Costar Construction in Burnaby, BC: Homes and Interiors

British Columbia law requires cities to allow small-scale multi-unit housing, such as duplexes, townhouses and small multiplexes, on lots zoned for single-family and duplex use. The Province's page, last updated on January 20, 2026, sets a minimum of 3 units on lots of 280 m2 or smaller and 4 units on larger lots. It also requires 6 units on lots larger than 280 m2 near frequent bus service, meaning a stop with at least one route that has a bus every 15 minutes on average during set daytime hours.

Burnaby Council adopted its regulations on June 10, 2024, and the city began accepting applications in July 2024. The city's July 2, 2024 news release says Burnaby merged its 12 residential districts into one, the R1 Small-Scale Multi-Unit Housing District. R1 properties stayed R1 when the new bylaw took effect, according to the city's Zoning Bylaw Rewrite page. After community feedback, the city announced amendments on October 16, 2025: the maximum height fell from 4 storeys to 3 storeys (10 m), and the permitted floor area was reduced by an amount from 33 to 60 percent, depending on housing type, unit count and lot size.

The bylaw text, read on September 25, 2026, sets these limits for R1 lots:

Burnaby plans growth around four town centres. The city describes them as areas with a full range of housing, retail and professional services that are easy to reach by walking, biking, transit or driving. Metrotown is the regional city centre and Burnaby's downtown, and the largest of the four. Brentwood serves the northwest of the city, Lougheed the northeast and Edmonds the southeast.

The city expects most growth to happen there. Its Town Centres page projects dwelling units in the four centres to rise from 37,200 in 2021 to 88,500 in 2041, and describes the housing as towers, medium-sized walk-ups (apartment buildings without an elevator) and townhouses. The Burnaby 2050 Official Community Plan, adopted in December 2025 to guide development for the next 25 years, divides the city into 20 Community Plan Areas.

The city says an R1 lot can hold a single-family home, a duplex, a multiplex or rowhouses (attached homes, each on its own narrow lot). In Brentwood, the city announced Council's approval of the Brentwood Community Centre project on December 17, 2024. The 106,000-square-foot building, with a gymnasium and a fitness centre, is planned for the north side of Dawson Street between Alpha and Beta avenues.

Costar Construction offers multiplex homes (a small-scale townhouse project on a single lot), custom homes, laneway homes and legal suites, kitchen and bathroom renovations, and commercial tenant improvements (interior building work for a rented commercial space). Its website lists laneway homes and legal suites as available in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster.

The city says laneway-style buildings remain allowed on R1 lots, including lots without a lane, and are regulated like any other main building. Its laneway page lists multiple laneway homes, duplex-style laneway homes and laneway homes with a secondary suite among the permitted forms. The bylaw calls a suite inside a home a secondary suite. It must be fully inside a primary home, share one title with it, and have a gross floor area of at least 32.52 m2.

Costar's portfolio lists three projects in Burnaby. Burnaby Residential Townhome is a residential renovation at 7357 Montecito (construction and management). DL's Luxe Nail Salon at 4299 Dawson St is a commercial tenant improvement (design, construction and management). Blooming Lashes Studio at 4269 Dawson St is a beauty salon (construction and management).

Costar Construction Inc. won the 2024 Georgie Award for Best Multiplex Home for its project "It Takes Two", according to the CHBA BC 2024 winners list.

The city's New Home Construction page, read on September 25, 2026, describes six phases from planning to occupancy. The first is to check your property's zoning and site restrictions on BurnabyMap, the city's online map.

Engineering staff must approve a pre-application before you apply for a building permit. You submit a topographical survey (a measured map of your lot's ground levels) and driveway drawings. The city gives a typical review time of 15 business days for a complete submission and states it as an approximate figure. If the project affects trees, the city asks you to contact it before you submit.

All residential building permit applications go through the city's My Permits Portal at mypermits.burnaby.ca, and permits are issued digitally. Since July 1, 2026, some projects also need a Development Permit, a separate city approval, before a building permit can be submitted or issued. The city states that total processing time depends on the number of applications and their complexity.

The Home Improvement Permits page says alterations and additions to a home are also applied for through the portal, and it lists adding a secondary suite as an alteration. It says replacing fixtures, cabinets and flooring, or painting inside, needs no permit.

For a commercial interior, the city requires a building permit for any interior or exterior alteration or change of use in an existing commercial building, including tenant improvements. Its Commercial Renovations page offers a faster review for simple applications and a full plan review for the rest, and accepts paper applications for building permits.

Costar Construction offers a complimentary one-hour project consultation. It takes place at your property or at the Vancouver office, 104 - 338 W 8th Ave. You can book it on the booking page or reach the team through the contact page, at 236-997-0026 or info@costarconstruction.com.