Semiahmoo Mall Redevelopment in South Surrey: What’s Planned at 1776 Martin Drive, 1797 152 Street, and 15150 18 Avenue

Semiahmoo Mall Redevelopment: What’s Planned on the North Edge of This South Surrey Landmark?

If you live in South Surrey or White Rock, you probably know Semiahmoo Mall as more than just a shopping centre. It is a place people use every week for errands, coffee, appointments, and everyday routines. That is part of what makes the proposed redevelopment here so interesting: this is not an empty site waiting to be transformed. It is an active local hub, and at the same time, it sits in an area Surrey has already identified for long-term growth and change.

At the big-picture level, Surrey’s Semiahmoo Town Centre Plan envisions this area evolving over roughly the next 30 years into a more compact, sustainable, transit-supportive urban centre that functions as the cultural and commercial heart of South Surrey. The City has also said that development applications consistent with that approved plan can now move forward, with residents still able to comment on projects as they come in.

The proposal getting the most attention right now focuses on the north edge of the Semiahmoo Shopping Centre lands, specifically the properties at 1797 152 Street, 15150 18 Avenue, and 1776 Martin Drive. Surrey’s 2024 planning report says the existing buildings on the first two sites, along with the Chevron gas station at 1776 Martin Drive, are proposed to be demolished as part of the redevelopment.

What is planned for that part of the site is significant. The first phase has been described as the redevelopment of the northernmost 2.8-acre parcel of the broader mall property, replacing the Chevron, Dollar Tree, and Subway area near the southwest corner of 152 Street and 18 Avenue. That first phase includes two 20-storey mixed-use towers and one 12-storey mixed-use tower, for a combined total of 554 homes. The project website for the application also says the current proposal is only for the northern portion of the shopping centre site and that Semiahmoo Shopping Centre will continue to operate and is not being redeveloped as part of the current application.

That last point matters. A lot of people hear “Semiahmoo Mall redevelopment” and understandably wonder if the entire mall is about to disappear. Based on the public material available now, that is not what is happening in the near term. The current proposal is a Phase 1 concept focused on the north edge. At the same time, third-party coverage of the application says the shopping centre is eventually expected to be completely redeveloped over time. So the most accurate way to think about this is that the north edge appears to be the first visible step in a much longer story.

There is also a transportation piece to this that nearby residents should pay attention to. Surrey’s planning report says the applicant is providing road dedication along 152 Street, 18 Avenue, and Martin Drive, and is also conveying road allowance within the mall lands. That suggests the City is using redevelopment not just to add buildings, but also to begin reshaping the surrounding road network. More broadly, Surrey’s town centre planning work has long contemplated street and road improvements through redevelopment, including a more urban street pattern and added space to support movement, access, and future growth.

So what are the concerns? They are the ones you would expect in a well-established area like this. Height. Traffic. Neighbourhood fit. Shadowing. Parking pressure. And the broader question of whether South Surrey residents want this part of the community to feel more urban than it does today. Those concerns are real, and they should not be dismissed. When a familiar low-rise commercial area begins moving toward towers, that is not a small change.

But there are positives too. More homes in a central location can help add housing supply near shops, services, and transit. Mixed-use buildings can support more walkability and bring more people within easy reach of local businesses. Surrey’s own policy framework clearly sees this mall site as one of the key places where higher-intensity growth should happen, rather than pushing that same scale of growth indiscriminately into surrounding neighbourhoods. In other words, if substantial change is going to happen somewhere in Semiahmoo Town Centre, the mall lands are one of the places the City has already signalled as appropriate for it.

The timing is the part that is still less clear. Surrey’s plan for the wider town centre is a long-range, roughly 30-year framework, and I have not found a publicly confirmed construction start date or completion date for this specific phase. So for now, the fair takeaway is that the vision is real, the first phase is clearly being advanced, but the full transformation of Semiahmoo Mall will likely unfold over years rather than all at once.

For local homeowners, buyers, sellers, and residents, this matters because projects like this can gradually change how a neighbourhood functions and feels. They can affect traffic patterns, streetscape character, housing choices, and even how people think about the future of South Surrey. Whether someone sees that as exciting, concerning, or a bit of both, this is one of those proposals worth paying close attention to.