Downtown Surrey BIA hosts event to discuss city redevelopment
Elizabeth Model talked about new updates happening in downtown Surrey
The Surrey Business Improvement Association (BIA) hosted an event on redevelopment updates in the city. The vision is to make Surrey City Centre Fraser Valley’s metropolitan centre.
This metropolitan centre will have residential, commercial, cultural, entertainment, and institutional buildings. In 2006, city council authorized staff to proceed with the Surrey City Centre Plan.
As of April, there are 24 major development projects under construction with 74 major development projects approved by the council and 38 are under review.
“We’re the second largest city, and we’re growing extremely fast,” said Elizabeth Model at the event, chief executive officer of Downtown Surrey BIA. “In 2021, just over $2 billion in building permits were issued.”
Surrey City Centre will be connected to major regional destinations by light rail transit while supporting walking, cycling and other means of transportation. The Surrey Langley Skytrain project will extend the Expo Line by 16 kilometres from King George Station along the Fraser Highway to Langley City.
Model said there will be improvements in the education, health, and technology districts. Across from the Surrey Memorial Hospital, eight buildings are under development. She said Legion Veterans Village, one of the buildings being built, is to help veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
Bonnie Burnside, manager at Downtown Surrey BIA, said social housing for those dealing with addiction and homelessness is also being built in the Surrey City Centre.
In 2018, the City of Surrey adopted the Rental Housing Redevelopment: Rental Replacement and Tenant Relocation Assistance, a policy with specific strategies to prevent the loss of affordable rental housing and provide rental housing assistance for tenants when redevelopment occurs.
“The city and BC Housing announced that they were going to build 250 supportive housing units. So far, they’ve built one in Guilford … Peterson place in Raleigh, and one that’s operated by Phoenix Society on King George. They still owe us another 100,” Burnside said.
But one Surrey resident who attended the online event said the increase in density of the City Centre over the next 10 years will cause an influx of general and professional workers, impacting work opportunities for those who live in Surrey.
“What we’re trying to build is the next metropolitan center south of the Fraser and within British Columbia, so people will be coming to downtown Surrey for the jobs here,” Model said.
Surrey City Centre is expected to become the regional nexus for commerce. The City Centre population is predicted to increase to approximately 68,000 residents by 2031, and have 36,000 workers in the area, according to the Surrey Economic Strategy.
“We all want to build a great community not only for ourselves, but for our children or grandchildren or nieces or nephews,” Model said.
