PCI Developments is approaching completion of the fourth phase of the King George Hub master-planned development in the Metro Vancouver city of Surrey. 

Roughly 10 years into the transformational project in the city's core, the latest phase includes Plaza One and Two. They are two residential condo towers with a total of 886 homes, plus 30,000 square feet of office space and 4,000 square feet of retail space in the podium levels.

The residential towers, at 41 and 43 storeys, were fully pre-sold in 2021 and are expected to complete in the third quarter of this year. 

Next up will be Tether, a 40-storey purpose-built rental tower that will add 400 rental homes to the site and is expected to complete in 2026.

"King George Hub is a master plan transit-oriented development that has really transformed downtown Surrey," said Kathy Yu, director of leasing with PCI. 

"It's a true mixed-use development that's multi-phased, spanning over 18 acres and offering state-of-the-art office space, curated retail and residential," she told RENX. 

Transit key to development success

Yu said the location and connection to the SkyTrain has been the apparent key to success. "We see that as a really critical component to this."

Strong bus connections and the planned extension of the SkyTrain from King George to Langley City Centre will provide more opportunity and optimism for the project that will, at full build-out, include 360,000 square feet of office space, 150,000 of retail space, 1,624 condos and 771 rental homes. 

The first phase of King George Hub brought Coast Capital Savings' headquarters to the site in a 190,000-square-feet LEED Gold building tailored for the credit union. That completed in 2015. 

Since then, the PCI has added two residential condo towers with 738 homes, the Hub 9850 office building, a residential rental building with 371 units, and the majority of the retail elements, which includes a Save-on-Foods grocery store and Rexall Drug Store. 

"It's been over a decade since we completed the first phase," Yu said. "Our vision really is for that to be a community where we've got all of your needs in one place."

Office demand in Surrey is a standout

One standout for the project and for Surrey City Centre has been office demand, Yu said. "The vacancy rate . . . has been 4.4 per cent, which is quite a lot lower than the downtown vacancy in Vancouver, which is about 11.2 per cent - and there's not a lot of new supply coming into the market."

Yu said that limited new supply, and companies increasingly seeing Surrey as an option for major office or headquarter operations, is promising for its future. 

"We've seen at King George a lot of large employers, including government agencies, tech companies, looking to establish their presence," Yu said. Access to transit is a huge part of that. 

"The retail at King George Hub has been a tremendous success. We have zero vacancy there," Yu said. "It's a grocery-anchored development, and it's got a really well-curated mix of food and beverage."

She said the high street retail at the hub, and its transit connections, have helped meet Surrey's goal to have a more walkable downtown with active storefronts. 

Development slowdown could return balance to market

Generally, the development market has been slower than in previous years, Yu acknowledged, noting it's harder to launch and sell massive projects at volume. But, as overall supply slows down as other developers pause or exit the market, balance could again emerge. 

"Not a lot of projects are under construction (and) not a lot of shovels (are) in the ground right now," she said. "There's certainly opportunities for (Surrey) as we continue to grow as a city, and . . . we're going to see demand come back."

Elsewhere in the region, PCI continues to advance other major projects including a 39-storey office, residential rental and retail tower project well into construction at the corner of Broadway and Granville streets in Vancouver's Broadway corridor. That project is fully integrated with the subway station for which PCI is building the access portal. 

PCI is also working on a proposed three-tower complex with Low Tide Properties next to the upcoming Great Northern Way–Emily Carr station in the False Creek Flats area of Vancouver. That project features two 35-storey residential towers with 548 rental homes and an office tower of 20 levels.