Some of the building foundations are already in and the steel for one of the anchor stores is up, meaning a long-vacant commercial corner in Cloverdale won’t be empty much longer.
Most of the off site and on-site utility works have been completed for Brick Yard Station, the new commercial development at the corner of Highway 10 and the Cloverdale Bypass.
Work began at the end of April. At one point it was necessary for crews to auger under Highway 10 to connect a water main. Now the project’s about 20 per cent of the way through construction.
“It’s trucking along,” said Kate Sunderland, a representative with the developer, Anthem Properties. “All of our steel should be up by the end of September.”
In about six weeks, the exterior walls will be up, giving shape to the shopping plaza, which will be home to a Rexall Drugs, Staples, Starbucks, and CIBC, along with other commercial and service-style tenants, including a dentist.
Main contractor Ventana Construction Corporation is a Burnaby-based company with a number of high profile projects on the go, including the new Mountain Equipment Co-Op store in North Vancouver.
Plans for Brick Yard Station call for a heritage rail-themed complex with anchor stores and smaller shops. Sunderland said construction is expected to be complete by spring 2012, with tenants opening for business next summer.
Despite some initial discussion with the City of Surrey, tourism gateway signage for historic downtown Cloverdale is not part of the development. “The city determined that this was not the location for it,” Sunderland said.
Instead, the shopping centre will have two, 15-foot signs along Highway 15 and 57 Avenue. There will be a northern entrance along 57 Avenue. There will also be access off Highway 10.
Other confirmed tenants are Quiznos, Original Joe’s Restaurant, Veras Burgers, and Clancy’s Meats.
Additional tenants will be announced in coming weeks. Site plans show room for more than two-dozen tenants.
“The intention is that we’d have a variety of uses to populate this community shopping centre, so that really, everybody that lives close by will be stopping for their daily needs,” Sunderland said. “We wanted to have more community use services.”
Anthem Properties – which has held onto the site since, a former highways maintenance works yard, purchasing it in 2007 – isn’t going to rush. It’s important to find just the right blend of commercial tenants.
“We won’t just go for any deal,” she said.
“We go for a good quality tenant that will be a benefit for the community, that’s going to provide a good service.”
Anthem Properties owns 10.4 acres on the northwest corner of Highway 10 and Highway 15, but is only developing the commercial portion at this time.
The light industrial portion lies to the east, and will be developed at a later date.
Follow the Cloverdale Reporter on 
Twitter and 
Facebook. View our print edition online.