza Barbers, if you are interested).

[Burquitlaman]

Originally Posted by fromthelake

Retail gentrification is mostly to blame for the large influx of dental offices, banks, and physio offices into new CRUs in Burquitlam. The asking rent for many of these new CRUs is much higher than what a lot of existing businesses in, let's say, Burquitlam Plaza could afford with their current business strategy. I know one business owner in Burquitlam Plaza has been paying $2800 a month, and when he inquired about the rent of a new CRU in the area, it was more than 3X what he was currently paying (Plaza Barbers, if you are interested).

The 3x makes sense tbh. You're getting something that is decades newer on the main drag. The issue is all the new spaces are coming online in towers that are adjacent to the main roads (North Road, Austin...). This is beyond idiotic. Take Foster ave or whiting. None of those buildings have any commercial in their podiums. And why not? Idiotic zoning laws is why not. A small commercial space in one of those would allow a barber shop to come in at a reasonable price.

Have they told you when they have to be out? Are they month to month?

[fromthelake]

Originally Posted by Burquitlaman

The 3x makes sense tbh. You're getting something that is decades newer on the main drag. The issue is all the new spaces are coming online in towers that are adjacent to the main roads (North Road, Austin...). This is beyond idiotic. Take Foster ave or whiting. None of those buildings have any commercial in their podiums. And why not? Idiotic zoning laws is why not. A small commercial space in one of those would allow a barber shop to come in at a reasonable price.

Have they told you when they have to be out? Are they month to month?

I totally get the frustration about what looks like “idiotic zoning laws,” but I don’t think they’re the main reason new CRUs are so expensive or scarce in certain parts of Burquitlam—at least not anymore. In the past, zoning bylaws tended to separate commercial and residential areas, limiting mixed-use developments. But nowadays, even when mixed-use zoning is allowed, the economic reality of building new CRUs is seriously out of touch with the local economy. Most of these newly built spaces command premium rents, and that inevitably attracts businesses like banks, dental clinics, and other high-revenue service providers.

In the end, it’s more about the market dynamics than just zoning issues alone. Unfortunately, the only real “fix” for CRU affordability may be letting enough time pass so that economic growth and inflation raise the revenue of local businesses relative to rent costs of CRUs that are currently being or have been built in the last few years. It’s not exactly a cheerful solution, but it might be the most realistic path for smaller businesses to eventually afford these newer commercial spaces.


The owner-operator of Plaza Barbers has not told me about his lease terms, but he has said to me that he was told by Morguard that Morguard does not expect to move forward on the south plaza (what I guess would be phase 2) for at least a decade. He also told me that all of the tenants in the North Plaza are on reduced rents (relative to what he is paying) and are month-to-month
.

[Lexus]

2025, Feb 23

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

[towerseeker101]

Originally Posted by Burquitlaman

FAWK. I was hoping something decent would open up. This is useless. All along Austin Avenue and North Road it's all weird specialty clinics and dentist offices! WHY! How many dentist offices do we need in this area. I've switched dentists three times since 2021 LOL. They keep opening one even closer to me. Soon I'll have a dentist office in the lobby of my building.

/rant

Why is Vancity moving here? Vancity is a 5 min walk down the street and the building they're in is new. The coffee shop is something I guess. Sushi California too. Everything else seems meh.

As an occasional connoisseur of fried chicken, I'm excited for the Popeyes. The nearest existing locations include one that is a little ways past Coquitlam Center, then one on Kingsway in Burnaby.

[Burquitlaman]

Originally Posted by towerseeker101

As an occasional connoisseur of fried chicken, I'm excited for the Popeyes. The nearest existing locations include one that is a little ways past Coquitlam Center, then one on Kingsway in Burnaby.

My wife is Church's or nothing. I'm excited about Popeye's because it's walking distance. Can't wait to do a coke/Pepsi test and see if she notices the difference between them. Fried chicken is the only fast food she eats and only from Church's. I have a hard time believing there is something unique about deep fried chicken.

[SpongeG]

have you tried Hi-Five? I tried em once but I kind of forget they exist. I want KFC back lol I think I am the only one who likes it,

[stump]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

have you tried Hi-Five? I tried em once but I kind of forget they exist. I want KFC back lol I think I am the only one who likes it,

Hi Five was pretty good last time I had it. They give a lot of fries too for their meals.

Last two times I've tried Church's, it's been dry and thin skin. I won't be going back there since they seem to give customers chicken that has been sitting under a heat lamp for a while. Too many options out there to waste money at Church's.

Popeye's is tasty and lots of crunch (not the sandwich, the chicken with fries meals) but the price for the amount you get is barely worth it anymore.

[SpongeG]

yea Church's is only good if its straight out of the fryer, I do rate their fries above all others though. The area is also lacking a MAry Browns, I find them ok.

[Klazu]

We have Hi-Five next to us and it is pretty okay. Church's has always been solid experience, but the one Mary Ann I have had was a disappointment. Popeye's is finally open at Metrotown mall, but it is a longer walk from us and previous experiences with the chain have not really made me crave it enough to walk all that way for lunch.

It's really interesting how much all of these fried chicken chains have expanded in the past few years!

[towerseeker101]

Originally Posted by Klazu

It's really interesting how much all of these fried chicken chains have expanded in the past few years!

Increasing at the same pace as the general population's waistlines 😅

[Lexus]

2025, Mar 30

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

[SpongeG]

the fencing is down and the new sidewalk is really nice. And its neighbour has windows covered in signage for Pur & Simple.

[Lexus]

2025, Aug 22

Title may be changes to completed

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

Untitled by Lexus LX, on Flickr

[jasonpark]

Whoever bought a presale in 2020 for this project made pretty good money. I know a few people that paid around 650k for 2 bedroom (800 sqft). That is MapleRidge/Langley woodframe level prices Probably won't see that type of instant profit for quite a while.