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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1501233
S urrey is growing at an unprecedented rate. With 1,400–1,500 people moving there each month, the city's population is expected to surpass Vancouver's over the next few years. As the Health and City Centre District in Surrey continues to expand, it is attracting businesses to the community of Surrey and the province overall. In response, the Lark Group is working with local, provincial and national partners to build up this innova- tion ecosystem and strengthen BC's position in the innovation landscape. "Lark recognizes that with housing prices, it is becoming more and more challenging to attract employees and the talent pool to the areas," says Rowe- na Rizzotti, VP of Healthcare and Innovation of the Health and Technology District. "Being able to develop business opportunities in downtown Surrey is important to attract employees and encourage builders to construct places of residence nearby." Over the past ten years, Lark Group has been developing the City Centre District, a soon to be eight-building business com- munity immediately across from Surrey Memorial Hospital. The buildings, City Centres 1 through 8, will and do provide highly sought-after space and opportunity for health and technology businesses, as well as public and private centres for learning. "Lark Group continues to build and grow that community with demand surpassing the capacity of the first three City Centres," Rizzotti says. "Demand for City Centres 1-3 spurred City Centre 4, which is currently in the ground, and this will be followed by City Centre 5." City Centre 4 will add another 350,000 square feet of quality commercial envi- ronments to Health & Technology District, which currently totals over 1/2 million square feet of AAA office and retail space. The office and retail strata space spans 23 storeys with floor plates ranging from 13,366–21,331 square feet and six levels of underground parking. Individual units start at 659 square feet and the building is targeting LEED Gold certification as well as WiredScore certification. "There is a drive to live, work and play in Surrey," Rizzotti says. "Lark recognizes this is the future for the Fraser Valley, so it is very important to create these assets for businesses to set up and thrive where they will have a local catchment of talent to fulfill the business needs." She points specifically to wet lab space—a use that is an attractive asset to technology and life sciences companies but difficult to find. "Wet lab space is important to attract- ing those companies from both the private and public sectors as economic drivers for the province," Rizzotti says. "Lark is prepared to build out that type of space as demand requires, as we know it will be very attractive for all of BC for public and private sectors to have additional access to this type of space." CITY CENTRE 4: Growing the Innovation Ecosystem Lark Group's latest contribution to the Health and Technology District in Surrey adds 350,000 square feet of quality commercial space to the burgeoning region Learn more about the City Centre District: citycentredistrict.com Discover the Health & Technology District: healthandtechnologydistrict.com Lark: @lark-group-1 @larkgroup1 District: @health-&-technology-district @healthtechdistrict Created by the Canada Wide Media Advertising Department in partnership with Lark Group sponsored report