Each year, as part of the Surrey’s Capital Construction Program, approximately 300 capital infrastructure projects related to transportation, drainage, sewer, and water improvements are constructed in the city.  Of these projects this year, the following are set to be completed in City Centre:

Arterial Paving Upgrade

King George Blvd (University Dr to 108 Ave)

Bike Lanes Upgrade

102 Ave (University Dr to 140 St)

New Collector Road 

103A Ave (132 St to 133 St) + 103 Ave (University Dr to City Parkway)

New Signalized Intersection

108 Ave & City Parkway

District Energy Network Expansion

Various Locations

Surrey City Energy is an award-winning City-owned district energy utility that supplies high-density residential, commercial and institutional buildings in City Centre with heat and hot water.

The district energy system produces hot water at centralized facilities and then distributes this hot water by way of a dedicated pipe system to heat buildings throughout various City Centre districts. The system uses low GHG-emission energy sources such as:

• Organic waste (kitchen scraps, etc.) from residential homes throughout Surrey;
• Geoexchange from the ground;
• Solar from the sun;
• Biomass from clean waste wood;
• Waste heat from buildings, industry and waste water.

For more on District Energy:
http://www.surrey.ca/community/3475.aspx

For more on City-wide Capital Construction projects in 2017:
http://www.surrey.ca/files/CapitalConstructionBook.pdf

Street Lighting Upgrade to LED

All roads in City Centre

As part of Surrey’s LED Roadway Lighting Upgrade program which began in 2016, the City Centre will continue to have its street lighting upgraded to a modern LED system in 2017. This new lighting system replaces the current orange coloured ‘high pressure sodium (HPS)’ street lights currently in use both in Surrey, and much of the world, with new white coloured LED lighting that provides superior lighting quality, energy, and cost savings.  Surrey will be one of the first cities in Canada to convert its street lighting to LED. The program is to be implemented citywide over the next 5 years.

It was misreported this week that hundreds of trees were cut down in Hawthorne Park for light rail transit after drone footage was posted to YouTube showing tree clearing for a new extension of 105A Avenue. The clearing was actually for the 105A Avenue connector project itself – which has been planned for 30 years – and is independent of, and pre-dates the LRT project itself. The new road is however being fast-tracked in advance of LRT, to provide a relief route for traffic once construction begins on 104 Avenue. The road was planned to be constructed regardless of whether LRT, SkyTrain, or no rapid transit was planned at all for 104 Avenue.

In the drone footage and captured images – a large clearing of trees is shown giving the dramatic impression of a clear-cut of the park to make way for the new road (or LRT if you’ve been mislead by headlines). The reality is, this cleared area only represents a small fraction of the park’s vast forested area, and the road itself will only consume a narrow 2-lane wide portion of this, with the remainder to be used for a new aquatic habitat and enhanced environmental area. The cleared area also skirts the edge of undeveloped treed lots to the south – giving the impression of cutting through the middle of the park in this area – when in fact the road runs along the edge of the park.

Captured image from drone footage showing clearing along southern edge of Hawthorne Park. Cleared area in perspective – majority to be used for new aquatic habitat/environmental area. Lands to south are private property outside park designated for future mixed-use.

While the tree clearing for western portions of 105A Avenue does cut more through the park rather than skirt the edge – when put into perspective – this cleared area pales in comparison to the remaining forested lands preserved elsewhere in the park. Further to this – planned expansions of the park, reclaimed green space from relocating the parking lot, and the new aquatic habitat and environmental enhancement area more than offset the impacts of the minor 2-lane collector road that is to be constructed – not to be confused with an arterial road as misreported by the Daily Hive.

105A connector routing through the southern edge of Hawthorne Park in perspective. Vast majority of park to be preserved, expanded, and enhanced. Artist rendering of new 2-lane 105A connector and new aquatic habitat, environmental enhancement area, and future development site south of 105A Avenue outside of Park. Artist rendering of new 2-lane 105A connector along edge of Hawthorne Park and new aquatic habitat, environmental enhancement area, and relocated parking lot/reclaimed green space.

