When WestStone Properties Ltd. started presales in February 2010 for its new 36-storey Ultra 3 residential tower in Surrey, it sold 150 units by October, with sales worth $38 million.
“It’s such a popular location, we didn’t even have to advertise it,” said Robert Dominick, WestStone’s vice-president of sales and marketing.
That “popular location” is Whalley. Once known more for its high crime rates than its highrises, Whalley is undergoing a makeover that is making it a desirable place to live.
Affordability also has a lot to do with the area’s sudden popularity, say developers.
At the Ultra, a studio apartment can be bought for $182,900; a penthouse suite goes for $786,900.
Another new residential tower going into the Whalley area – the Quattro 3 – has average prices of $200,000 per unit; a studio apartment can be had for $149,000.
“This is the only place where I can afford to build something of this calibre and for that kind of price,” said Charan Sethi, president of the Tien Sher Group of Companies, which is building the multi-phase Quattro development. “If I bought the same amount of land in Richmond it will cost me three times more.”
The median price for a new condo in Burnaby is $368,000, and in Vancouver it’s $400,000, according to the Urban Development Institute.
The City of Surrey has been focusing development in the Whalley area and rebranding it as its new city centre.
Several residential highrises are either under construction or in the works, and Dominick believes a commercial development boom is not far behind.
“Surrey is really open,” Dominick said. “It offers businesses a lot of relocation space.
“When you look at Metrotown (in Burnaby) and how that’s built up over the years, I think Surrey is going to be even more of a catalyst than that was, simply because of the available workforce and the affordability of relocating or starting a business in Surrey.”
Surrey was named by the Real Estate Investment Network of Canada last year as the best place in B.C. to invest in the residential real estate market, and the fourth-best city in Canada in which to invest.
The city issued building permits last year for $1.2 billion worth of construction work.
“The residential growth is definitely the strongest component,” said Mike McGreer, an analyst with the Surrey’s economic development office.
There are three large residential developments underway in the city centre and several more in the works.
Concord Pacific Developments Inc. is building two 36-storey residential towers (Park Place) and has long-term plans for four more.
Tien Sher’s Quattro development will result in 1,900 units built over 10 years, and WestStone just recently turned sod on a new a 36-story residential tower as part of its Ultra Urban Village project.
The City of Surrey has been investing heavily in Whalley’s makeover and so have other levels of government.
A new $1 billion headquarters for the RCMP’s “E” division is going into the city centre, Surrey Memorial Hospital is undertaking a $500 million expansion, and a new public library is planned to open in the fall of 2011.
Sethi said he believes the boom is being fuelled largely by land availability. Surrey is not squeezed for land the way cities like Richmond and Port Coquitlam are.
With 317 square kilometres of land, Surrey still has plenty of room for development and is close enough to Vancouver that it is an increasingly desirable place to live for people who work in Vancouver but can’t afford to buy there.
The $35 million Quattro 3, now under construction, will see 165 units added to the 256 units previously built and occupied in Quattro 1 and 2.
Tien Sher recently added more land to the mix, bringing the total parcel of land for Quattro up to 12 acres. It’s projected that the total build-out of the development will be worth $700 million.
The Ultra 3 tower now under construction is one of five to be built over the years. The total package – seven buildings, including five towers – represents a projected $1 billion in value. The project, at completion, represents 2,500 homes.
Dominick agrees with Sethi that the availability of land in Surrey is fuelling a residential boom, but adds investment by the three levels of government infrastructure is also a factor.
“All levels of government have been putting in so much infrastructure into Surrey, which is creating jobs, which is driving the property market,” he said.
Sethi said the current development plans for Quattro 3 do not include a commercial component. He said the existing retail and service industry is adequate to serve a growing city centre, but expects that will change in a few years.
“Right now, I personally feel there is enough there to satisfy everybody’s needs,” Sethi said. “As the area grows, there will be more and more [commercial development] happening.”
Despite the ongoing residential boom, Surrey remains a bedroom community for Vancouver, with many residents commuting to Vancouver to work. Surrey has 0.7 jobs per resident, compared with 1.25 jobs per resident in Vancouver.