DLA Piper Canada advises Fraser Health Authority on significant health care project land acquisitions

DLA Piper Canada advised Fraser Health Authority (the “FHA”) in a land ‎acquisition from Kwantlen Polytechnic University for the province’s newest hospital and cancer centre in ‎Surrey, British Columbia‎ and a land exchange with ‎Maplewood Seniors Care Society ‎for lands near Abbotsford Hospital and Cancer Centre, to enable the expansion of residential care in a campus of care.‎

The FHA owned hospital and cancer centre in ‎Surrey, British Columbia ‎will be at the forefront of health ‎care innovation, technology and sustainability. The new hospital will ‎‎include inpatient and outpatient care, surgical services, 24/7 emergency ‎department, medical imaging and pharmacy services, ‎child daycare centre, and more. As a first step towards development of the new hospital, on August 29, 2023, DLA Piper Canada assisted FHA with ‎closing a purchase agreement for the ‎acquisition of lands from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, together with development entitlements negotiation with the City of Surrey.

In June of 2023, the FHA entered into a land exchange with ‎Maplewood Seniors Care Society (“Maplewood”) to use its newly acquired lands in Abbotsford to ‎create a new care facility proximate to the Abbotsford Hospital and Cancer Centre. The new facility will replace the existing Cottage Worthington, and the facility will have 200 beds, nearly double the amount of FHA’s current ‎care facility, which will allow more people living in the eastern Fraser Valley to have access to high ‎quality long-term care. Read more about this transaction here. ‎ On August 28, 2023, DLA Piper Canada ‎helped FHA acquire approximately 8.3 acres of land on which a Maplewood residential care facility is ‎currently located and an adjoining vacant parcel in exchange for consideration including approximately 4.41 acres of land ‎upon which the Cottage Worthington facility is located.  The transaction involves lease-back arrangements to ensure continued provision of care services by both parties during the phased re-development of the sites. 

These projects have taken many years of close work between FHA and its legal counsel.  At DLA Piper Canada, this team is led by Max Collett and includes David ‎Gore, Taylor Lingl, Nicky Sellinger (real estate, planning), and Jenny Du (tax).