The new 2-lane road (planned for 30 years) will not only add much needed east-west capacity to Surrey’s road network between densifying City Centre and Guildford, but also improve accessibility to Hawthorne Park – better integrating it with its evolving urban context, with new gateway features, pathways, and entrances – which will result in more people using and enjoying the park. Today, it remains a largely hidden, underutilized, rural park from a previous era, that is easy to pass by without recognizing it is even there.

It is important to realize, that a road through a park isn’t the end or destruction of Hawthorne Park or a call for protest, particularly when so much value and improvements will be added to offset the impacts. Many world renowned parks have roads through them, and are doing just fine.

Some examples of great parks with roads through them:

• Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC
• Central Park, New York, USA
• Tiergarten Park, Berlin, Germany
• And the list goes on.. and on.

Hawthorne Park will live on, and emerge even better than before.

For more on the 105A Connector and Hawthorne Park Improvements project:

http://www.surrey.ca/city-services/22562.aspx

Central City Shopping Centre has recently announced plans and begun work on a major renovation of aging parts of its complex. As part of the initial phase, the 2-storey portion of the mall between Wal-Mart and T&T Supermarket is currently being updated with a new contemporary look featuring wood paneling around balcony areas and a wave-like feature in the atrium. It is expected that once this phase is completed, upgrades will be expanded to remaining portions of the mall in need of updates.

At present the mall is a haphazard mix of interiors dating from various eras of expansions and renovations. Some of the oldest portions have not been updated since the 90s when the mall was known as Surrey Place. This latest update should help to bring a cohesive look to the complex, and hopefully attract new tenants. Since opening in the 1960’s the mall has seen much transformation and numerous expansions, the most significant being the addition of SFU and the Office Tower in 2003. It is hoped that this latest renovation will help to attract new tenants to the shopping centre which has seen a resurgence of activity lately, with the mall now busier than it’s been in over a decade thanks to the mix of uses in the complex. The Central City leasing brochure currently shows a large section in the centre of the mall where a corridor used to be as up for lease. It’s anticipated that a future phase of renovations will involve the re-opening of this wing adding new retail space and improved mall connectivity.

Beyond this current wave of renovation there remains the potential for even further evolution of the complex, particularly where surface parking now exists along its King George Blvd frontage, as well as its frontage facing Holland Park along Old Yale Rd. These two sides of the mall hold tremendous opportunity for re-development and transformation of the shopping centre as Surrey City Centre grows, and Central City evolves into Surrey’s key downtown destination shopping centre.

http://www.centralcity.ca

Blackwood Partners has submitted a development application for the much anticipated Central City 2 office tower – proposed for the corner of King George Blvd and Old Yale Road on the site of a former Best Buy. The 25-storey tower designed by ZGF Architects is to be built to Class AAA and LEED Platinum standards and contain over 500,000 SF of office space, and 20,000 SF of ground level retail.

The proposed design of the tower has undergone considerable revision since first announced back in November 2017. The tower now features copper / reddish toned shading fins on its exterior, and a refined, more cohesive massing and podium. The tower also features expansive green roof decks, premium fitness facilities for office tenants, bike lockers, electric vehicle charging, high-speed elevators, and a ground level urban plaza, anchored by a restaurant, café, and retail.

New plaza at corner of Old Yale Road & City Parkway Conceptual ground level floor plan Office tower views Premium fitness facilities for office tower tenants

Following the completion of the original Central City office tower and SFU campus back in 2003, Central City 2 will form the next phase of a long-term vision to redevelop the remainder of the Central City Shopping Centre site. While just conceptual at this point, the long-term plan would see the remaining parking lots to the north redeveloped with mixed-use development and new streets. The mall itself is envisioned to be reconfigured to include a number of new tower sites, and a large new plaza entrance fronting Holland Park on Old Yale Road – mirroring the existing Central City Plaza to the north and creating a connection through the mall linking the city’s civic core to Holland Park.

