Surrey Updates

[EhJay]

Originally Posted by kh177

Dated and delayed, but think this is it: https://elizabethfry.com/wp-content/...ood_Update.pdf

Cheers!

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

Things I like about the new design:

- Realignment of the pinnacle of the crown to the intersection
- The art-deco pillars on the podium

Things I don't like about the new design:

- Everything else.

I think the podium in general looks great.

As for the tower I feel that the protruding box drags everything else down.

If that’s removed the rest of the design will fall much better in place.

[MovieBuff]

Originally Posted by kh177

Dated and delayed, but think this is it: https://elizabethfry.com/wp-content/...ood_Update.pdf

Confirmed with Elizabeth Fry - Sometime in 2022 for completion!

[Sheba]

'Ambitious' proposal aims to transform waterfront district in Surrey and along Fraser River

The Surrey Board of Trade wants to transform the area along the Fraser River in the Lower Mainland into a waterfront district that would combine industry, housing and recreation opportunities — but the proposal has so far fallen flat with regional officials.

Anita Huberman, the board's CEO, says the project is an opportunity to develop underutilized areas along the Fraser River in order to drive economic growth and house some of the 1.5 million people expected to move into the region by 2050.

"Yes, it is ambitious," Huberman said. "This is to enhance livability. It's to create jobs. It's to ensure that we are a region of the future."

The Fraser River has long been home to heavy industry that makes use of the waterway. In Surrey, the waterfront near the Patullo Bridge is dotted with warehouses, paper mills and port facilities.

The board's vision, presented in a proposal shared with the Metro Vancouver Regional Planning Committee in September, is to supplement the area with aspects like housing, an "innovation hub" and green space.

...

The project has support from the City of Surrey, Huberman says, as well as other municipalities along the Fraser that are interested in developing their waterfronts.

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum didn't respond to requests for comment by deadline.

But Metro Vancouver's Regional Planning Committee rejected the board's $300,000 request in September, opting instead to offer staff time to support the initial phase of project development.

A committee report presented to the Metro Vancouver board on Friday says the Fraser River waterfront revitalization project doesn't align with the region's current strategies, like concentrating major developments along transit corridors in urban centres and discouraging them elsewhere.

The report also emphasized the region's policy of protecting its few remaining industrial lands, which account for only four per cent of the region's land use but create 27 per cent of its 1.3 million jobs.

Meg Holden, professor of urban studies at Simon Fraser University, says she wasn't surprised Metro Vancouver shot the the project down.

"I don't see any whiff of inspiration in this plan," Holden said.

The proposal refers to the creation of affordable housing but doesn't specify how it would achieve that, she says.

Cities like New Westminster, which has successfully developed its waterfront, have clear policies in place to protect rental homes. Too often, Holden says, waterfront developments result in gentrification.

"Planners are wise to a plan that says it's going to create a place for everyone when clearly it's going to push out the people who are currently there," she said. "I think that we're smarter than that in the region now."

Holden also points out that a lot of the area along the Fraser River, including in Surrey, is marshy and would be costly to develop into highrises.

...

[dferch]

Trying to create jobs by displacing mills and warehouses... Right that makes sense

[scryer]

Originally Posted by dferch

Trying to create jobs by displacing mills and warehouses... Right that makes sense

Mmm... That's my concern as well.

In order for a South Westminster waterfront neighbourhood to work, it would have to involve a high level of industrial mixed use and high density industrial projects (to recapture and grow industrial interest) without permanently displacing jobs. The likes of which, we really haven't seen before in Metro Vancouver, let alone in Canada.

I agree that there is an opportunity here but it is going to be anything BUT a copy & paste version of New Westminster's waterfront. Without having to displace a grotesque amount of industrial, the only opportunities that I can see (that would be pedestrian oriented) from google maps would be around the Brownsville Pub and Brownsville Bar Park. However it's already more car (read: industry) oriented and there's a lot of rail. If anything, I could see the waterfront area turning into a 'roided version of OV's industrial areas with more of a focus on industrial/commercial zoning along with more residential developments around Scott Road station.

And even when developing around the Brownsville pub, that displaces some old businesses, industrial plants, and an older trailer park that has been around since forever. All of which will need space to relocate to. And then there's all of roadways and railways in around that area as well - making it a noisier place to live, if anything; and a logistical nightmare to plan out.

Many will disagree with me on this but I think that they should focus on redeveloping the Scott Road Station parking lots with residential (as they have been, TBF) and then maybe fading the residential focus into high density mixed use industrial projects to hopefully capture some of the surrounding industrial businesses to move into . <- That would be a pipe dream though. For the record my vision of the neighbourhood only sees industrial bordering the riverfront - not residential or commercial.

Happy to change my mind as new information presents itself .

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by scryer

Mmm... That's my concern as well.

In order for a South Westminster waterfront neighbourhood to work, it would have to involve a high level of industrial mixed use and high density industrial projects (to recapture and grow industrial interest) without permanently displacing jobs. The likes of which, we really haven't seen before in Metro Vancouver, let alone in Canada.

I agree that there is an opportunity here but it is going to be anything BUT a copy & paste version of New Westminster's waterfront. Without having to displace a grotesque amount of industrial, the only opportunities that I can see (that would be pedestrian oriented) from google maps would be around the Brownsville Pub and Brownsville Bar Park. However it's already more car (read: industry) oriented and there's a lot of rail. If anything, I could see the waterfront area turning into a 'roided version of OV's industrial areas with more of a focus on industrial/commercial zoning along with more residential developments around Scott Road station.

