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“The majority of South Asians are in Surrey and it’s growing at a fast pace. The new immigrants can no longer afford Vancouver or Richmond.”

A fact sheet from the City of Surrey in 2011 suggests 37.6 per cent of Surrey’s immigrant population was born in India, compared with 30.8 per cent in 2001.

The shopping centre, which sits on four acres and is dubbed Little India, has been in the works since 2013 when the developer proposed having a “cultural precinct” at 80th Avenue and 128th Street. Surrey officials at the time said it would allow Surrey to mirror other big cities, such as Vancouver and San Francisco, which have a Chinatown, and Toronto a Greektown.

It also allowed the city to start cashing in on the massive growth in Newton, where hundreds of quasi-commercial South Asian businesses are scattered around the area, even though the area is zoned industrial. Most are allowed because they include a mix of warehouse or distribution centres with banquet halls or small retail, selling Indian staples like jewelry, saris and sweets. Business hubs York Centre and Payal Centre, as well as the Punjab Cloth House, act as anchors.

Surrey Coun. Tom Gill said that while the area already has a great mix of nearby vendors, the new shopping precinct is expected to “bring the bar up.” A previous report to the city had suggested most businesses around the proposed Little India site pay significantly less in property taxes because they sit on industrial-zoned land and don’t have to pay higher costs for their commercial enterprises.