The Boot Is Back: Burnaby Landmark Reboots as 2,500-Unit Transit Village

The 50-year-old office tower known locally as "The Boot" at 3777 Kingsway in Burnaby is entering its next chapter. Anthem Properties Group, alongside co-owners Crestpoint Real Estate Investments and Vestcor Inc., officially launched King & Park this month—a 6.6-acre master-planned community that will restore the distinctive 22-storey office building while adding more than 2,500 residential units across multiple high-rise towers. Phase 1 construction is already underway, delivering 724 rental units by summer 2030, with future phases planned to include 1,559 condos and 252 non-market rental units. The project marks one of the most complex infill redevelopments in Metro Vancouver, transforming a former telecom headquarters into a transit-oriented mixed-use hub while preserving the boot-shaped structure that Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley called a "quintessential Burnaby landmark" at the June 1st groundbreaking ceremony.

Built in 1976 as BC Tel's headquarters and later serving as Telus's Brian Canfield Centre, the property has witnessed the region's telecom consolidation and real estate evolution. After Telus vacated, the building sits roughly half-empty with 512,350 square feet of office space requiring backfilling. Rather than demolish the icon, developers opted for a "reboot"—restoring the tower while constructing around it. This approach creates unusual construction constraints, as crews must work around an active office building and the elevated SkyTrain guideway that acts as a physical wall along the property line. The complexity forced Crestpoint to pivot from its original 2006 commercial investment thesis—backed by a strong Telus lease—to a long-term mixed-use play that Anthem is now executing.