Metro Vancouver is expected to gain a new additional Costco Wholesale store location — and this will be a ginormous location, rivalling the region’s current largest stores.
The multinational big-box membership-only retailer is in the midst of the City of Surrey’s development application process to develop the massive land assembly of 1891 164 Street and 1947 164 Street in South Surrey.
This location is strategically next to Highway 99’s interchange at 16 Avenue. The undeveloped site is heavily treed and bushed but surrounded by residential neighbourhoods. Major BC Hydro power lines also cut through the site.
Daily Hive Urbanized reached out to Costco on Monday but did not receive a response in time for publication.
The land assembly reaches 33 acres in size. Based on the application, Costco would develop most of the property with the exception of the southeast quadrant, with the location spanning about 20 acres.
A City of Surrey spokesperson told Daily Hive Urbanized the proposed warehouse store floor area is 165,000 sq ft, which is larger than the 150,000 sq ft location at Brentwood Town Centre in Burnaby, the 147,000 sq ft location in downtown Vancouver, and the 141,000 sq ft location at Bridgeport in Richmond.
As can be expected, most of the lot will be developed into a surface vehicle parking lot — a total of 989 stalls — and some changes will be made to the local road network to support the expected influx of vehicle traffic. Currently, the property is accessible only by narrow local roads.
Additionally, this Costco location would feature a gas station situated at the southwest corner of the property. The warehouse store building would be situated within the northwest corner of the property, while the remaining lot areas would be used for parking, including the areas directly underneath the power lines on the northwest corner of the site.
Future site of Costco Wholesale at 1891 164 Street and 1947 164 Street in South Surrey. (Google Maps)
Future site of Costco Wholesale at 1891 164 Street and 1947 164 Street in South Surrey. (Google Maps)
Future site of Costco Wholesale at 1891 164 Street and 1947 164 Street in South Surrey. (Google Maps)
The spokesperson adds that the application seeks to amend the official community plan (OCP) to enable “mixed employment” uses instead of the current “multiple residential” uses. Changes would also be made to the Highway 99 Corridor Local Area Plan and Sunnyside Heights Neighbourhood Concept Plan to enable commercial uses instead of the current business park/industrial uses.
Surrey City Council is expected to consider the application in Fall/Winter 2024.
Currently, there are 14 Costco locations across British Columbia, including eight locations within Metro Vancouver.
This would be the retailer’s second location within Surrey after their existing Newton area store. But it would be Metro Vancouver’s third location with a gas station, after the stores in Langley and Port Coquitlam.
Example of a Costco Wholesale gas station; artistic rendering of a new Costco gas station in Massachusetts. (Costco)
Buoyed by consumers seeking low-priced bulk goods and groceries amidst steep inflationary trends and challenging economic and cost-of-living conditions, Costco has been reporting stronger than anticipated revenues in its recent fiscal quarters and is pursuing major expansion.
According to the company’s website, it will open 14 more locations in the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Spain between June and December 2024.
The company’s newest store in BC is the 2022-opened Kelowna location, a brand-new purpose-built store that will replace an existing nearby store.