The City of Burnaby has agreed to acquire two office towers in Burnaby’s Metrotown district for $65 million through a court-ordered sale.

The Supreme Court of British Columbia has approved the city’s purchase of the Metrotown Place office towers on the recommendation of court-appointed receiver and sale monitor Alvarez & Marsal.

Constructed in 1983, the buildings comprise a more visible 10-storey tower at 4330 Kingsway, between Wilson and Kathleen Avenues, and a less prominent 19-storey building at 5945 Kathleen. (Kingsway is a thoroughfare; Kathleen is a side street.)

Both buildings are near the high-visibility intersection of Kingsway and Willingdon Avenue, across from the Old Orchard shopping centre. Other major nearby amenities include the Metrotown and Patterson SkyTrain stations; large retail centres Metropolis at Metrotown, Crystal Mall and Station Square; and the central branch of the Burnaby Public Library.

The towers were previously owned by Toronto-based Slate Asset Management through two subsidiaries. Slate initially purchased the site with plans to redevelop it as Capital Point Metrotown, a new strata-office complex. However, the project was cancelled, and the property has remained vacant since then.

The receivership was triggered in June 2023 by the United States Life Insurance Company of New York and American Home Assurance Company, both subsidiaries of Corebridge Financial. These entities had financed Slate’s acquisition of Metrotown Place with a loan of approximately $88.3 million, finalized in March 2019.

After Slate negotiated an unsuccessful proposed sale, the court granted a receivership order in July.

CBRE co-ordinated the sale on behalf of the court after being commissioned by Alvarez & Marsal. After CBRE conducted a broad marketing push to 1,643 potential buyers, the city’s $65-million offer emerged as the sole, highest, and best bid.

It remains to be seen whether the city will deploy the towers as office buildings or use them differently.

Image: Slate Asset Management