City of Surrey begins bidding process to select developer, sports tenant, and operator for new 10,000-seat City Centre Arena

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Construction could begin in 2027

As a key initiative spearheaded by Mayor Brenda Locke, Surrey’s municipal government intends to move quickly on this project.

The request for expressions of interest opened on Jan. 22, 2026 and is scheduled to close on Feb. 13, 2026. The City will create a shortlist of proponents by March 3, 2026, inviting them to participate in the request for proposals (RFP) stage of submitting a detailed bid package. The deadline for the RFP submission is May 22, 2026, and the contract award will be made in August 2026.

After the selection of the successful proponent, the City will create the first detailed plans later in 2026 to show how the arena and surrounding buildings could look and fit on the development site.

Construction is currently targeted to begin in 2027.

Existing condition of the BC Lions’ training facility at Tom Binnie Park:

Preliminary concept of Surrey City Centre Arena replacing Tom Binnie Park:

BC Lions’ training facility eyed as the site for City Centre Arena

This project was first announced by Mayor Locke in early 2024 and again reaffirmed in Spring 2025 following progress made in the preliminary design and planning process.

In 2024, the City contracted Hunden Partners — a Chicago-based entertainment and destination real estate consultancy — to conduct a preliminary market analysis and assess the feasibility of developing an indoor arena integrated into a mixed-use commercial and entertainment complex. According to the City, by late 2024, Hunden Partners had favourable findings for the market feasibility of such a project, which led to further conceptual design, master planning, cost estimating, economic impact assessments, and funding and business strategies work throughout 2025.

The company also contracted architectural firm Perkins&Will and transportation demand consultancy Bunt & Associates to conduct further preliminary technical design planning work.

So far, the City’s preliminary planning work with the contractors assumes the project will be a redevelopment of the City-owned Tom Binnie Park — home to the BC Lions’ training facility for the past four decades.

However, the files for the current procurement process seeking partners note that the City is open to considering other locations within the Surrey City Centre area, with the municipal government owning other major properties that could be alternative strategic locations for such a complex. The City has indicated to prospective proponents that such a complex is expected to require roughly between 4.6 acres and 5.7 acres of land.

Existing condition of the BC Lions’ training facility at Tom Binnie Park:

Preliminary concept of Surrey City Centre Arena replacing Tom Binnie Park:

As well, while the City’s preliminary study recommends an arena capacity of about 10,000 seats, the municipal government’s bidding process “welcomes alternative perspectives from Respondents regarding optimal seating capacity options.”

“To enhance market competitiveness and financial performance, the City Centre Arena could incorporate a complement of premium seating and hospitality offerings, such as suites, lodge boxes, exclusive clubs, and elevated food and beverage experiences,” continues the procurement document.

This arena would host major sporting events, concerts, and year-round community gatherings.

In addition to the arena, the City’s previous preliminary concept made by its contractors also envisions about 100,000 sq. ft. of retail, restaurant, entertainment, and office uses, as well as a hotel tower with about 175 guest rooms and approximately 60,000 sq. ft. of ballroom, meeting, and conference facilities. The entire complex would be oriented around a galleria — an atrium-like enclosed promenade — between the arena and mix of commercial uses.

In contrast, the procurement files keep the size of the office, retail, restaurant, and hotel conference and meeting space more open-ended for the proponent to recommend during the bidding process, but suggest a specific hotel size of at least 150 guest rooms and the incorporation of on-site vehicle parking. As well, the procurement files mention residential as a possible added use to increase land value and potentially improve the project’s viability.

If achieved, this project would anchor and help catalyze the City’s newly created entertainment district within Surrey City Centre.

The City’s proposed location for the complex at Tom Binnie Park is strategically situated near the heart of the emerging high-density city centre, only a five-minute walk north to SkyTrain’s Gateway Station and about 10 minutes south to Surrey Central Station and the major bus exchange. The Expo Line’s elevated guideway frames the development site to the west.

