Four towers up to 65 storeys with residential, office, hotel, retail, restaurant, and childcare uses slated for Safeway site in Surrey City Centre

There are now refined details for the massive redevelopment of the former Safeway site in the core of Surrey City Centre.

This follows Wesgroup Properties’ previous release of preliminary project concepts in late 2022, with the project named Civic District.

The developer acquired the 5.1-acre property at 10355 King George Boulevard (10388 City Parkway) in March 2022 in a deal worth nearly $109 million, according to records. This came after the May 2021 closure of the grocery store location.

A new application submitted to the City of Surrey this spring now shows the scale and diverse mixed uses planned for the site framed by City Parkway to the west, 104 Avenue to the north, King George Boulevard to the east, and Central Avenue to the south.

This is a prime transit-oriented development site — situated immediately northeast of SkyTrain Surrey Central Station and the bus exchange. It is one of a growing number of high-density, mixed-use tower developments in the immediate vicinity of the transit hub. Currently, most of the site is used as a surface vehicle parking lot.

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The entire development will be built in four phases, with each phase covering a quadrant of the site.

The first phase would be built on the northeast quadrant, consisting of a 553-ft-tall, 55-storey tower with 721 homes and 57,800 sq ft of retail, restaurant, and childcare space. Most of the commercial spaces in this first phase will be used for the ground-level grocery store replacing the Safeway, while an outdoor play space on the second level will be dedicated for the childcare facility.

The second phase would be the southeast quadrant, comprised of a 602-ft-tall, 60-storey tower with 689 homes and 24,500 sq ft of retail and restaurant space. A large outdoor patio area will be incorporated into the second level as part of a major restaurant use.

The third phase would be the southwest quadrant, closest to the transit hub. On this parcel, there would be a 658-ft-tall, 65-storey tower — just shy of the 659-ft-tall Shangri-La tower of downtown Vancouver, which recently lost its title as Metro Vancouver’s tallest building following the completion of Gilmore Place II. This third phase tower would contain 660 homes and about 115,000 sq ft of hotel, retail, and restaurant uses.

The fourth phase on the northwest quadrant would be a 154-ft-tall, 13-storey office tower with 273,000 sq ft of office, retail, restaurant, and additional childcare space. Its large office floor plates would be particularly attractive for larger businesses.

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The residential component would generate a combined total of 2,070 homes, with a unit size mix of 374 studio units, 994 one-bedroom units, 677 two-bedroom units, and 25 three-bedroom units. At this time, the developer has not provided the precise details on the housing tenure mix, but it is expected to at least incorporate a significant strata market condominium component.

Residents will have access to 40,500 sq ft of common indoor amenity space and over 67,000 sq ft of common outdoor amenity space across the development, with the outdoor amenities primarily located on the various building rooftops. The provided indoor and outdoor amenity spaces exceed the City’s minimum requirements for a residential component of this scope.

City staff note that the residential uses generated by this project will increase local public school enrolment demand by 176 students. Currently, the area’s elementary school (Old Yale Road) is operating at 120% capacity, while the area’s secondary school (Kwantlen Park) is operating at 133% capacity with the use of 16 portables. A major expansion of Kwantlen Park Secondary School is planned later this decade.

Beyond residential uses, Civic District’s combined office, retail, restaurant, and childcare uses will total about 344,000 sq ft, while the hotel component will span over 104,000 sq ft. The potential number of guest rooms in the hotel was not detailed in the application.

Significant public spaces are envisioned for Civic District, with the pedestrian-oriented public realm activated by the project’s substantial retail and restaurant uses on the ground level.

This includes a 12,000 sq ft public plaza closest to the transit hub in the southwest quadrant of the site, and a mid-block “Festival Alley” mews that acts as a pedestrian connection to Civic Plaza and Surrey City Hall just to the west.

“The proposed density and building forms are appropriate for this part of Surrey City Centre, and form part of an emerging high-density mixed-use, office and residential hub around Surrey Central SkyTrain Station, Centre Block and Civic Centre,” reads City staff’s description of the project, which is designed by architectural firm Arcadis and landscaping firm Hapa Collaborative.

“Each tower features a distinguished design, offering distinctive characters that are simple and elegant. This architectural strategy not only enhances the skyline but also ensures each building contributes uniquely to the urban fabric of Surrey’s City Centre. The podiums showcase a simple aesthetic characterized by horizontal louvers and varied vertical fin expressions in some areas, configured in either straight or rhythmically staggered balcony patterns. By integrating a cubical design, the connection between the podiums is emphasized, contributing to a cohesive and uninterrupted urban streetscape.”

Overall, upon full buildout of the four phases, Civic District will have a total building floor area of 1.993 million sq ft, establishing a floor area ratio density of a floor area that is nine times larger than the size of the lot.

Five underground levels will accommodate 2,301 vehicle parking stalls, which is less than the 2,866 stalls typically required under City policies for such uses and density.

The provided vehicle parking includes 1,455 stalls for residents, 127 stalls for residential visitors, 284 stalls for retail and restaurant uses, 329 stalls for office uses, 98 stalls for hotel uses, and eight stalls for childcare uses. The reduced vehicle parking allocation almost entirely comes from cutting back on the number of stalls for residential uses. Additionally, there will also be 2,478 secure bike parking spaces.

The municipal government’s policies for the Central Business District (CBD) of Surrey City Centre encourage sizeable mixed-use office, retail, and restaurant uses within the area’s developments, which will help ensure the CBD is a regional hub for both residential uses and jobs.

This is the second major mixed-use development in the area that incorporates a major hotel use, with Oviedo Developments’ redevelopment of the London Drugs site — located immediately to the east — also calling for a hotel.

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