If you’re not familiar with the North Burnaby neighbourhood of Brentwood, then it’s high time you check out this invigorated town centre! Radiating out from the intersection of Willingdon Avenue and Lougheed Highway, Brentwood is a key transportation hub for North Burnaby surrounded by a mix of retail and residential development. South of Lougheed, the residential area transitions to the commercial/industrial land north of the Trans Canada Highway. 

The Brentwood area has been undergoing a major transformation over the last several years with the redevelopment of Brentwood Town Centre. Set to become the social heart of Burnaby, this transit-oriented, mixed-use, central core, has been designed to create a complete community. Envisioned as a signature destination with an urban feel, Brentwood Town Centre will support sustainable lifestyles where people can shop, work, live and play. It will house 1.3 million square feet of enclosed and open air shops as well as office towers and residential highrises. The new Brentwood will be a preferred shopping, leisure and entertainment destination for the region, and an attractive home for residents and businesses.

The area is served by two SkyTrain stations on the Millennium Line — Brentwood Station and Holdom Station. One of the signature elements of this community will be the remarkable experience when arriving by SkyTrain. The station platform is being reconfigured to open directly into the heart of the Town Centre: a one acre public plaza lined with multi-level buildings filled with shops, restaurant patios and rooftop gardens. This plaza will become an amphitheatre of activity and an outdoor “living room” for the two residential towers flanking the plaza.

Just to the south, Dawson Street will also undergo a major transformation into that of a “high street”, a street which will have a strong sense of place and special identity within the Town Centre. An attractive and active urban street, it will have low-rise and smaller scaled, well-faceted and richly detailed buildings lush with landscaping and boulevards. South of Dawson and east of Willingdon, THIND Properties is in the planning stages of a 4-tower residential community.

With developments like SOLO DISTRICT and Shape’s The Amazing Brentwood! well underway, both residential and commercial opportunities are now a reality. Earlier this year, Solo District welcomed the long awaited Whole Foods Market. 

But Brentwood isn’t all shops and highrise towers. There are many outdoor recreation opportunities within the neighbourhood. Brentwood is laid out in a horseshoe-like grid with a centrally located park of the same name. There are many other parks including Beecher Park west of Springer Avenue which is home to Beecher Creek, a stream that joins Still Creek south of the Lougheed Highway and eventually flows into Burnaby Lake. Beecher Creek provides a habitat for local salmon species. In conjunction with Concord Pacific, the City of Burnaby will get a new 13-arce park which will be situated across Beta Avenue from the upcoming THIND Properties community.

Next to Brentwood Park is Brentwood Elementary School; Burnaby North High School and Alpha Secondary School are close by. For higher education, BCIT is within close proximity.

So if you haven’t already visited this exciting area of Burnaby, now’s the time to discover Brentwood!