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Kwantlen University to expand into Surrey's City Centre

Kyle Benning
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CITY CENTRE — Move over, SFU, because Kwantlen Polytechnic University is coming to downtown Surrey.

That was the $20 million announcement made by KPU and City of Surrey representatives in City Centre Wednesday, adding to the area's already bustling post-secondary offerings.

KPU President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Alan Davis said the new three-storey, 30,000 sq ft campus space would be called KPU Civic Plaza and would be part of the larger 3 Civic Plaza development. That project, a $150-million investment, will also hold two more floors of office space, a 144-room hotel and 349 condominiums. Once it is complete, 3 Civic Plaza will be the tallest building south of the Fraser River.

“It’s going to be quite different than what you’d find at our 72nd Avenue campus, different than what you’d find in Richmond, Cloverdale and Langley,” Davis said. “It’s very much a downtown, urban campus meeting the needs of the people who live in this region or use this as their gateway to other things.”

Davis added that KPU Civic Plaza would open in early 2016, but the university hasn’t yet made any plans on what courses and programs will be available at the location. However, he did say that post-graduate courses would be available at KPU Civic Plaza for people looking to advance their careers.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts was also present during the announcement and said she was happy to welcome more students in to the downtown area.

“I think it’s really exciting to have 1600 students here in City Centre," she said. "When we look at how everything is coming together, it’s our capitalizing on our young population."

There are now four major universities in City Centre – Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia and British Columbia Institute of Technology – and Watts is glad that Surrey is offering options to students.

"Not everybody wants to access education the same way, so having a variety of options is really key,” she said. “The opportunities are here.”

KPU has educated over a quarter-million students since 1981 and serves nearly 20,000 students annually.

Twitter @KBBenning