City of Surrey plans 1,800 rental homes in four towers at Gateway SkyTrain | Daily Hive

City of Surrey plans over 1,800 rental homes in four towers at Gateway SkyTrain station

2025 concept of the SCDC Gateway towers. (ZGF Architects/Surrey City Development Corporation)

After years of planning, dating back to before the pandemic, the City of Surrey is now pushing ahead with its substantial high-density, mixed-use residential project next to SkyTrain’s Gateway Station.

Through the municipal government’s wholly owned for-profit real estate company, Surrey City Development Corporation (SCDC) has submitted its application to redevelop a 5.7-acre, City-owned land assembly at the northern end of Surrey City Centre.

The development site carries the addresses of 10725-10757 University Dr., 13310-13350 108 Ave., and 10744 133 St., spanning nine lots at the southeast corner of the intersection of 108 Avenue and 133 Street and situated immediately north of Whalley Athletic Park.

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Currently, much of the site is vacant. The existing structures were previously occupied by the former Sunshine Housing Co-op, which saw its 39 townhouse units relocated to a brand new six-storey building — completed in February 2025 — with 69 units. This replacement housing project also involved SCDC.

Earlier concepts of the SCDC Gateway project envisioned about 1,600 homes in six towers up to 50 storeys.

Now, the refined concept — designed by ZGF Architects and PFS Studio — currently under the municipal government’s review calls for a total of 1,814 homes, with 100 per cent of these units being secured purpose-built rental housing.

Future site of the SCDC Gateway towers. (Google Maps)

2025 concept of the SCDC Gateway towers. (ZGF Architects/Surrey City Development Corporation)

As well, there will now be four towers: a 436-ft-tall (133 metres) northwest tower with 40 storeys containing 478 homes; a 502-ft-tall (153 metres) centre tower with 44 storeys containing 475 homes; a 476-ft-tall (145 metres) southwest tower with 44 storeys containing 441 homes and 2,600 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space; and a 436-ft-tall (133 metres) east tower with 44 storeys containing 420 homes and 6,700 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space.

SCDC intends to complete the entire four-phased project in under a decade — the northwest tower by Spring 2030, the centre tower by Spring 2031, and the southwest tower and east tower by Spring 2032.

These towers will frame an internal public park spanning the north-south length of the site from 108 Avenue to the new 107A Avenue.

Mixed-use residential base podiums are also incorporated into the southwest, centre, and east towers.

2025 concept of the SCDC Gateway towers. (ZGF Architects/Surrey City Development Corporation)

For the east tower specifically, there is an alternative option to utilize its base podium as a new public elementary school under a vertical stacked configuration, similar to downtown Vancouver’s Crosstown Elementary School and the new Coal Harbour Elementary School.

SCDC is in the process of discussing with the Surrey School District on such an elementary school within the centre tower, which could span three storeys and hold a capacity for about 655 students, plus space for before/after-school care and childcare facilities.

If a final decision is made to incorporate an elementary school into the centre tower, it would require an overall change to the building’s design, including its layout and an increase in its height to about 50 storeys, with residential uses starting at the fifth level. The design would be determined during a future development permit application.

City staff note that additional school capacity is needed in the area to accommodate the anticipated enrolment demand from this project and other future residential developments nearby in Surrey City Centre.

As of September 2024, two area public schools were operating at over capacity: KB Woodward Elementary School was operating at 110 per cent, while Kwantlen Park Secondary School was operating at 140 per cent. The existing high school is undergoing a capacity expansion by 2028, but additional capacity is needed over the longer term, given the area’s expected high-density residential growth.

Nearly 40 per cent of the homes in the SCDC Gateway project are sized for families, which is defined as units with two or more bedrooms; the unit size mix is 264 studio units, 825 one-bedroom units, 489 two-bedroom units, and 236 three-bedroom units.

2025 concept of the SCDC Gateway towers. (ZGF Architects/Surrey City Development Corporation)

The total building floor area will reach 1.623 million sq. ft., including 9,300 sq. ft. of retail/restaurant space. The floor area ratio density will reach a floor area that is 7.2 times larger than the size of the lot before site dedications for new public roads — including the construction of a segment of 107A Avenue on the southern edge of the property — and open spaces.

The site is immediately adjacent to Gateway Station, which is a provincially legislated Transit Oriented Area. The legislation not only promotes higher-density transit-oriented development, but also removes minimum vehicle parking requirements for residential uses. While this reduces the required vehicle parking to 88 stalls for accessibility uses, the project is looking to incorporate six underground levels for a total of 1,814 vehicle parking stalls. There will also be 1,200 secured bike parking spaces.

It is noted that Bolivar Creek, running north-south, bisects the development site. The project will enhance the stream by creating a public park — a naturalized buffer area — that protects the waterway. As well, there will be new east-west pedestrian links and a pedestrian bridge across the creek, as part of the project’s internal pedestrian pathway network.

SCDC’s other major project within Surrey City Centre is the redevelopment of the Centre Block site immediately adjacent to SkyTrain’s Surrey Central Station into a major mixed-use office complex, including one of Metro Vancouver’s future tallest towers.

The municipal government is also in the process of contemplating a new low-rise rental housing project near SkyTrain’s Scott Road Station on City-owned land with about 350 units.

2025 concept of the SCDC Gateway towers. (ZGF Architects/Surrey City Development Corporation)

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