Along with the recently submitted development application, Blackwood Partners has also now begun marketing the tower for lease, and will be opening a presentation centre in the Central City Shopping Centre in early 2019. The current leasing brochure can be found here.

A development application has finally been submitted for a proposed 50-storey ‘Education Mega Centre’ first announced last fall by WestStone Group. The mixed-use building which is to consist of student housing, a college campus, commercial uses, and hotel, is set to replace the well-known Stardust roller skating rink that has been on the site since the 1970’s. The project is a partnership between the education and student-housing investment company CIBT Education Group  and Surrey developer WestStone Group. CIBT already owns and operates a global network of business, technical, and language colleges throughout North America and Asia.

According to CIBT’s website, the proposed Mega Center is expected to be an iconic 50-storey high-rise tower. Details include:

• The Mega Centre will be located at the heart of Surrey city center immediately between Simon Fraser University and future location of Kwantlan Polytechnic University. With Surrey’s state of the art Civic Library and the iconic Surrey City Hall located within one block, along with Surrey Central SkyTrain station and the central bus loop located in front of the Mega Center and the upcoming Light Rail Transit (LRT) system on its doorstep, this is one of the most desirable and convenient locations for students and visitors.
• It is being proposed that the podium of the Mega Center (levels 1 to 2) will provide for many supporting amenities such as a food court, student lounge, computer centre, electronic library, conference rooms as well as office space for education consultants and other industry related services.
• Levels 3 to 6 will be leased to 20 educational institutions from around the world as their satellite campuses in Surrey.
• Levels 8 to 26 will be comprised of residential suites designed for long term stay international students.
• Levels 7 and 27 will be comprised of amenity space such as fitness centre and lounges for long term residents and student hotel guests.
• Upper floors from level 28 to 49 will be GEC’s flagship student hotel for short term stays.
• Level 50 will be the front desk and check in area for the student hotel.
• The Mega Center will consist of approximately 550,000 square feet and a development budget of $230 million.

A date has finally been set for the official closure of the North Surrey Recreation Centre to make way for the site’s long anticipated redevelopment. In a notice posted on the recreation centre website, the facility is planned to close in 2 phases beginning with a decommissioning of the ice rinks in early September, and finally a closure of the remaining portions of the building on December 22. Ice rink programming will move to the new North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex, set to open on September 3 near Scott Road Station. Following that in January, Aquatics programs will move to Guildford Recreation Centre, fitness and multi-purpose activities to North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex, and preschool programs to Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre.

New North Surrey Sport & Ice Complex

While no timeline has been given for the site’s redevelopment following decommissioning, behind-the-scenes planning work has been underway for years, dating back to 2012. Since then, the City has been working with Simon Fraser University, TransLink, and various architects, planners, and consultants, on a master plan for what is known as the ‘Centre Block’ bounded by Central Avenue to the north, 102 Avenue to the south, University Drive to the west, and City Parkway to the east. Well-positioned adjacent to Surrey Central SkyTrain Station, the site forms a key link between Surrey City Hall / Civic Plaza to the north, and the Central City Complex and beyond to the south.

Back in 2013, Via Architecture prepared a ‘vision’ for what redevelopment could look like in the future. The concept envisioned a numerous mixed-use buildings for the site integrated with a transit-oriented plaza linking City Hall to Central City. The buildings would contain office, university, and retail space. The plan also envisioned:

• A new bus layover facility to be located on 133A St behind the new SFU Engineering building.
• A removal and re-configuring of the Surrey Central Bus Exchange – replacing the loop with a new street-oriented exchange along a realigned 102A Avenue and Central Avenue. The 2 streets would be integrated with a new Transit Plaza, designed to accommodate high pedestrian and bus passenger volumes.

