B.C. purchases property near Surrey Langley SkyTrain for at least 700 homes

At least 700 homes will be built near the Surrey Langley SkyTrain project, the B.C. government said Thursday, after confirming it is purchasing 14 properties in the area.

Transportation Minister Rob Fleming announced the move, explaining it’s the first time the province has made a purchase like this.

“This project is going to be tremendous for Surrey and Langley, and this project, for once, is going to align the development of our number one need in this community and across British Columbia — affordable housing with a world-class SkyTrain system,” Fleming said.

The development will be completed over the next decade, Fleming explained. While historically barred from buying land for the purpose of building housing, the minister shared that the ability to do this changed with the introduction of Bill 16.

“For one reason or another, [we have] never integrated the planning and development and investment in transportation infrastructure with the number one need and priority of our citizens, which is to have more housing choices,” Fleming said.

“And now we are doing that. The Surrey Langley SkyTrain is the first such project where British Columbia has intentionally done that.”

The four acres of land will also eventually be home to child-care facilities, job centres, public plazas, and green spaces, Fleming added.

“It’s about time that housing and transportation infrastructure became one set of decision making, one set of analysis, one priority and aligned and done the same,” he said.

“The days of ‘build it and they will come’ are over, the days of build it together are here.”

The Surrey Langley SkyTrain Project is slated to extend the Expo Line 16 kilometres from King George Station to Langley City Centre along the Fraser Highway. It will include eight new stations and three new bus exchanges.