SOVEREIGN TOWER - Metrotown, Burnaby - Bosa unveils its landmark project at Realtor Event - February 8, 2011

We had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of Bosa Properties landmark project tonight in Metrotown. The SOVEREIGN, soon to be constructed at 4509 Kingsway, can be expected to dominate the Burnaby skyline and offer a prestigious residence for those looking for an alternative to Vancouver's over-regulated downtown core. The first true skyscraper in Burnaby, the SOVEREIGN will mate an ultramodern hotel (167 rooms) to 25 floors of premium condos. Bosa Sales Manager, Jean Openshaw is to be congratulated for hosting an highly effective event. The Realtors I spoke with on the floor are convinced that the residential portion of the tower will sell out in a single day. Bosa is to be further congratulated for the open and fair manner in which this project is being marketed. There will be a total of three "opens," (no pre-selling) and no Offers will be accepted until February 19th. In addition, only one apartment will be sold per client. Offers will be received on a first-come, first-served basis, and security will be on hand to ensure that aggressive Buyers do not rush the door.

The first Realtor-Open for SOVEREIGN, 4509 Kingsway, was held on February 8. These door crashers are evidence of the heightened interest in this landmark project.

Ms. Jean Openshaw is the Sales Manager for the SOVEREIGN tower, at 4509 Kingsway. She has been very open and helpful, assisting in my preparation of two other articles on SOVEREIGN for the Runagates Club blog. I do thank her for that kindness.

The scale model for the SOVEREIGN tower seemed to draw even more interest than the display suites. At 511.4 feet it will be Burnaby's first true skyscraper. I was told that Bosa plans to begin excavation in three months time.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Daryll Simpson, one of the dozen Sales staff Bosa had on hand this evening. Mr. Simpson filled me in on a subject which has been of concern. Could Bosa find a hotel chain of sufficient credibility to match this prestigious project? It could...in New York. Bosa Properties is getting into the hotel business! The Burnaby-based developer will maintain ownership of the new hotel, and is already busy designing its 167 rooms. The name of the chain will be announced in two weeks time. The franchise agreement and further details are yet go under the pen. Mr. Simpson says that Burnaby residents will be pleasantly surprised when they learn which brand-name is coming to town.

Another of my concerns was how the developer and City of Burnaby planners would handle the incredibly high volume of traffic in and out of the SOVEREIGN tower. Simpson had the answer, which is confirmed by my photographs of the scale model, at ground level. All traffic flow around the building will be clockwise - all right turns. Vehicle access to Hotel parking and Retail parking will be confined to a single ramp on Willingdon Avenue.

In keeping with the landmark status of the SOVEREIGN, the tower designer- Chris Dikeakos Architects Inc, have conceived a very dramatic residential entrance coming off of Hazel Street. (corrected) The very wide and open ramp shows up well in these photos of the scale model.

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4509 Kingsway - a SOVEREIGN to rule over Metrotown

In Greater Vancouver the 'greed meter' went up another notch on Monday January 3, 2011. On that day property owners began receiving envelopes from B.C. Assessments, all bearing a late Christmas gift - significantly higher values on what they own. It shouldn't have taken the reasonably alert by surprise, because a company called LANDCOR DATA CORPORATION gave advance notice on December 8. My wife used that 'heads up' to advantage and made money by sharing the info with Buyers who were dithering in December. (Thanks LANDCOR!) But she lost a sale today because, very predictably, a Seller in Coquitlam rejected her close-to-asking-price Offer, and just bumped up the Asking Price, justifying avarice by waving a just received 2011 Assessment.
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Another useful 'Heads Up' arrived yesterday, this one from Jean Openshaw, a residential Sales Manager for Bosa Properties. (I see the Commercial Realtors also launched on this project yesterday.) Openshaw's email is very guarded but did offer a few details for the newest tower in Metrotown, Burnaby - which is guaranteed to sell out very quickly, no matter what they charge per unit. We always knew the $$ prices for the 162 condos at 4509 Kingsway would pinch, but Monday's big news news of steeper property values all across the board, will help Bosa staff justify very high sticker prices for those condos on floors 20 through 45. (Her email says "45-storeys and 511 feet,") Equally important is that while cities like Richmond have too many condos on the market, Burnaby still has room for growth.
This project has been in the works since 2005 but Bosa has finally given it a name other than "4509 Kingsway" It is now dubbed the "SOVEREIGN". I guess that was a no-brainer; the Sovereign will be the tallest tower on Kingsway, after all. In fact it will top out as the tallest tower in Greater Vancouver by virtue of the fact that it is being erected on Metrotown Ridge. To quote Ms. Openshaw- "Simply put, there is no high-rise residence that sits higher above sea level anywhere in Greater Vancouver." Something very cute we noticed in the email is that three bedroom apartments in the SOVEREIGN will be marketed as an "estate". I don't believe I've seen that before.

What I like most about this "landmark" project is that it is entirely "homegrown" - the developer, Bosa Properties is a Burnaby company and they have hired Chris Dikeakos Architects Inc., a firm which is located just five minutes from the project site. I am in fact eager to have a peek when the Sales Centre opens.

The SOVEREIGN, a 45 story landmark tower is now under development opposite Crystal Mall, the Chinese shopping complex in Metrotown, Burnaby. The pre-fab Sales Centre is going in this week, and Bosa sales staff are already chatting up registered buyers. The photo illustrates clearly the bottom ten floors for the hotel, and the upper fifteen floors which will host the 162 residential units.

The 45 floor SOVEREIGN tower (street level retail, a premium hotel, and 25 floors of condos) will soon rise at 4509 Kingsway (V5H 2A1). METROTOWN CENTRE is the second largest shopping complex in Canada. The SOVEREIGN property sits opposite to CRYSTAL MALL , the Chinese shopping centre located at 4500 Kingsway, Metrotown.

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2010 was an extremely interesting year in Vancouver property. I saw and heard plenty, and now kick myself that I didn't write a few Blog articles, if only to refute some of the baloney I read in the Vancouver SUN. I've resolved to change my writing habits. Articles on Gang warfare are by far the most popular among Runagates Club readers, but there are many other local issues worth exploring.

UPDATE- Further word from Ms. Openshaw which clarifies notes I had from another source. There will be "a total of 203 homes starting on the 20th floor all the way to the 45th. The first 3 floors are retail, 4 to 19 are hotel." Ms. Openshaw says site line photos will be ready soon. I will add them to this article when I receive them.

UPDATE - August 2015
I thought I would go back and slip in a photo of how the finished SOVEREIGN tower appears today.