BURST
A four-storey commercial building in Surrey that’s been vacant since it was built in 1998, changing hands several times since, is finally showing signs of life.
Encompassing an entire city block, the building at 14178 104 Avenue, between Whalley and Guildford town centres, was originally called Canada Asian Centre. It was going to be home to B.C.’s largest Asian mall with a mix of retail and office spaces. But those plans fizzled after the developers were unable to secure financing.
An American lawyer, Donald Pitt, bought the property in 2002. It was then sold in 2022 to Kuldeep Bansal for $55 million. He had plans for an office strata project with 202 units, but the property went into foreclosure in 2023.
Prospective renters or buyers over the years have included Fraser Health, Simon Fraser University and the RCMP. Ideas abounded for potential uses: office spaces, a banquet hall, a school, restaurants.
The building, which features floor-to-ceiling windows, sat mostly idle, except when it was used by film crews.
But it appears new life is being breathed into the 271,000-sq.-ft. building with “For sale or lease” signs going up around the site.
According to a listing on the Colliers website, the building is now called District 104 and being advertised as “Surrey’s newest landmark for strata office and retail” and “a turnkey opportunity to capitalize on Surrey’s remarkable growth trajectory.”
“The building is undergoing a significant facelift and interior renovations, which is nearly complete. The building is now as if it was built today,” said Dylan Sohi, a senior vice-president at Colliers.
“Since it’s been built, there’s been lots of speculation, tons of rumours. The former identity of the building is no longer.”
A numbered company, 1262066 BC Ltd., acquired the building. The sole director of the company is Sukhminder (Sukhi) Rai, president of the developing company Jayen Properties and head of RBI Companies. Rai did not respond to requests for comment.
But Sohi said the building’s units have attracted a lot of interest.
“At the ground level, we’ll have, very likely, a grocer which we’re in early discussions with. We will also have a significant amount of medical groups, ie. doctors, pharmacists, specialists, dental groups, and also we have offers from childcare groups for a significant amount of space, and then on floors two and up, professional office users,” the realtor said.
Marketing materials tout the building’s proximity to amenities, including Surrey Central SkyTrain Station, shopping malls, schools and parks. The wider neighbourhood is close to city hall, Surrey Memorial Hospital, and the Surrey campuses of Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Simon Fraser University.
The site also features 675 underground parking stalls and 48 above-ground parking stalls.
The building was last bought for $56.5 million, Sohi said. It is assessed at $49 million.
The owner is also seeking to build a hotel on the site. A plan for a six-storey Holiday Inn was presented to Surrey council in late February. The city confirmed the applicant is completing a development permit application and development variance application for the proposal.
According to the planning report, the hotel would be built on top of the existing underground parking structure.
Sohi said his company is not working on the hotel development and couldn’t provide many details, besides that it will have 180 rooms.
“Many folks called it Westfield Centre or the Asian Centre. This is now District 104. It’s not going to happen overnight and we want to do this the right way and do right by the community and not just bring in anybody and everybody who comes to the table,” he said.