Legion redevelopment in Surrey passes hurdle with council’s approval
Tony Moore was on pins and needles as he waited to see whether Surrey council would move redevelopment of the Whalley Legion one step closer to reality.
In the end, it took just minutes for the mayor and councillors to unanimously approve first and second readings of the proposed project Monday.
“I’m actually quite ecstatic,” said Moore, who is president of the Whalley Legion Branch 229.
The $66-million development, called Legion Veterans Village, will replace the current legion building, which is almost 60 years old and located at the corner of 106 Avenue and 135A Street, in the heart of Whalley.
The village will be a two-phase project with housing, amenities and retail and outdoor garden space on 1.8 acres.
In its first phase, the project will feature a 10,000-square-foot legion, 48 social and affordable housing units for veterans, first responders and their families, 10 transitional housing units, 148 market housing units and a centre of excellence that includes posttraumatic stress disorder and mental-health clinics, medical and dental clinics and an innovation centre for rehabilitation.
The second phase consists of a 26-storey building with 325 market housing units.
Groundbreaking is slated for fall 2018 and the project is expected to be complete in late 2020.
Kirk Fisher, senior vice-president of Lark Group, said redeveloping a legion can be a difficult prospect, but the Whalley Legion, Royal Canadian Legion B.C./Yukon Command and Lark Group worked hard to come up with the best proposal.
“There needs to be trust on each side, hard work on each side; there needs to be a purpose,” he said.
Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner said she was happy to see the proposal come forward.
Last year, Hepner named the redevelopment as a project she intended to fast-track as part of the city’s Nexus program, which is meant to expedite development projects that align with council priorities, plans and strategies and provide a benefit to the city.
Fisher said the project still had to go through all of the same steps as any other proposal and meet the same requirements — it just happened faster.
“The staff has done an amazing job,” he said. “They have absolutely knocked that out of the park.”
Hepner said the project has the potential to revitalize the surrounding area, which is populated by a significant number of people living on the street in tents.
“I think it’s a significant addition to our Innovation Boulevard in health-care excellence and I think it is transformative,” Hepner said.
Third reading and a public hearing are scheduled for June 25.
“I’m expecting people to come and say, ‘Yes, let’s get this done.’ It’s a plus for the area, it’s a plus for the city, it’s a plus for seniors — it’s a plus for everything,” he said. “Why would anybody want to talk against it?”