118 rental homes, including affordable units, coming to South Surrey

A sizeable secured rental housing development is coming to a neighbourhood in South Surrey, near Surrey’s border with White Rock.

See also:

• Unique redevelopment with 1,100 homes proposed for Surrey City Centre
• Nearly 60% of Vancouver’s renters on the hunt for a home for 2 months or more
• New lending institution by federal government helps build affordable housing

Porte Communities announced today it is moving forward with its Alden rental housing building on the undeveloped site at 1881 152nd Street, just north of Semiahmoo Shopping Centre.

Site of Alden at 1881 152nd Street in South Surrey. (Google Maps)

Site of Alden at 1881 152nd Street in South Surrey. (Google Maps)

The six-storey building, designed by GBL Architects, complete with 118 rental homes, is being developed with public sector construction financing from the federal government’s Rental Construction Financing initiative, which stipulates 80% of the rental homes must be offered at 30% of median household incomes in the area.

Through Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s delivery of the initiative, this means 98 rental homes in the building will have rental rates at or below market.

Artistic rendering of Alden at 1881 152nd Street in South Surrey. (GBL Architects / Porte Communities)

“Porte Communities is excited to announce that we are bringing a brand new rental community to South Surrey,” said David Porte, president of Porte Communities, in a statement.

“Alden will be located on a property that has been owned by Porte and our partners for over 30 years.”

Construction on the project is expected to begin this fall.

Artistic rendering of Alden at 1881 152nd Street in South Surrey. (GBL Architects / Porte Communities)

City of Surrey data also shows that, as of December 2018, there are 5,714 purpose-built market rental units in the municipality, with just 180 units (3%) located in South Surrey, which has the highest rate of homeownership (83%).

According to CMHC, Surrey’s citywide rental vacancy hovered at just 0.4% — a steep drop from 4.2% in 2013. It is also less than the regional vacancy of 1%.

The average monthly market rent in the city is $774 for a studio, $978 for a one-bedroom unit, $1,151 for a two-bedroom unit, and $1,307 for a unit with three bedrooms or more.