Invest In BC Lower Mainland - Southwest: Maple Ridge

Invest In BC Lower Mainland – Southwest: Maple Ridge

BCBusiness in partnership with Maple Ridge Over the past five years, Maple Ridge has been one of the fastest growing cities in Metro Vancouver. During this time, Maple Ridge's population has grown by over eight percent and now exceeds 85,000 residents. Many of these new residents were drawn by the community's...

By I Tung / June 1, 2019

Maple Ridge Town Centre focus of urban growth

Over the past five years, Maple Ridge has been one of the fastest growing cities in Metro Vancouver. During this time, Maple Ridge’s population has grown by over eight percent and now exceeds 85,000 residents. Many of these new residents were drawn by the community’s combination of affordable real estate and abundance of outdoor recreational activities. What’s new, though, is the number of people who are looking to live in Maple Ridge’s increasingly urban town centre.

“We’re really excited by the number of new developments we’re seeing in the town centre,” says Brent Elliot, the Manager of Community Planning at the City Maple Ridge. “Our goal is to create a vibrant urban centre with a wide variety of housing, shopping and recreational options for residents. We’re working to add new restaurants, patios and festivals to make the town centre a destination for people of all ages.”

Elliot points to two major new mixed-use developments that demonstrate the City’s long-term vision of combining residential, employment and recreational activity in the town centre. The BrickWater development, currently under construction on 227th Street, features over 200 new condos built over new commercial space.

Similarly, Swiss Real will be breaking ground on a major multi-use development in the centre of town that will add 800 residential units, including four towers, as well as new office and retail space, over the next 10 years. “We want to plant a flag and say, This is where the town core is,'” says Jeremy Towning of Swiss Real. “It will have a European flair, in that it’s a city within a city, with a community park in its centre. Our vision is to help create a vibrant, walkable downtown area with businesses, stores, offices and housing.”