BC Business
Port Coquitlam mayor, Greg Moore, presents his thoughts on the new Fremont neighbourhood development.
Yesterday the mayor of Port Coquitlam, Greg Moore, unveiled plans for one of the city’s newest developments, the Fremont neighbourhood.
Bordering the Pitt River, the Fremont neighbourhood will consist of three parts: a residential community that will have over 650 homes, a mixture of townhomes and apartments; a business park with 250,000 square feet of office and industrial space; 650,000 square feet of retail and commercial space, which will include a high-street and pedestrian-oriented village populated by retailers.
The development space will also be home to park and is bordered by a 25 km trail, which encircles all of Port Coquitlam.
Port Coquitlam, which has been identified by MOSAIC (developer of the project’s residential portion) as a community on the move, was an obvious choice for this type of multi-dimensional development. “The city of Port Coquitlam is actually one of the fastest growing cities in the region and was recently ranked the third most livable city in the province of B.C…. ranking ahead of Vancouver. It’s a city that’s still in close proximity to downtown Vancouver, but it is also an affordable city,” said MOSAIC vice-president Geoff Duyker.
Pointing to a lack of undeveloped land in greater Vancouver, skyrocketing house prices downtown and the incoming Evergreen Line, Duyker is confident the project, which received over half a billion dollars in investing, will succeed in providing affordable housing, office and recreational space to Port Coquitlam.
The office space—which will likely hold research facilities, recreational centres and production studios—is set to move in tenants before the end of the summer, while the residential units are planned to be built and fully occupied by 2018.
“It’s a place where first time buyers, young families, can still afford to have their housing needs met. It is increasingly becoming a more popular place to live, based on what it offers and the value. For the price of a studio downtown, a young family can live in a three level townhome in the city of Port Coquitlam,” said Duyker.