An exciting development project in the Whalley area of North Surrey is back on again! A new Legion Veteran’s Village has been struggling to get launched for a few years now, but this time, the $66-million project is expected to break ground this fall at Whalley Legion property. Surrey City Council gave its approval to the $66-million Legion Veterans Village project on Monday, June 25th. The location of the proposed $66-million project is listed officially as: 110630 City Pkwy., 13525 106th Ave. and 10647 135A Street, and the first phase of the project is to be a 20-story mixed-use tower that will house the Whalley Legion on the main floor, along with a medical clinic, coffee shop and cadet training centre. On the higher floors, the tower would also have 148 rental apartments with 48 affordable rental units for veterans and first responders, along with 10 transitional units which for short-term housing for individuals needing short-term housing upon discharge from a hospital. All of this is great news, not only for the needed space for veterans as well as more affordable rental units for others, but for the overall development of the area.
Project to include Centre of Excellence
One of the great things about this for the veterans is that they will have access to the best and long over-due treatment that the country has to offer. The plans for the building are to house Canada’s first “Centre of Excellence” for treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and mental health, along with research and rehabilitation for injured vets. A national centre of excellence is major part of any specialized science or research discipline. It would bring together the best of researchers in their field and generate spin-off developments in technologies and industry, so being a driver of other economic development as well. The centre will focus on robotics and devices to help amputees and other modern neuroscience applications for these highly deserving individuals.
Revitalization and beautification for area
This area of Surrey is rapidly shedding its worn-out look and is being revitalized and beautified with modern buildings all around the Gateway Skytrain station. On City Parkway close to the location of the proposed new tower, there is already new food market, bank, and drug store very convenient for the condo towers and townhouses surrounding the area. The new legion tower will be a great enhancement to the Whalley area and a boost to the living standard for everyone in the neighborhood.
There is also a second phase planned for the Veteran’s Village which will include a second tower beside to be built beside the first one. The proposed second tower would be 26 stories with 14 ground-level townhouses and 311 apartments, all to be available as market residential units.
The latest plans
The architecture of the latest design for the buildings will be very modern, but it is planned to keep with theme for the Canadian war veterans by resembling the famous Vimy Ridge war memorial in Europe. The planned design shows the exterior of the building which faces City Parkway with sun shades that run up the tower to look like the twin towers of the Vimy Ridge monument. The exterior of building will be coloured red in the theme of the annual Remembrance Day poppy that Canadians wear in November. On the other sides of the tower there will also be red shares but in simpler fashion along with silver panels and clear glass walls. In short, the planned building will be a lovely, modern addition to the neighborhood, and a major boost in both use and beautification.
The process
The Veteran’s Village project has been on Surrey’s agenda before. The first design plan was unveiled in 2015 and at that time the project was for two towers to be 20 to 28 floors high. Then in 2016 the design concept was changed to a single tower during the first phase of development and the number of floors was still undetermined. The latest design proposed two phases with one of the two towers to be built in each phase. Following the approval by city council last month, let’s hope it proceeds without delay this time. It will be a great improvement to the neighbourhood and would serve to be a value booster. In addition to serving the deserving veterans it will provide some much-needed market rental units as well. If it goes ahead as planned the developers expect they can break ground this fall, the project could then be completed by 2020 if all goes as expected.
Thanks for reading!
Sibo Zhang, REALTOR®