Beyond the previously announced details, City Hall will be a two-phased building, with the second phase seemingly planned to include the hotel/office tower component. The Performing Arts Centre, planned to start construction after City Hall Phase 1 ends in 2013, does not have a final design yet. The previously mentioned Museum does not appear to be part of the plan anymore. Furthermore, the long rumoured SFU expansion space is mentioned in the brochure to be included in the Library, although that seems doubtful unless the university plans to rent the initially-empty fifth floor.

The new City Hall building, to be constructed along the north edge of City-owned property along 104 Ave between University Drive and City Parkway, will be about 180,000 sq. ft. It will include an adjoining civic plaza with a capacity of 5000 people. Construction will begin in early 2011 and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2013. Initial plans include connection to the Library to form a district energy system.

It is estimated to cost $50 million, most of which will come from a loan with the Municipal Finance Authority. It is unknown whether the final design is the same L-shaped monolith that has been featured in City documents recently (included above).

For about five years now, Mayor Dianne Watts and her staff have followed an ambitious vision to create a vibrant, sky-scraping, new downtown core in the heart of an old part of Surrey.

Sure, thanks to the recent global recession, this quest has sometimes had challenges.

But yesterday morning, the mayor’s vision for a new Surrey City Centre was looking splendid — especiallywhen viewedfromthe36thfloor of a new downtown residential tower. The occasion was a traditional “topping off” ceremony of developer Concord Pacific’s Park Place North Tower just off King George Boulevard and overlooking London Park and the nearby SkyTrain system. From up here, it offers a grand bird’seye view of the extent and scope of downtown Surrey’s rebirth.

And the fact that it’s deep-pocketed Concord Pacific pouring the ceremonial final bucket of concrete on this 698-suite residential tower shows that, in Surrey, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

For Concord is the developer who transformed downtown Vancouver’s former Expo 86 site on False Creek into a worldwide envy of city-centre rebuilding.

It focused on Surrey City Centre about a year ago after one of the three-hectare site’s towers had already been completed, while two more stood just partially completed. That’s because the project had been stopped dead in its tracks in October 2008 after its financier, New York-based Lehman Brothers investment bank, collapsed.

Yesterday, Concord Pacific president and chief executive officer Terry Hui stated emphatically that his company took over this project because it saw that Mayor Watts and her team have their act together.

“Surrey has a very clear strategic plan for developing its city centre,” he said. “Mayor Watts has also been out promoting her city and that’s bringing in more investment and development. We’ll build two more towers here and now we’re looking at other Surrey projects.”

Hui also said the other components Surrey is placing in the City Centre helps attract investment as well. These include the new regional library now under construction, an expanding Simon Fraser University campus and an enlarging Surrey Memorial Hospital, together with planned projects such as a new RCMP “E” Division headquarters and a new Surrey City Hall.

Relocating city hall to the core is a vital next step, Watts suggests.

“It’s really important that when you expect private-sector investors to invest in your new city centre that you be seen doing the same thing,” she says.

However, the task of attracting new investment for Surrey City Centre is far from over. The next major step forward is to acquire a major hotel-convention centre complex.

“Moving city hall to the new core sends a positive message to investors, but we’re also in dire need of a Pan Pacific-style hotel and convention centre,” Surrey Board of Trade chief executive Anita Huberman tells me.

But I expect the hotel complex will happen soon because the story of Surrey’s core redevelopment is spreading. Surrey, you see, was was recently ranked as B. C.’s top spot for real-estate investment – that industry — for the second year in a row.

As part of the long term City Centre land use plan under development, a recreational “Green Network” was proposed to facilitate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists in the area. The Green Network is a more than just bicycle ways though; it also incorporates natural habitat enhancement, sustainable stormwater management, placemaking through public art and historical markers, wayfinding, and street furniture. Among the projects:

• a pedestian priority core near City Hall and SFU
• an art walk along University Drive
• a history walk along the Quibble Creek Greenway
• a culture corridor along King George
• a series of new plazas and “pocket parks”
• a new “urban greenway” with separated bike paths along 105 A Ave
• higher quality greenways

Click on through for way more!

The plan outlines 5 priority projects to begin the Green Network:

1. The enhancement of King George Boulevard between 112 and 108 Ave. This section of the road acts as a gateway to the City Centre and will feature new trees and planting installations.

2. New high quality bike lanes installed along 100 Ave from City Parkway to the Quibble Creek Greenway. Within the “Urban Core” zone, the 1.5m bike lanes will be painted in a solid colour and features bike boxes at major intersections to give cyclists safe priority on the road.

3. 105A Ave, between 138 and 140 St, will be the first section built of this new east-west urban greenway. It will feature a 3m bikeway separated from traffic by both a 2m boulevard and a 1.5m planted zone.

4. 112 Ave is planned to eventually incorporate a separated bikeway along its northern edge. In the short term, to facilitate a safe cycling route, new bike lanes are to be painted along 140St north of 105A Ave, and continue along Hansen Road and 112 Ave to King George.

5. Quibble Creek Greenway, between 100 and 102 Ave, is flagged as a demonstration project that will set the new standard for greenways in the area. The pathway will be expanded to provide cyclists with a 3.5m section and pedestrians with a 1.5m zone. New shrub and trees will be planted along the route to enhancement the natural habitat. Other ideas include bird boxes, benches, a BMX bike park for kids, and a “nanotower” – a vertical green tower which provides new bird habitat and facilitates placemaking and wayfinding.

Check out all the plans below:

The interior of the under construction City Centre Library

A better look at the proposed design for the new City Hall

The long term Quattro master plan

The Surrey Outpatient Hospital under construction at Green Timbers

The School District’s new headquarters, officially known as the District Education and Conference Centre, is getting closer to completion. The $40 million LEED Gold project consists of a four-storey, 125,000 sq. ft. building that will house administration, district education programs, and meeting spaces. Located near 92 Ave and 140 St, the building is expected to open in 2011.

van der Zalm associates, the firm designing the new Youth Park addition to the Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre, has unveiled a second iteration for the public’s response. Parks and Rec is seeking comments on the new design, which you can see much more of after the jump!

The new E-Divison headquarters of the RCMP in British Columbia has broken ground on its Green Timbers site. The 76,000 sq. metre facility is scheduled for completion in 2013 at a cost of $996 million. It will house 2,700 workers under one roof – employees are currently scattered around 25 various sites in the Metro region.

The project begins as new reports have surfaced showing the growing unrest and frustrations of officers under the federal police force. A staff survey has revealed that nearly 60% of all cops have considered quitting the RCMP in the last year. In addition, approximatively 40% would not recommend joining the force.

These striking numbers come on the heels of calls for either a regional or provincial police force to replace the seemingly corrupt and incompetent RCMP. On again, off again Solicitor General Kash Heed is a recognized proponent of a regional force. Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland all have their own provincial police forces, while Toronto and York Region are two examples of regional forces. The RCMP’s province-wide contract expires in 2012, leaving open the possibility for its replacement. It is unknown what would happen to this new facility if that were to occur.

More renderings after the jump.