A major multi-building, mixed-use development immediately west of SkyTrain King George Station and King George Hub in Surrey City Centre is taking a new approach for its major office uses.
The Century City Holland Park project at 9889 King George Boulevard was previously approved by the municipal government to include 34-storey and 39-storey strata market ownership condominium towers for the northwest and southwest parcels, respectively, of the 3.6-acre development site. The project’s tallest towers are expected to generate approximately 760 condominium homes.
Additionally, the project’s southeast parcel fronting King George Boulevard was approved as a 19-storey mixed-use tower with 243 secured purpose-built rental homes, while the northeast parcel, also fronting King George Boulevard, was approved as an 11-storey mixed-use office building with about 190,000 sq ft of space. Both of the shorter towers would also have a shared commercial podium with a food hall, restaurant space, and a childcare facility.
As the name suggests, this project — by local developer Century City — is in very close proximity to Surrey’s Holland Park, bordering the park’s southeast corner.
Construction on the 19-storey rental housing tower with 243 units, now known as Locale, reached completion in Spring 2024.
Tower 1, the 39-storey condominium tower with 409 units on the southwest parcel, is now also well under construction, and anticipated to reach completion by the end of 2025.
Site of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (Google Maps)
July 2024 construction progress on the 19-storey Locale rental housing tower (foreground) and the first condominium tower (background) of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (Google Maps)
The newly requested changes to the project focus on the previously contemplated 11-storey office tower.
Instead of the 11-storey office building, the developer has gone back to the City with a revised application to build a 20-storey, mixed-use tower with a new primary use of secured purpose-built rental housing, effectively completely eliminating the project’s previous major office space component.
Given the current office market conditions and the sustained demand for rental housing, this pivot is not surprising. It adds to the growing number of projects in Metro Vancouver that have undergone a rethink of their substantial office uses.
Previous design with an 11-storey office building:
2020 concept of Century City Holland Park, with the 11-storey office building depicted on the right. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
2024 revised design replacing the 11-storey office building with a 20-storey office tower:
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
Within this redesigned taller building reaching 20 storeys, there would be 274 rental homes, with a unit size mix of 103 studios, 76 one-bedroom units, 76 two-bedroom units, and 19 three-bedroom units. The base podium’s commercial space component would span 15,000 sq ft of retail/restaurant uses, effectively activating the building’s street frontage with King George Boulevard.
This pivot almost mirrors the adjacent Locale tower, and it provides Century City Holland Park with a new total of 517 secured purpose-built rental homes, bringing the total number of homes on the development site to nearly 1,300 units.
Previous design with an 11-storey office building:
2020 concept of Century City Holland Park, with the 11-storey office building depicted on the right. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
2024 revised design replacing the 11-storey office building with a 20-storey office tower:
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
All four buildings of Century City Holland Park will continue to be oriented around a central courtyard, which will serve as both an amenity for residents and a privately-owned accessible public space. The courtyard will be completed as part of the last phase of construction.
Following the provincial government’s new transit-oriented development policies for residential uses, which establishes King George Station as a Transit-Oriented Area, a highly limited number of vehicle parking stalls will be provided for this particular rental housing tower — just 42 stalls, including 14 accessible stalls and 28 retail/restaurant stalls. There would also be 329 secure bike parking spaces.
Overall, all four towers will have 897 vehicle parking stalls within the underground levels.
The total building floor area of Century City Holland Park’s second rental housing tower will be approximately 218,000 square feet. ZGF Architects, which designed the original concept for the project, is also the design firm behind this revised design.
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)
2024 redesign for a 20-storey rental housing tower on the northeast parcel of Century City Holland Park at 9889 King George Boulevard, Surrey. (ZGF Architects/Century Group)