When Vancouver-based Larco Developments envisioned a mixed-use lifestyle shopping centre in Surrey – modelled on the expansion of its Park Royal Mall in West Vancouver – the aim was to create a "different vibe" from suburban strip retail, big boxes and walled-in shopping malls.
What has become apparent, however, is that Larco's 10-acre, two-year-old Morgan Crossing has tapped into a latent desire for a community anchor in South Surrey.
Today, the mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly complex is a destination where brand-name retailers are clamouring for storefronts, 1,000 residents have moved into shop-top condominiums, and businesses are buying office space at $1 million a crack.
And all this without a transit station in sight.
The Shops at Morgan Crossing, totalling 500,000 square feet of stores all accessing a "main street" stroll, is 95% leased and features such urban touchstones as a gourmet cooking school, Wi-Fi latte bars and high-profile fashion retailers. In the last month, Calvin Klein and Van Heusen opened their first outlet stores west of Toronto, joining Gap Outlet, Banana Republic Factory Store, Roots 83 Outlet and Olsen Europe. There is also a Thrifty's Food and B.C.'s biggest wine store.
But the Shops has also drawn a number of homegrown retailers, such as nail spas, beauty salons and one-off outlets like Notti Biscotti Coffee, plus an eclectic mix of niche shops from Crocodile Bay, Triple Flip, Suchi Castle to Arts Umbrella. Want to lease the last slice of vacant space? Take a number while Larco decides if you are the right fit.
The 400 condominiums built above the shops provide captive customers, but Morgan Crossing is drawing consumers from across South Surrey, White Rock, Delta and even Richmond, said Karen Donald, project manager for the Shops at Morgan Crossing. The centre's main street now hosts local events and festivals and is becoming the community town centre South Surrey never had.
Urban environment consultant and planner Michael Geller, who worked with Grosvenor on the smaller-scale but similarly themed High Street at South Pointe Exchange development in South Surrey, said such projects speak to how the area has changed from a place where the major attraction was affordable housing.
"People are now choosing to live in Surrey not because they have to but because they want to," Geller said, adding that this has created a heady level of sophistication. "Larco has recognized that many of the attributes of South Surrey are similar to the attributes of West Vancouver."
Larco vice-president Rick Amantea is not surprised at the success of Morgan Crossing, since it is modelled on an expansion that proved a hit at Park Royal. "You have to create an energy, a different vibe," he said, to compete with both traditional and online shopping.
The Morgan Crossing nexus, however, has already eclipsed Park Royal as a commercial destination. Immediately adjacent to shops and stores, the largest strata office project in Metro Vancouver has turned the local office market on its ear.
The office vacancy rate in Surrey has tripled in the past year to the highest level since 2005 but the 150,000-square-foot Grosvenor Business Centre near Morgan Crossing – the largest office strata project in the Lower Mainland – has nearly sold out at $360 per square foot for 3,000-square-foot units.
"We had 30% of the tower sold before it even broke ground," said Gord McPherson of Re/Max Commercial Advantage, who convinced Surrey-based Elkay Developments to go with sales rather than leasing.
The "synergy" of the retail and residential mix at Morgan Crossing helped to draw office buyers that include doctors and other professionals, McPherson said.
Surrey's southern hot zone has also lured big-name residential developers, such as Adera Group, which is currently building its Breeze townhomes next to Morgan Crossing. In all, 16 new residential projects are now marketing in the area.
"Our walking score [a Google formula that tracks how pedestrian-friendly an area is] is 80 out of a possible 100, which is amazing for a suburban neighbourhood. It is like Yaletown," said Adera president Norm Coutie, "but with golf and beaches."
The downside to South Surrey's growth – one million square feet of retail space and about 8,000 homes have been built in the past five years – is transportation.
"We are transit challenged," Donald said. "Everyone is stamping their feet about when transportation will improve."
This April, an express bus is to begin running between Langley and South Surrey, but the real need is for faster links to Surrey's existing Skytrain network, she suggested.
Meanwhile, South Surrey is apparently primed to become the Lower Mainland's trendiest new town centre. •
