Coronation Park is now the Inlet District.
That’s the marketing name Vancouver-based developer Wesgroup Properties has chosen for its redevelopment of the 14.8-acre Port Moody neighbourhood at the corner of the Barnet Highway and Ioco Road. It follows a pattern the company has set at its previous master-planned projects — the Brewery District in New Westminster, the Civic District in Surrey and the River District in Vancouver.
The largest development project in Port Moody’s history will see the neighbourhood’s 59 aging single-family homes replaced by a dense mixed-use urban community that will eventually be home for up to 5,500 new residents, a grocery store and other retail shops, a four-storey office building, two daycare centres and a 2.55-acre central park.
Construction is expected to begin in spring 2025.
On Monday, Jan. 22, the company announced it had applied for development permits for the project’s first phase that’s to be comprised of two 26-storey residential towers atop a four-storey podium along Ioco Road where the grocery store, a pharmacy and other shops will be located, along with the office building and first daycare centre.
The subsequent three phases will see four more towers built — one 26-storeys and the other three 31-storeys — as well as three six-storey residential buildings and a 2,000 sq. ft. civic amenity space to be managed by the city. A new pedestrian overpass across Ioco Road will connect the neighbourhood to the Inlet Centre SkyTrain station.
In total, the project includes 2,486 market condos and 101 market rental units.
Ten per cent of rental units will be set aside for seniors and tenants will be able to participate in a program that gives them a discount on the purchase of a new home in a Wesgroup project.
“Inlet District has been designed as a complete community where residents’ daily needs, such as childcare, shopping and recreation will be right at their doorsteps,” said Dean Johnson, Wesgroup’s vice president of development, in a news release.
“We are excited to be one step closer to making Inlet District a reality.”
It’s a step that’s been a long time in the making, though, since Port Moody council flagged the neighbourhood in 2012 for special consideration in its official community plan as the city anticipated the eventual arrival of SkyTrain.
In its first proposal to redevelop the site in 2019, Wesgroup pitched six residential towers up to 36 storeys along with five six-storey buildings and 1,100 sq. ft. of commercial space.
The next year, the company amended its plan to accommodate council’s desire for affordable housing units, proposing five towers up to 40 storeys, several smaller buildings up to 10 storeys and a 10-fold boost to the retail component.
More feedback from council resulted in further revisions in 2021 and an increasing sense of frustration from residents living in the neighbourhood who were awaiting word on the fate of their properties as well as the developer.
“We are struggling to see a path forward with this council,” said Brad Jones, Wesgroup’s senior vice president of development, at the time.
Meanwhile, Coquitlam council began its consideration of a plan by Polygon to construct nine high-rise residential towers up to 45 storeys immediately next door in the 10-acre Coronation Heights neighbourhood. It was eventually approved last February.
You can read a full history of the project’s path to this point here.
