Akimbo by Imani Development with Payam Imani

Tell us a little bit about the project.

Akimbo is a high rise residential building in Brentwood (Dawson and Madison). We started in 2015 by hiring architectural firm IBI group to design an architectural significant development for the project. This is a great site in Burnaby and it deserves a beautiful building.

Talk to us about the exterior of the building

It’s stunning, exciting and there’s a lot going on. It’s the most ambitious architectural design outside of downtown Vancouver. It looks like it belongs downtown, which speaks to where Brentwood is heading.

Why are you excited about Brentwood?

We love Brentwood. This area has amazing potential. The location is livable and convenient. It’s right by highway and has plenty of amenities, shops, restaurants, schools, and access to rapid transit with three skytrain stations. We’re sure all of the developments in the neighbourhood will appreciate in value. There has been very good city planning by Burnaby.

We’re seeing developments that are more sophisticated, larger and more focused on community living – exactly like living in downtown Vancouver. You get the same amenities but with less congestion, making it a great value. And the commute is easy; it’s only a two minute drive to the highway.

In Brentwood you can have an urban existence with everything within arm’s reach but it’s also only a quick skytrain ride to downtown Vancouver. Burnaby sees the potential in Brentwood and they’re taking advantage of it. There’s lots of growth in Burnaby and Burnaby is embracing development.

Tell us about Imani Development

I started in construction and real estate development 30 years ago. I started by building spec homes in Vancouver. I have always been in Vancouver. We have enhanced our projects over the years which brought us to Akimbo, our biggest and most ambitious project to date.

Talk to us about pricing and sales

In Brentwood and Metrotown, we’re seeing that prices are comparable – Brentwood might be slightly less than Metrotown. But they’re both much better than the prices we see in downtown Vancouver. Downtown Vancouver is almost double the price of Brentwood.

For Akimbo, one beds start in the low $500,000s and two beds start in the low $700,000s. We have a good mix of one beds, one bed plus dens, two beds, two beds plus dens, and family homes with three beds and three beds plus dens. There’s a diverse selection of homes available.

We started soft sales in December to get a sampling of market. So far, the project has been very well received.

Who’s the buyer?

Imani Development spends a lot of time planning the building and unit floor plans of our projects. We want livable homes that focus on what the end user will need to live comfortably. Because of that, we usually attract more end user buyers. And that’s what we’re seeing with Akimbo – it’s a diverse group of buyers but mostly end users.

Tell us about amenities in Akimbo

There are lots of amenities available. We have over 8000 sq ft of indoor amenities including a gym, lounge, common room, meeting room, and lobby with full time concierge. We also have outdoor space with outdoor dining and an outdoor kitchen, a lounge, garden plots, and a play area for kids.

When is the completion date?

We plan to start construction June 2019 and it’s a 3 year project. The completion date is hopefully June 2022.