With its optimal public transit accessibility, the site is ideally positioned to draw spectators not only from Surrey but from across Metro Vancouver for concerts, sports events, and other major gatherings at the arena.

“A recent market analysis conducted by the City in collaboration with a third-party advisory firm identified a gap in the regional sports, entertainment, and special events market for a mid-sized venue (pending capacity recommendations from Respondents) — an offering that is not currently available within Surrey. The development of the City Centre Arena would respond directly to this identified demand and support Surrey’s emergence as a regional entertainment destination,” reads a procurement document.

“To support year-round activation, the City envisions that the City Centre Arena would be integrated within a broader mixed-use environment (Entertainment District) incorporating complementary uses and amenities that attract residents, visitors, and businesses. Through this initiative, the City seeks to catalyze urban revitalization, attract investment, and establish Surrey as a premier destination for sports, entertainment, and urban living.”

Questions over public cost and landing a sports team as the anchor team

Prospective proponents are also being asked to present “innovative funding and financing approaches.”

Mayor Locke’s project is likely to become one of the key issues in the October 2026 civic election campaign, with some opponents in Surrey City Council over the past year questioning whether the City would be required to make a significant financial contribution. As the project remains in the preliminary planning stage, the City has not yet released a reliable construction cost estimate; however, it is expected to reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Surrey First city councillor and mayoral candidate Linda Annis has suggested that the City should instead prioritize improvements to parks, as well as community and recreational facilities, and has called for a public referendum on the arena project.

“If additional City-owned sites are proposed by Respondent(s) as part of the development — potentially reducing the City’s cash equity contribution, such sites may be considered, subject to further evaluation and City approval,” reads the procurement document, suggesting the City is open to the consideration of the private development of additional nearby City-owned lands to lower the municipal government’s direct contribution to the capital costs of the arena.

The City has also outlined several potential ownership and operating structure scenarios for consideration by the prospective proponents.

“The City is open to considering a range of proposed ownership and operating structures for the City Centre Arena, as put forward by Respondents. This may include, for example, City-owned and consortium-operated, City-owned and leased to a consortium, or consortium-owned and operated models. The City Centre Arena will be developed as a separate legal parcel from the Entertainment District buildings referenced elsewhere in the procurement documentation,” continues the document.

The arena’s viability would also likely hinge on securing a sports team as an anchor tenant, with the relocation of an existing Metro Vancouver franchise representing the most plausible path forward.

At present, the WHL’s Vancouver Giants play their home games at the 2009-built, 5,300-seat Langley Events Centre. The Giants relocated from the City of Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum at the PNE in 2016, moving to the Township of Langley-owned facility under a 10-year agreement.

Since 2021, the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks — the farm team of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks — have been based at the 7,000-seat Rogers Forum, which opened in 2009 and was known as Abbotsford Centre until November 2025. This City of Abbotsford-owned arena is managed by the Aquilini Group’s Canucks Sports & Entertainment — the same organization that owns and operates Rogers Arena — under an initial five-year contract with renewal options that could extend the agreement into the early 2040s for a total of 20 years.

Aquilini is also actively searching for a dedicated practice facility for the Vancouver Canucks, with the organization indicating that any such facility must be located within a 30-minute drive of downtown Vancouver.

Professional ice hockey also returned to the Pacific Coliseum in 2025, when the PWHL’s Vancouver Goldeneyes made the venue their home. In advance of the team’s inaugural season, the PNE undertook major upgrades to the 1968-built arena — the most significant renovations since those completed ahead of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

If Surrey City Centre Arena is built as a 10,000-seat venue, it would be the third-largest venue of its kind in the Lower Mainland — just behind the 19,000-seat Rogers Arena and 16,000-seat Pacific Coliseum, but ahead of the 7,500-seat Thunderbird Sports Centre at the University of British Columbia.

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