And even when developing around the Brownsville pub, that displaces some old businesses, industrial plants, and an older trailer park that has been around since forever. All of which will need space to relocate to. And then there's all of roadways and railways in around that area as well - making it a noisier place to live, if anything; and a logistical nightmare to plan out.

Many will disagree with me on this but I think that they should focus on redeveloping the Scott Road Station parking lots with residential (as they have been, TBF) and then maybe fading the residential focus into high density mixed use industrial projects to hopefully capture some of the surrounding industrial businesses to move into . <- That would be a pipe dream though. For the record my vision of the neighbourhood only sees industrial bordering the riverfront - not residential or commercial.

Happy to change my mind as new information presents itself .

Yeah I think Surrey wants to copy what they seem in New West, possibly next to a copy of the River District (Boundary and Marine in CoV) - what they really should be looking at is Burnaby's Big Bend instead.

One area I think could be built up (and there may already be plans for it - anyone?) is just north of King George from Bridgeview Dr to the SFPR. It's mostly sprawling car dealerships now.

The area being built up over by Scott Road Station is where there used to be parking for Home Depot. The parking lots at the Station get a lot of use, so unless they get turned into a parkade I can't see anything happening there for awhile.

[CoryHolmes]

Originally Posted by Sheba

Yeah I think Surrey wants to copy what they seem in New West, possibly next to a copy of the River District (Boundary and Marine in CoV) - what they really should be looking at is Burnaby's Big Bend instead.

One area I think could be built up (and there may already be plans for it - anyone?) is just north of King George from Bridgeview Dr to the SFPR. It's mostly sprawling car dealerships now.

The area being built up over by Scott Road Station is where there used to be parking for Home Depot. The parking lots at the Station get a lot of use, so unless they get turned into a parkade I can't see anything happening there for awhile.

Apropo of nothing, what's going on with the buildings under construction at Scott Road? I just drove by for the first time since getting a car and it looks like nothing has changed.

[SpongeG]

Does anyone know what is being built next to the Superstore on 104th just to the east of it?

[dferch]

60 unit supportive housing development

https://www.bchousing.org/surrey-104
https://www.peacearchnews.com/news/t...nce-announces/

[SpongeG]

ok thanks, been seeing it going up for a few weeks now wondering what it is

[brophy87]

Two new towers proposed at The Dell https://www.reddit.com/r/SurreyBC/co...nt_at_site_of/

[Cypherus]

Originally Posted by brophy87

Two new towers proposed at The Dell https://www.reddit.com/r/SurreyBC/co...nt_at_site_of/

Thank you for the update. Nice to see a 49 storey tower being proposed near the Dell site. This area is surprising seeing development proposals more quickly than I anticipated.

This development appears to be on the lot located at 10662 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 2X3

[rpvan]

Looks like some revitalization planned for the Scott road corridor through north delta and surrey.

Walkable mixed-use neighbourhoods focus of task force’s vision for Scott Road
https://www.surreynowleader.com/news...or-scott-road/

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by rpvan

Looks like some revitalization planned for the Scott road corridor through north delta and surrey.

Walkable mixed-use neighbourhoods focus of task force’s vision for Scott Road
https://www.surreynowleader.com/news...or-scott-road/

I'll give them credit for going more dense than SFH... They want townhouses and lowrises up to 6 storeys - but they also want midrise towers and a lot of developers haven't wanted to build those as they have trouble making money off of them. I foresee those midrise towers not getting built.

I'll give them credit for going towards walkable neighbourhoods as SoF is very car dominant. Including greenways, parks / plazas, community space and shopping (hopefully not just along Scott Road) in each area would be a lot better than the long row of strip malls along a lot of Scott Road now.

[EhJay]

Originally Posted by Cypherus

Thank you for the update. Nice to see a 49 storey tower being proposed near the Dell site. This area is surprising seeing development proposals more quickly than I anticipated.

This development appears to be on the lot located at 10662 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 2X3

That's a relatively long and skinny site.
Can anyone share how to find the proposal on the City of Surrey website? With the new changes I'm lost.

[CoryHolmes]

Originally Posted by EhJay

That's a relatively long and skinny site.
Can anyone share how to find the proposal on the City of Surrey website? With the new changes I'm lost.

I HATE THE NEW CHANGES!

Phew, sorry about the all-caps but it needed to be said.

[Cypherus]

Originally Posted by EhJay

That's a relatively long and skinny site.
Can anyone share how to find the proposal on the City of Surrey website? With the new changes I'm lost.

It's just in the rezoning stages with no project scope renders released quite yet.
https://apps.surrey.ca/Online-Develo...ar=19&seq=0372

[EhJay]

Thanks for the link!

[EhJay]

Not buildings per say, but "The City of Surrey’s press release indicates the Capital Parcel Tax increase proposed in the budget will be $200 and the levy will held fund 16 projects that include the Newton community centre and land acquisition, Sunnyside Reservoir Pickleball and Bike Park, phase one of a city centre sports complex, new park washrooms, Bear Creek Park Athletics Centre, Biodiversity Preserve Park improvements, South Surrey Athletic Park Track Replacement and new artificial turf field, trail and path development, Crescent Park Studio/building renovation, Newton turf and washroom/changeroom, outdoor volleyball courts, artificial turf field replacements at five locations, new park shelters, Indigenous carving centres, a Newton Athletic Park walking track, and Cloverdale Sport & Ice Complex with two sheets of ice budgeted for 2022/23."

Any idea if there's any plan / outline for these projects available online?