July 15, 2025
Posted by Matt Scalena PREC.
Brought to you by Skytrain Condo Living, the Only Real Estate Platform Licensed by TransLink.
On the Vancouver Real Estate Podcast, host Matt Scalena posed a personal question to Darren Kwiatkowski, Executive Vice President and Founding Partner at Shape Properties: “You have an investment minded niece. She’s considering buying a property. Should she buy right now?”
Without hesitation, Kwiatkowski responded: “100%”—and then revealed exactly where the company behind The Amazing Brentwood’s transformation would direct family investment dollars in June 2025.
“The Lougheed Town Centre project. The pricing there is a little bit lower. I think there’s more room for prices to move there,” Kwiatkowski explained. This wasn’t corporate marketing speak—it was a seasoned real estate executive sharing genuine investment advice for someone in his own family.
Kwiatkowski has a proven track record with Metro Vancouver real estate. Shape Properties bought Brentwood Mall for just over $100 million in 2008. They transformed the 33-acre site into a mixed-use development featuring two 60-story residential towers. After successfully transforming Brentwood into one of Metro Vancouver’s premier mixed-use developments and navigating 20 years of market cycles, his insights offer individual investors a roadmap for identifying opportunity in today’s market conditions.
What You’ll Learn
- Why Shape Properties cofounder recommends Lougheed Station over other SkyTrain locations for 2025 investments
- How to identify below-replacement-cost property opportunities in Metro Vancouver’s current market
- Why the “energy moving east” economic trend creates investment opportunity for individual buyers
- How to time real estate investments without trying to perfectly predict market cycles
- Which specific advantages make Lougheed SkyTrain station attractive for property investment
- Why individual investors should act while pricing remains attractive at emerging locations
- How to benefit from expert insights before broader market recognition drives prices higher
The Family Investment Recommendation: Why Lougheed Station in 2025
Kwiatkowski’s recommendation of City of Lougheed reflects deep market analysis about where the next appreciation cycle will emerge. “The pricing there is a little bit lower. I think there’s more room for prices to move there. And I think it’s slightly underappreciated,” he explains.
This assessment comes from someone whose company has successfully developed both The Amazing Brentwood and Lougheed projects. His recommendation isn’t about comparing locations—it’s about identifying where current pricing creates the best opportunity for individual investors in 2025.
The economic fundamentals supporting Lougheed are compelling. “The Lougheed SkyTrain station is super central. The energy is moving east. When… the economy opens up and more resource, more industry… it’s just easily accessible to it,” Kwiatkowski notes.
For individual investors, this eastward economic momentum creates opportunity to position ahead of broader market recognition while benefiting from current favorable pricing at a central SkyTrain location in Burnaby.
Below Replacement Cost: The 2025 Investment Window Every Buyer Should Know
Kwiatkowski’s timing advice for individual investors is both clear and urgent. When asked if his niece should buy right now, he responded: “100%. I think you could… overthink the market timing thing, but right now clearly… we’re at the bottom of a market.”
The opportunity exists because current Metro Vancouver pricing doesn’t reflect construction reality. “Right now that product… that’s hanging out there, whether it’s finished or about to be completed, that’s below replacement cost. We cannot build that same unit today with the same amenities… So you’re buying below replacement cost.”
This creates what Kwiatkowski calls an inevitable value correction. “So at some point that gap has to close.” Individual investors who buy now position themselves to benefit when construction costs and market prices realign.
The below-replacement-cost opportunity extends across Metro Vancouver’s new residential developments, but Kwiatkowski specifically highlighted Lougheed as offering the best combination of value pricing and appreciation potential for property investors in 2025.
Why Individual Investors Should Act While Pricing Remains Attractive
Individual investors have a timing advantage in recognizing value before broader market sentiment shifts. While the general market remains cautious about real estate, experienced developers like Kwiatkowski see clear opportunity in current conditions.
“When it turns, I don’t want to try and predict that, but it is going to turn. We need more housing,” Kwiatkowski observes.
The key insight is that individual investors can act on expert analysis before market pricing fully reflects that opportunity. Kwiatkowski’s recommendation of Lougheed comes from deep market knowledge, but current pricing suggests the broader market hasn’t recognized this potential yet.
Kwiatkowski’s track record supports trusting this type of analysis. Shape Properties bought Brentwood Mall during the 2008 global financial crisis when they “were the only offer” and the market was pessimistic. Individual investors can benefit from similar expert insights at Lougheed Station today.
