This new hotel tower is now the tallest building in Surrey (PHOTOS)

Jul 28 2017, 9:19 am

An upcoming skyscraper right in the middle of Surrey’s emerging city core has long been hailed by municipal officials as a catalyst for economic development and activity in the area.

On Wednesday, media were given a tour of 3 Civic Plaza, a 540-foot-tall, 52-storey mixed-use tower, which is now just months away from completion.

View of the tower from Civic Plaza. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

The hotel

The $200-million tower, Surrey’s new tallest building, is anchored by Civic Hotel, operated by Marriott’s Autograph Collection, a chain of independent boutique hotels that are known for their individuality and distinct services.

The building is located immediately adjacent to City Hall, City Centre Library, SkyTrain’s Surrey Central Station, and Civic Plaza.

The hotel lobby under construction. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Artistic rendering of the hotel lobby. (Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection)

There will be a total of 144 hotel rooms between the third floor and 22nd floor. Over 8,000 square feet of meeting spaces are available, including ballrooms and a large partially-covered rooftop patio and lounge on the 24th floor. The lounge space is open for seasonal events and provides a venue with views of much of the entire region.

On the lobby level, a small commercial unit with a patio space will be occupied by Prado Cafe, which will help activate the large Civic Plaza.

Residences and KPU Campus

A total of 325 market residential units above the hotel portion of the building are completely sold out.

Additionally, the tower also has a sizeable office component, with 50,000 sq. ft. of Class A office space over five levels set to be occupied by a satellite campus for Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2018.

“It is going to bring in a sophisticated and business social hub to the city,” Franklin Jackson, the General Manager of Civic Hotel, told Daily Hive. “It is not too far from Vancouver, and this is the place where people will want to meet in the future.”

Jackson added the hotel operations alone will employ about 100 people.

The 24th floor lounge and patio space under construction. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Artistic rendering of the hotel’s 24th rooftop lounge and patio space. (Civic Hotel, Autograph Collection)

Challenges with construction

David Bowyer with the project team said engineers had to excavate the site without hitting any of the municipality’s geothermal system wells.

As well, as the tower’s eastern facade is just 18 inches away from the SkyTrain guideway, it required the developers to install a prefabricated roof to cover and protect the tracks that run past the building.

He says construction crews had a narrow two-hour window during the early morning hours of a single day to erect and install the roof over the guideway.

If all goes as planned with the final construction phase, the hotel will open in November 2017.

There are a number of major developments proposed, planned, and approved for Surrey. Earlier this week, for instance, Surrey City Council approved a proposal to build a 30-storey Hilton-operated hotel right next to King George Station.

The hotel sign that will be erected onto the exterior of the tower. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Views of the region from the top floor. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

Views of the region from the top floor. (Kenneth Chan / Daily Hive)

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