810 beds at Surrey\u2019s first student housing tower by 2028<\/p>\n
Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, May 20, 2026<\/p>\n
A festival-like event celebrated the start of construction of a new tower advertised as Surrey\u2019s first purpose-built student housing development.<\/p>\n
Western Community College\u2019s on-campus student housing residence will be built in City Centre 5 at Surrey\u2019s Health and Technology District, near Surrey Memorial Hospital.<\/p>\n
Crews have already dug a giant hole for construction of the 23-storey tower, immediately north of City Centre 4. Project partners are ICT Group and Lark Group, with UniLodge Canada contracted to manage 810 beds of post-secondary student housing in 182,000 square feet. Completion is targeted for fall 2028.<\/p>\n
City Centre 5 promises \u201cstate-of-the-art student accommodation\u201d with a range of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Features include semi-private bathrooms, communal kitchen and dining areas, fitness centre, gaming room, theatre, study rooms, laundry facilities and indoor\/outdoor lounges.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s close to transit, retail shops, dining options, healthcare services and integrated daycare facilities to support both the learning and professional community,\u201d project builders say in a news release.<\/p>\n
Western Community College has campuses in City Centre 4<\/a> and City Centre 3 buildings, while UBC operates programs in City Centre 1 and has mixed-use plans for an adjacent property. Several blocks away, SFU\u2019s expansion includes a medical school on the former North Surrey rec centre site, near Surrey City Hall.<\/p>\n ^^ Site of future student housing is currently a big hole in ground north of WCC\u2019s City Centre 4 tower (Hilton hotel, Stong\u2019s market). Fall 2028 completion. @larkgroupbuilds<\/a> @SurreyNowLeader<\/a> #SurreyBC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/KSqd3Q3ftE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tom Zillich (@TomZillich) May 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s groundbreaking ceremony (May 20), held in a big tent surrounded by food vendors, included comments from Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, Lark Group CEO Kirk Fisher, Western Community College executive Rimpy Dhaliwal, UniLodge Canada\u2019s Mike Porritt and others.<\/p>\n The growing Health and Technology District, planned as an eleven-phase development with nine City Centre buildings, aims to bring together healthcare, education, business and technology organizations.<\/p>\n In City Centre 4, a ribbon-cutting ceremony in April celebrated the opening of Surrey\u2019s newest hotel, Homewood Suites by Hilton Surrey<\/a>, marketed as an upscale extended-stay hotel with 189 studio and one-bedroom suites with fully equipped kitchens.<\/p>\n A few kilometres south in Newton, provincially-funded student housing will be built at the KPU Surrey <\/a>campus<\/a>, with 350 student beds and a dining hall in an eight-storey building budgeted at $144 million. Construction should be complete by 2030, project planners announced in September 2025.<\/p>\n