Starchuk seeking judicial review of Surrey arena land-swap
Published 4:20 pm Monday, July 6, 2026
Imagine Surrey mayoral candidate Mike Starchuk says he’s filing a petition in B.C. Supreme Court seeking a full judicial review of Mayor Brenda Locke’s “costly, unprecedented land-swap purchase to enable a downtown arena.”
“We’re paying way too much in publicly-held assets for the former Safeway property,” Starchuk charges. “The total cost estimates for the project are unrealistic and will likely land as a $600 million albatross around the necks of Surrey residents and families.
“News releases alone and calls for investigations won’t suffice in this case,” he says.
Meantime, mayoral candidate Doug McCallum accused Locke of “bailing out” a land developer in a land swap where land owned by the City of Surrey was traded for what’s to be the site of a 10,000-seat arena in Whalley, to be built where a Safeway grocery store was on 104 Avenue and King George Boulevard.
McCallum, the former mayor leading the Safe Surrey Coalition into the October 17 civic election, says city hall paid $116.6 million worth of public assets for a site that according to BC Assessment is worth $86.8 million, “crashing” from the $108.5 million the developer paid for the site in November 2022 to build four towers there (40, 42, 49 and 50 storeys).
“Land in City Centre currently trades at $8 to $10 million an acre,” McCallum noted. “Brenda Locke paid $23.3 million.”
But Locke is standing her ground on the deal.
She said the only “negatives” she’s heard are from people seeking public office. “So I think those negative comments are primarily politically driven.”
She denies any “bailout.”