A deal has been reached to have the doors remain open at one of Surrey’s largest licensed establishments.
A new ownership group of the 500-seat Taphouse Guildford has been granted a lease extension at 15330 102A Ave., on land where Surrey city council recently OK’d a 22-storey tower development.
The Taphouse doors were due closed Dec. 31, but the bar will now continue to operate for at least another two years, until land redevelopment plans are put in motion.
Longtime owner Wayne Ferguson remains involved in the new Taphouse ownership group along with son Alex Ferguson and Owen Coomer, chief operations officer. A lease extension with the building landlord was signed days before Christmas, and the news was posted to the pub’s Facebook page on Dec. 22.
“We were all definitely walking out of here (in January),” Coomer said, “and it came down to the wire. I think that the landlord kind of realized they’re probably not going to start building until sometime in 2026, that it’s gonna take a little bit of time. So we basically negotiated something new, formed a new ownership group to keep it open with the same name and logo.”
In recent weeks the Taphouse has hosted a number of special events and “final” nights, including a Mirage nightclub reunion, in salute to many years of entertainment on the site.
Ferguson helped operate a licensed establishment there since the first days of The Mirage in 1997. By 2014 the two-level building was renovated and reincarnated as Taphouse, a 10,000-square-foot bar/restaurant that employs up to 75 people, depending on time of year.
Surrey-based Steelix is the real estate development and management company that wants to build a 22-storey mixed-use highrise on the site with 296 housing units and groundfloor commercial space. The higher-density rezoning application was approved by Surrey council after a public hearing Sept. 25.
Shown on surrey.ca is an architectural drawing of the proposed tower, in a 64-page report to council, along with other project details. No construction timeline has been announced.
The Mirage’s 18-year run as a dance club featured some live music including Lady Gaga’s concert there in August 2008, in support of her debut album, The Fame.
With Taphouse, the focus was on an older demographic with better food, big screens for sports but still a stage for bands and DJs.
Coomer said the Taphouse continues to stage DJs only, but he’s open to the idea of live music returning to the bar.
“There is that possibility, especially with the venue set up for entertainment and live bands, the design of the building and all that kind of stuff,” Coomer said. “I’d love to see it at some point, you never know, especially if the community is really itching for it.”