A well-known developer and hotel operator is the buyer of Westfield Business Centre in Surrey.
A deal for the long-vacant business centre at 14178 104 Avenue, Surrey, closed May 20 following court approval earlier this year.
A numbered company, 1262066 BC Ltd., acquired the 274,285-square-foot structure and a 3.7-acre parcel at 14019 104 Avenue, for $56.5 million.
Registration documents identify the sole director of the numbered company as Sukhminder (Sukhi) Rai, head of RBI Group of Companies.
RBI's diversified interests include blueberry grower Surrey Farms, commercial contractor RBI Construction, residential developer Jayen Homes and PHI Hotel Group, which operates 28 hotels across B.C. and Alberta, including the Radisson Blu Vancouver Airport and the Westin Calgary Airport.
Rai told Western Investor that a new 180-room hotel is planned for the property, in addition to the existing office and retail space, which will include a supermarket and 12,000-square-foot daycare.
But first the existing building, which has sat vacant for a quarter-century, needs to be completed and commissioned.
“We’re going to bring that building up to code and to market as soon as possible,” Rai said.
A development permit for the hotel, which will sit in the building’s courtyard, will be submitted later this month. Surrey staff were touring the site with Rai this week as RBI pulls together its plans for the site.
“From the initial plans we’ve seen and the little bit of information we are privy to, it’s exciting stuff that he’s got planned,” said Dylan Sohi, a senior vice-president with Colliers International, who marketed the property and a nearby lot at 14019 104 Avenue together with colleagues Mike Grewal and Bill Randall.
Several offers were received over the course of a couple of marketing campaigns, but Sohi believes the property is now set to move forward and finally complete.
“This fellow is one who’s been through this process in the past, where he brings older buildings to life, and he’s been successful at doing so,” he said, declining to name the purchaser due to confidentiality agreements. “We’re all hopeful we’re going to see changes sooner than later.”
The property last changed hands in 2022 when Kuldeep Bansal acquired it for $55 million with plans for an office strata project with 202 units. However, the property went into foreclosure in 2023.
“It’s a big undertaking at this purchase price,” Sohi said, noting that Bansal has several other properties in various stages of foreclosure. “The owners of the property may not have budgeted for, accounted for the time it takes to go through the municipal approvals process.”
Bansal bought the property from Arizona investor Donald Pitt, who acquired it in July 2002 after the original developers failed to secure financing and the general contractor walked away.
Originally launched in the mid-1990s, the project was christened the Canada Asian Centre with the aim of being the largest Asian mall in the province. Plans called for 550,000 square feet of retail and office space, with completion set for December 1999. Project costs at the time were estimated at more than $50 million.
But as one creditor remarked during the foreclosure process 25 years ago, “It’s a saga. Every time you think it’s going to close, it takes another turn.”
Brokers familiar with the Surrey office market say the property’s current prospects are good in a market Colliers reported had a 4 per cent vacancy rate in the first quarter.
Century 21 Coastal Realty agent Harp Khela, president of Khela Real Estate Group and chair of the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association, is marketing commercial space at The Grand on King George Boulevard, which is seeing good interest from buyers for both smaller units and full floors. The project offers a total of 53,750 square feet of commercial space across four floors.
He said many businesses are finding buying makes more sense than leasing right now.
“The way price points are now, it’s worth them buying,” he said. “There are buyers there that want to be in a quality building in the right area.”
With little standing inventory and new office construction on hold, Khela envisions a couple of years of constrained markets. That will work in RBI’s favour as it markets its new acquisition.
“I think it will do well. The price point it’s traded at is very favourable,” Khela said. “I think they’ll finally be able to finish that building and hit the market strong.”
