SURREY - Tsawwassen's largest owner of real estate will be moving its headquarters to Surrey City Centre in January in order to take competitive advantage of the city's proximity to public transit.
Century Group president Sean Hodgins said the company had planned to move into the 3 Civic Plaza, but due to several delays the 52-storey tower will not be complete until December 2016. The company recently secured a deal to move into Central City, which is a few blocks away from where the tower will be located.
Hodgins said he thought about moving to Surrey five years ago when the company realized that attracting talent to the organization was difficult because Tsawwassen is relatively isolated from major transportation networks.
"If you find the right person and they happen to live in Burnaby and they show up for the interview at eight o'clock in the morning battling through traffic, you know you almost lose them before you even have the interview," he said.
It soon became apparent that for the company to be attractive they would have be more conveniently located next to public transit. Hodgins said that's especially true for his younger employees.
"I do think it's going to be the defining thing in real estate in the 21st century, is the access to transit. If we believe that, then we have to live it," said Hodgins, adding Surrey Central SkyTrain station is only a 40-minute ride to Vancouver's Waterfront Station.
Century Group has several high-profile buildings and proposed developments in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, including Northgate, Oliva, Heron Cove and Southlands in Tsawwassen, The Ridge and Gulfview in Nanaimo, Ormidale Block in Vancouver, Ocean Walk in Richmond, and Holland Pointe and Citypoint in Surrey.
amacnair@thenownewspaper.com