Concept of the new Costco Wholesale store at 1891-1947 164 Street in South Surrey. (Costco)
The proposal to build Metro Vancouver's largest Costco Wholesale store location will be deliberated by Surrey City Council in a public meeting for the first time next week.
As previously reported by Daily Hive Urbanized last year, Costco is proposing to build a new store at 1891-1947 164 St. in South Surrey -- on a vacant site on the east side of Highway 99, in an area between the highway's existing 24 Avenue overpass and the 16 Avenue interchange.
During the meeting, City staff will present Costco's application for the first and second reading. If it passes both initial readings, the proposal would enter public hearing at a later date, providing residents with the opportunity to speak to City Council to offer their input. City Council will then make a key decision on the project during the third reading, followed by the fourth and final reading.
Ahead of the meeting, Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke has expressed her preliminary support for the project.
"It's encouraging to see major employers like Costco continuing to invest in Surrey," said Locke in a statement today.
"This proposal before Council represents a potential second Costco location in one of our fastest-growing areas of South Surrey. While the application will go through the full land-use process, it's exciting to see this level of confidence and interest in our community."
The 33-acre development site is undeveloped, occupied by trees and other vegetation. If approved, the project will be set back from the highway to protect some riparian areas and a stream, and to create a new pond. Altogether, over five acres of the property will be set aside for riparian/naturalized areas.
City staff note that prior to construction, BC Hydro's existing transmission lines cutting through the property must be relocated.
Costco is looking to rezone the site from "multiple residential" to "mixed employment" uses. The main store building will span 165,000 sq. ft., and there will be a surface vehicle parking lot with 975 stalls, along with a Costco gas station -- making it Metro Vancouver's third Costco store with a gas station, after the existing stores in Langley and Port Coquitlam.
To better accommodate the expected significant vehicle traffic volumes, there will be a widening of 164 Street along the east side of the store property and 18 Avenue on the south side, a new roundabout will be built at the intersection of 164 Street and 19th Avenue, and new traffic signals will be installed at the intersection of 20 Avenue and 164 Street and the intersection of 20 Avenue and 168 Street.
This will be Surrey's second Costco location after the existing location in Newton, and the 16th location in Metro Vancouver. In November 2025, Costco will open its first Costco Business Centre store location in the region within a former Rona store building in New Westminster.
Separately, during the same meeting next week, City Council is also expected to endorse City of Surrey staff's recommended design to upgrade Highway 99's 24 Avenue overpass into a full interchange.
Currently, the 24 Avenue overpass is an east-west crossing above the freeway without any links to Highway 99. The recommended design upgrades the existing overpass and adds a southbound off-ramp and a northbound off-ramp onto the highway on the north side of the overpass, creating a new additional interchange on the highway corridor.
The 24 Avenue overpass is located adjacent to the area's Walmart Supercentre. An upgrade of this overpass into an interchange standard is intended to serve South Surrey's growing population and businesses, and it will also provide an additional way to reach the nearby new Costco just to the south.
Existing condition of the 24 Avenue overpass for Highway 99:
Future condition of the 24 Avenue overpass upgraded into a Highway 99 interchange:
This interchange project is a partnership between the City and the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Transit, which collaborated on the recommended design. The project is expected to cost $56 million.
"The 24th Avenue interchange improvements are a critical infrastructure investment for South Surrey," continued Locke.
"Although this report will be carefully considered by Council, I am encouraged that by working closely with the Province, we're moving forward to improve connectivity, safety, and traffic flow in this key corridor."