The Eastward Energy Shift: Economic Geography Creating Investment Opportunity
Kwiatkowski’s observation about “energy moving east” reflects economic trends that create investment opportunity. “When… the economy opens up and more resource, more industry… it’s just easily accessible to it,” he explains about Lougheed’s positioning. The station’s central location within the SkyTrain network provides access to both downtown Vancouver and other employment hubs around Metro Vancouver.
For individual property investors, this geographic positioning offers diversification benefits. Eastward investments capture growth from multiple economic drivers including resource sector employment and population growth in suburban communities.
The eastward shift also reflects Metro Vancouver’s natural growth patterns as development moves along transit corridors toward more affordable land while maintaining connectivity to established employment centers.
Market Timing Simplified: Focus on Fundamentals Over Perfect Timing
One of Kwiatkowski’s most valuable insights for individual investors concerns market timing anxiety. “I think you can overthink the market timing thing,” he states, emphasizing fundamentals over speculation about perfect entry points.
His investment philosophy focuses on situations where, as he puts it, “minimum risk, this can’t get worse, this is only going to get better.” This conservative real estate investment framework helps individual investors avoid the paralysis that comes from trying to time markets perfectly while ensuring downside protection.
The current fundamentals support this approach across Metro Vancouver: below-replacement-cost pricing, continued population growth, and limited housing supply create conditions where patient investors benefit regardless of short-term market movements.
Kwiatkowski’s 20-year experience navigating real estate cycles has taught him that “the cycles are sharp, the movement is sharp… but prices and sales volume don’t move linearly.” Rather than trying to predict these cycles, he focuses on buying when fundamentals are strong and pricing is attractive.
Why Lougheed SkyTrain Station Offers Strategic Investment Advantages
Beyond favorable pricing, Lougheed provides specific advantages for individual property investors. “At the Lougheed SkyTrain station, City of Lougheed is on one side… and we sold land to Pinnacle across the street. There’s two sites… at that station,” Kwiatkowski explains.
This limited development opportunity creates scarcity similar to what made The Amazing Brentwood successful for early investors. “Everything else in my mind and I was biased on North Road, et cetera. It’s good, but it’s not at the SkyTrain,” he notes, emphasizing how immediate station proximity provides competitive advantages.
The station’s proximity creates what Kwiatkowski describes with a compelling analogy: “It’s like having your garage… in the basement. You wouldn’t want to walk two blocks to your car… It’s the same with the SkyTrain.” This immediate transit access provides competitive advantages that properties even one block away cannot match.
For individual investors, buying at one of only two major SkyTrain-adjacent development sites at Lougheed Station positions them within the most valuable real estate at that transit node. The scarcity factor means future development competition will be limited, potentially supporting stronger appreciation over time.
Shape Properties is planning “Phase two at Lougheed… will feel very much like Brentwood with the restaurants and the plaza… It’s going to be a different place,” according to Kwiatkowski. This planned transformation will enhance the investment environment for early buyers, but the window for current pricing won’t last indefinitely.
Complete Community Investment Benefits for Individual Buyers
Individual investors benefit from institutional developers’ complete community approach without needing developer-scale capital. When companies like Shape Properties create mixed-use developments, individual unit owners gain access to amenities they couldn’t afford to develop independently.
“The magic of the mixed use complete community all within 400 meters of your front door in SkyTrain, that’s a super powerful formula,” Kwiatkowski explains. For individual property investors, this means buying into lifestyle infrastructure worth millions of dollars in development costs.
The complete community concept that Shape Properties implements includes what Kwiatkowski describes as “full spectrum from service to fashion to restaurants from fast food, quick service, casual, premium, the full range, your lawyers, your insurance broker, the recreation facility.” These comprehensive amenities enhance both livability and rental income potential for investor-owned units while supporting stronger resale values compared to residential-only developments.
At Lougheed specifically, the planned phase two development will create the restaurant and plaza environment that has made The Amazing Brentwood successful, providing similar lifestyle advantages for individual property owners.
Institutional Developer Partnership Benefits for Small-Scale Investors
One significant advantage individual investors gain when buying from established developers like Shape Properties is project completion certainty. Unlike smaller developers who might face financing challenges, institutional partnerships guarantee project delivery.
Kwiatkowski notes that “Urban densification… projects become larger and more capital is required. And attracting capital right now is difficult.” This capital constraint eliminates weaker developers while ensuring that projects from established companies will complete as planned.
