Months after business leaders scolded the city’s “mess” in Cloverdale, there are signs of activity on an old mall site that’s been the focus of frustration over a long-promised redevelopment project.
A timeline from the Surrey City Development Corporation that all sidewalks and boulevard areas surrounding the vacant site of the old Cloverdale mall would be complete by mid-November has passed.
But there are now sidewalks leading to the Cloverdale Legion, along with improvements to its entrance way that were in place just in time for Remembrance Day, when Branch 6 played host to hundreds of military and service personnel at its annual Nov. 11 gathering.
New, vintage-style streetlights have also been installed and are powered up, as the Surrey City Development Corp breathes life into the stalled redevelopment project.
The SCDC told The Reporter that developer TL Housing Solutions will build phase one of the project, opening up a sales centre on the southwest corner of the property in the spring of 2015.
However, a planned new home for the Cloverdale Legion won’t be going ahead in Phase I on Lot 1 – TL Housing Solutions cites a downward trend in Cloverdale’s current real estate market, something that was blamed for putting phase I on hold at the start of 2012.
The mall was demolished in 2011 as part of a city-backed, multi-phase plan to redevelop the site with a mix of residential and commercial buildings, helping revitalize Cloverdale.
Site servicing commenced in late 2012, with virtually no activity taking place except for remediation work related to contamination from a former dry cleaning operation in the Cloverdale Mall.
The SCDC hired SNC Lavalin to perform remediation work. Remediation is expected to be complete by the end of next year.
[Representatives from the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce and Cloverdale BIA were ready to start digging this summer at the site of the stalled redevelopment project – file]
In the meantime, SCDC will continue to work with the Legion to see how a future new home could be accommodated in the long term plans for the site.
Back in July, the Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce, joined by representatives of the Cloverdale BIA, announced they were actively lobbying for improvements on the site in the short-term.
The developers and the Cloverdale Chamber and BIA are collaborating on ways to improve the way the site looks.
Addressing the lack of a sidewalk on the north side of 57 Avenue was particularly important to the Cloverdale BIA, which urged the city to pave the block.
