Residents of the Yorkson neighbourhood, beside Willoughby Elementary, now have a grocery store they can walk to with the opening of Loblaw’s Your Independent Grocer (YIG) last Wednesday.
Qualico and its partner, Chow & Li were excited to see the opening of the first store of many to come in the Willoughby Town Centre.
Located in the heart of the Yorkson neighbourhood at 80 Avenue and 208 Street, the Willoughby Town Centre will ultimately boast 145,000 square feet of office and retail space plus exclusive condominiums.
“In developing the Willoughby Town Centre, the overall design was guided by three words ‘Home. Town. Spirit. Our plan is to create a neighbourly place to live and meet up, a place that respects the past, values community, and celebrates the fact that Langley is a great place to live,” said Hugh Carter, vice president of community and commercial development for Qualico Developments, which is in charge of building the town centre. 
Surrounded by multi-family homes and specialty commercial shops, dining and services, pedestrian plazas and pleasant walkways, Willoughby Town Centre will truly be a walkable community. The official grand opening of the Willoughby Town Centre is slated for Spring 2013, once all retail spaces are open for business.
In addition to Your Independent Grocer, (YIG), the Royal Bank and the G&F Financial Group will also be opening branches in the Willoughby Town Centre early next year. The project will continue to unfold with the first residential-retail building and an office building on the 208 Street frontage breaking ground this month. Occupancies are planned for spring 2014.
Qualico is also looking to add a beer and wine store to the development but it must receive Township approval. At a public hearing on the matter last month, some residents opposed having a liquor store so close to a school.
The Yorkson area of Willoughby has seen a major overhaul from homes sitting on acreage to homes sitting vacant, bought up by developers. Now the area has massive density of condominiums, rowhomes and single-family homes. This translates to a population boom in the area. A new K to 5 elementary school is currently being built in the area to accommodate the growth.
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