Centre Block location between Civic Plaza and Central City Early vision for the Centre Block prepared by Via Architecture in 2013

Since the early Via Architecture vision, a more recent planning process has been underway following a Surrey City Development Corp (SCDC) RFP was filled seeking a new firm to undertake detailed master planning work for the Centre Block site. While no plans have been publicly released yet, what is expected is a major overhaul of Surrey Central Station linked with a new transit-oriented plaza connecting Civic Plaza to Central City, and integrated with over 2 million square feet of new office, university, and retail space. With such a large scale, the plan is expected to be completed in phases, with various puzzle pieces and phasing needing to take place before other phases can begin. The first of those pieces is the decommissioning and demolition of the North Surrey Recreation Centre. The second will be the construction of the new bus layover facility on 133 Street, allowing for removal of the current Bus Loop, and re-alignment of 102A Avenue through it.

With the North Surrey Rec Centre decommissioning now in sight, the pieces are finally coming together to make the Centre Block redevelopment a reality. While the project is likely to take at least a decade to build-out, we could see the start of application activity related to it in the coming year.

For more on the North Surrey Recreation Centre closing:

https://www.surrey.ca/bylawsandcouncillibrary/CR_2019-R133.pdf

‘Phase B’ of PCI Group’s ‘The Hub’ at King George Station is returning to Council on Monday June 12. This 2nd phase of the eventual 4-phase project was initially approved back in 2014 under a previous application, but did not proceed to construction. One of the reasons for this was the need for a road adjustment on the site to accommodate the future LRT station along King George Blvd outside the existing Coast Capital Savings building (Phase A of the project). As a result, the road constructed as part of Phase A will be re-constructed further south to allow more space for the LRT station to the north. With this road adjustment has also come a re-design of the project as a whole. While the concept is generally still the same, the architecture has changed substantially, and the project has grown from 2 towers (as part of Phase B) to 3.

Details of Phase B now include:

• A 15-storey office tower (137,084 sq.ft.) at the new intersection of 98A & KGB
• A 40-storey condo tower (434 units) at Fraser Hwy & KGB
• A 29-storey condo tower (302 units) at Fraser Hwy & 137 St

• A 112,535-sq.ft. single-storey retail podium consisting of two large format retailers (a grocery store and a drug store) and a number of smaller format CRU’s.

• A stand-alone 9,376-sq.ft. 2-storey restaurant south of the Coast Capital Building.
• An expanded plaza the heart of the project, which will allow for retailers, such as the grocery store and restaurants to spill out onto with displays and seating to animate the space. The plaza aligns with the Coast Capital Community Plaza to the north.

Further architectural details include:

• The 40-storey tower is proposed to be accentuated with a “ribbon” punctuated feature cladding on the west and east façades, with a canopy linkage that will architecturally and physically connect each tower and provide an overhead trellis wrapping over an amenity space at each tower’s rooftop.
• The 29-storey residential tower is proposed as a “complementary tower” and will express the same architectural vocabulary as the taller tower at a reduced vertical scale.
• Both residential towers are defined by contrasting major elements: refined high performance curtain wall glazing and linear projected balconies providing solar shading and glare reduction to the south, while the west and east ends are distinguished from the curtain wall with the “ribbon” feature punctuated façade with recessed balconies.
• The proposed material palette is broken up to create distinctive buildings on the site.

Proposed Public Art:

• 2 locations for public art have been identified. One art installation will be located within the plaza, fronting 98B Avenue and the other art installation will be within the traffic circle of 98B Avenue / 137 Street.

Project plans and elevations:

Noticeably missing in the re-designed project is the Movie Theatre that was initially proposed under the 2014 application. It is expected that Phase B will begin construction in 2018 and be completed in 2021.

For more on the application:
http://www.surrey.ca/bylawsandcouncillibrary/PLR_7917-0162-00.pdf

The GEC Education Mega Centre project reached a milestone on Oct 2, receiving 1st and 2nd readings before Surrey Council. The proposed 55-storey tower, set to become Metro Vancouver’s 2nd tallest, will now proceed to Public Hearing for 3rd Reading (Preliminary Approval) on October 23rd.