For individual investors, this means buying from institutional developers like Shape Properties provides downside protection that smaller projects can’t match. The company’s partnerships with pension funds and major financial institutions ensure projects move forward even during challenging market conditions.
This institutional backing also supports long-term property values through ongoing development of the broader community around individual investments.
Why This Investment Strategy Matters to Different Property Buyers
First-Time Homebuyers in Metro Vancouver
Lougheed offers entry-level pricing for SkyTrain proximity while positioning buyers for appreciation as the area develops through Shape Properties’ planned phase two. The complete community amenities reduce car dependency and living costs for new homeowners.
Small-Scale Rental Property Investors
Below-replacement-cost pricing combined with strong rental demand from SkyTrain access creates immediate cash flow opportunities with built-in appreciation potential. The eastward economic momentum supports growing rental demand from employment in resource industries and other employment hubs around Metro Vancouver.
Real Estate Portfolio Diversification Buyers
Eastern SkyTrain locations like Lougheed provide geographic diversification within Metro Vancouver while maintaining transit connectivity to employment centers. This positioning captures multiple economic growth drivers rather than relying on single neighborhood appreciation.
Downsizers Seeking Urban Convenience
The planned complete community development at Lougheed offers full-service urban living within walking distance of SkyTrain while maintaining seamless regional access through rapid transit connectivity.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lougheed Station Investment
Q: Why should individual investors choose Lougheed over more established SkyTrain locations in 2025?
A: Kwiatkowski specifically cited lower pricing with more room for appreciation: “The pricing there is a little bit lower. I think there’s more room for prices to move there. And I think it’s slightly underappreciated.” The combination of central SkyTrain location and eastward economic momentum creates compelling fundamentals.
Q: How do I know if I’m really buying below replacement cost in today’s market?
A: Current market conditions create this opportunity broadly across Metro Vancouver. As Kwiatkowski explains: “We cannot build that same unit today with the same amenities, the same thing. So you’re buying below replacement cost.” This gap between current pricing and construction costs must eventually close.
Q: Should I wait for the real estate market to improve before buying property?
A: No. Kwiatkowski’s advice is clear: “100%” buy now because “you can overthink the market timing thing, but right now clearly is we’re at the bottom of a market.” Waiting for perfect timing often means missing opportunities when fundamentals are strong.
Q: What makes Lougheed SkyTrain station specifically attractive for property investment?
A: Central SkyTrain location with limited development sites creates scarcity. “There’s two sites. There’s two sites at that station,” according to Kwiatkowski. This limited supply combined with planned phase two development will transform the area similar to Brentwood’s success.
Q: How important is buying from an established developer versus a smaller company?
A: Very important for project completion certainty. Larger projects require substantial capital that only established developers can secure, ensuring your investment will be completed as planned. Shape Properties’ institutional partnerships provide this assurance.
Q: What role does the “energy moving east” trend play in property investment strategy?
A: Eastern locations like Lougheed benefit from economic momentum toward resource industries and other employment hubs around Metro Vancouver. This geographic positioning provides access to multiple growth drivers rather than relying on single neighborhood appreciation patterns.
Key Investment Insights for Individual Property Buyers in 2025
Kwiatkowski’s family investment advice cuts through market complexity to focus on actionable opportunities for individual investors. His specific recommendation of Lougheed reflects deep market knowledge about where the next appreciation cycle will occur in Metro Vancouver.
The timing opportunity—buying below replacement cost at market bottom—provides downside protection while positioning for inevitable price corrections. Individual investors who act now benefit from institutional developers’ complete community infrastructure without needing developer-scale capital.
Most importantly, his emphasis on fundamentals over market timing provides a framework for confident decision-making. “Minimum risk, this can’t get worse, this is only going to get better” represents proven investment philosophy that individual investors can apply regardless of their experience level.
For individual property investors in 2025, the opportunity combines favorable pricing, strong fundamentals, and geographic positioning ahead of broader market recognition. The key is acting on clear opportunities like Lougheed rather than waiting for perfect market timing that may never come—because as Kwiatkowski warns, when markets turn, “you don’t want to miss those” brief windows of dramatic price movement.
The eastward economic momentum, SkyTrain connectivity, and institutional developer backing create multiple layers of investment security while positioning for appreciation as Metro Vancouver continues its eastward growth along transit corridors. However, the current below-replacement-cost window represents a time-sensitive opportunity that smart investors should evaluate immediately rather than waiting for market confirmation.
These insights were shared during an interview on the Vancouver Real Estate Podcast. Listen to the full conversation at vancouverrealestatepodcast.com.