Nanaimo Project Wins Judges Choice Award in 14th Annual Commercial Building Awards
Chris Lundy of Westmark Construction at Village On Third with the Award of Excellence in Mixed Use and the Judges Choice Best Overall Entry Award
NANAIMO – Village on Third Phase II of Nanaimo was named the Judges’ Choice, best overall entry in the 14th Annual Vancouver Island Real Estate Board Commercial Building Awards, announced Friday, May 7 virtually on a Zoom presentation.
Village on Third Phase II, built by Westmark Construction and designed by Daryoush Firouzli Architecture Inc., also won the Award of Excellence in the Mixed Use category. A near record 45 finalists, comprised of commercial, industrial and revenue-producing projects, including renovations, from the Malahat to Port Hardy, completed between January 1 and December 31, 2020.
A select team of independent judges from the real estate industry adjudicated the entries, including Dave Kirk of Cunningham & Rivard Appraisals, who noted “Reviewing the projects, I’m absolutely amazed how we keep raising the bar of products throughout central and northern Vancouver Island.”
Gold Sponsors of the Awards are Coastal Community Credit Union. Category sponsors are NAI Commercial, RE/MAX Commercial, Herold Engineering, MNP LLP and Yellow Sheet Review. Black Press is a Platinum Media Sponsor.
Westmark President Chris Lundy says Daryoush Firouzli, the project’s architect, took a creative approach to the sloped property, strategically located on Third Street, one of the busiest corridors into downtown Nanaimo from the Island Highway.
“These condominiums are very well received,” Lundy notes. “They have great views of the mountains and there seems to be a great community starting to unfold in the University district. We’re very proud of the team, and all the consultants that worked on the project.
“The commercial space I believe is 80 per cent occupied now,” Lundy adds. “There’s a drug store in there, a food vending shop and a chiropractic business. So it’s a very exciting area for Nanaimo that’s starting to develop.”
This year’s award was for Phase II of the project, as Phase I also won an Award of Excellence in the 2020 version of the VIREB Commercial Building Awards, in the Apartment category.
Island Westcoast Developments won two awards, including an Award of Merit for SPCA Nanaimo, and an Award of Excellence for the Retail category for VI Granite & Quartz.
Of the VI Granite & Quartz project, IWCD President Greg Constable says the 9,000 square foot building on Boxwood Road “the showroom is specific to showing off the pieces they do. The shop is state-of-the-art, with all their CDC machines imported from Italy. That was exciting. It’s a very unique building with a caretakers’ space above, and polished floors in the showroom. It’s a showpiece.”
Award of Excellence Winners by category are:
Affordable Housing: Nanaimo Association for Community Living. Builder: Knappett Projects.
Community Institutional: Nanaimo Airport of Cassidy. Builder: Durwest Construction Management.
Hospitality: Hotel Zed of Tofino. Builder: Farmer Construction.
Industrial: Oakwood Business Park of Nanaimo. Builder: Windley Contracting.
Multi-Family Apartments: NEO Apartment Residences of Campbell River. Builder: Crowne Pacific.
Multi-Family Condominium: The Met of Nanaimo. Builder: Windley Contracting.
Multi-Family Townhouse: The Aria of Duncan. Builder: Blueprint Custom Homes.
Office: JRP Solutions Ltd. of Courtenay. Builder: Avril Homes.
Retail Renovation: Ladysmith Thrift Store of Ladysmith. Builder: MKM Projects.
Retail: VI Granite & Quartz of Nanaimo. Builder: Island Westcoast Developments (IWCD).
Awards of Merit, for runners-up in a category, went to:
Affordable Housing: The Virage of Nanaimo and VIMHS Rosehill of Nanaimo, built by Saywell Contracting Ltd.
Community Institutional: Port Hardy Airport built by Kinetic Construction; Nanaimo Innovation Academy Classroom built by Saywell Contracting Ltd.; SPCA Barn of Nanaimo by Island Westcoast Developments (IWCD).
Multi-Family Apartments: Cubes of Courtenay built by AFC Construction; Sandscapes Apartments of Parksville built by WestUrban Developments.
Retail: CRU Building of Parksville built by Windley Contracting.
The link to view the video of the awards is: https://youtu.be/w_qqY7VgM9M
The official Souvenir Book for the awards, featuring photos and descriptions of each Finalist, can be viewed at: https://issuu.com/businessexaminer/docs/2021_vireb_book
For further information about the awards, visit www.vireb.com or www.businessexaminer.ca