Proposal

From the planning report to council on Oct 2, the proposed development is to consist of a 55-storey tower with a mix of academic, commercial and residential uses at a density of 12.25 FAR. This will include:

• A 6-storey podium with 486 square metres (5,233 sq.ft.) of ground-level commercial retail space, and 5 storeys of college/academic space, including classrooms and offices.
• 33 floors dedicated to fully-furnished “serviced apartments” for students (subject to a housing agreement to ensure student occupancy)
• 12 floors of flexible accommodation that provide “short-stay” (not more than 182 days in a 12-month period) hotel accommodations

As part of this application, a portion of 102A Avenue will be dedicated and constructed, along with widening along City Parkway. A new signalized intersection at City Parkway and 102A Avenue will also be delivered.

Discounting the land to be dedicated for road, the proposed Education Centre has a net density of 18.25 FAR.

Developer

The project is being developed under a partnership between Surrey-based developer WestStone Group, and Vancouver-based CIBT Education Group. CIBT Education Group is an education provider that targets primarily international students, and operates Sprott Shaw College, Sprott Shaw Language College, Vancouver International College and CIBT School of Business, amongst others.

CIBT Education Group offers business and management programs and other vocational programs through these schools. Specifically, the Education Centre is intended to offer programs that will integrate with the services and functions proposed in the City’s Innovation Boulevard plans, including in the fields of medical assistance and facility operations.

Road Dedication

As part of the proposal, the project will dedicate approximately 7 metres for the widening of City Parkway, which will be required to accommodate the future LRT line and stop, as well as a new sidewalk and a separated bike lane. A new portion of 102A Avenue will also be constructed along the north property line, and a new lane will be constructed through the podium of the building running north-south towards the rear of the site.

Design Features

The project will feature an outdoor plaza at the northwest corner of the site, where the building is supported by a 4-storey fork column to create an open, bright, publicly accessible open space.

In order to provide articulation in the tower, differentiation has been introduced at the amenity levels by setting the glass back and opening up the floor plate to provide outdoor amenity space. LED lighting will be provided to highlight the undersides of each amenity level in the tower.

A Commercial Retail Unit (CRU) fronts City Parkway and wraps onto the outdoor plaza to bring additional activity into the space. The main lobby fronts 102A Avenue and also wraps onto the outdoor plaza. A second, smaller CRU fronts 102A Avenue.

The podium and tower base will provide a strong urban edge and street wall along City Parkway and 102A Avenue.

For more information on the project:

http://www.surrey.ca/bylawsandcouncillibrary/PLR_7917-0159-00%20(2).pdf

Prime on the Plaza is beginning to shape the new intersection of University Dr and 103 Ave. As of April 6, the retail/townhouse podium of the building had reached 4-storeys along University Dr, and 3-storeys further back along future 103 Ave. The podium will eventually reach 4-storeys for the entire base of the building, before the tower begins to rise above it to a height of 37-storeys.

Concord Pacific’s final tower as part of their ‘Park Place’ development is heading to Surrey Council on Monday for Development Permit and Development Variance Permit. While the 42-storey tower is on the same site as the 3 original ‘Park Place’ towers, it’s been known since late last year that it will be marketed as a separate project ‘Park Boulevard‘ instead.

The tower will finally complete the block to the adjacent north of King George Station, adding a row of townhomes along Whalley Blvd across from Quibble Creek Park, and provide new public plaza space connecting to the existing Park Place plaza, retail, and transit station. In total the project will add 419 new residential units to the area. While similar in design to the original 3 towers, it will be differentiated through the use of contrasting charcoal and white coloured materials, and slightly different massing. Its height at 42 storeys will also help to punctuate the “table top” skyline in the vicinity.

With the DP and DVP moving forward, and the tower already under marketing it’s possible that the project could see start of construction by the end of the year or early 2018.

http://www.surrey.ca/bylawsandcouncillibrary/PLR_7916-0360-00.pdf