A rendering of The Quest, a four-storey condominium proposal for 2326 Oak Bay Avenue in the District of Oak Bay. Council voted to reject the 14-unit building on March 14th. © Large & Co.
COLWOOD
A former Petro-Canada commercial vehicle fuelling and service centre along Sooke Road near Kelly Road is being transformed into an office block.
Construction is underway on a two-storey commercial project at 2231 Sooke Road and 598 Heatherly Road that will deliver just over 9,000 square feet of modern office space to Victoria’s rapidly growing West Shore.
The property was used as a service centre from the late 1980s through 2020. That year, former owner Suncor Energy Products Partnership decommissioned the operation and undertook land remediation.
ESQUIMALT
The second phase of the Westbay Quay development along the banks of the Inner Harbour is nearing its construction launch as phase one makes fast strides towards its spring completion.
Comprised of the six-storey Topaz and two-storey Lapis buildings, phase one – with its sold-out collection of one and two-bedroom residences plus live-work suites and commercial units – has been underway since 2019 along Lyall and Head streets across from the Westbay Marina. And soon, Westbay Quay’s five-storey luxury Sapphire offering, earmarked for purchasers in search of opulent homes in an oceanside walkable setting, will get underway.
One of the Capital Region’s longest-operating nightclubs is no more as redevelopment plans draw near for its high-profile property.
Carlton Club Cabaret, in operation for several decades at 900 Carlton Terrace (just west of the Esquimalt Road and Head Street intersection), closed recently due to a string of COVID-19 restrictions, and its real-estate changed hands in 2021. The club will be temporarily transformed into an arts and event venue while redevelopment plans are drafted, according to the property’s new owner.
No other immediate changes are expected, save for the potential activation of a currently vacant medical clinic within the Carlton building’s Esquimalt Road frontage. Commercial leases for two restaurants adjacent to the vacant unit remain in effect for at least another year and-a-half.
SAANICH
77-suite Cadence from Abstract Developments has rapidly reached an 80 per cent sold-out status following its release last fall. The six-storey lowrise coming to the 3800-block of Quadra Street is expected to get underway later this year with completion in 2024.
OAK BAY
Large & Co.’s plans to build a 14-unit condominium along Oak Bay Avenue are in their ninth year since the concept was first aired before the municipality. However, at a meeting in March, council outright rejected it.
Eyed for 2326 Oak Bay Avenue, the four-storey woodframe build was nixed in lieu of sending the plans to a public hearing. According to the developer, staff were in support, the density and height met the official community plan, and the housing adhered to Oak Bay’s residential strategy. The cancellation, reportedly, caught the province’s attention as it works to assess whether provincial oversight may be required to streamline approvals for residential projects meeting municipal guidelines.
VICTORIA
A 60-stall surface parking lot along the 1000-block of Meares Street is slated for redevelopment into a six-storey condominium.
Developer Jawl Residential has teamed up with landowner Fort Properties to propose an approximately 50-unit project at 1039-1043 Meares Street designed by Cascadia Architects with at-grade parking for roughly half of the homes.
The block will be sighted adjacent to a six-storey BC Housing supportive residential facility currently underway at 1053-1075 Meares Street.
Chard Development’s downtown condominium pre-sales are nearly sold-out following a surge in buying at the builder’s Nest and BC Housing-backed Haven developments. 107-suite Nest, coming to the 1100-block of Yates Street, will rise to 12-storeys, and six-storey Haven, along the 1100-block of Johnson Street, has 104-suites offered with an affordability component. As of the time of this segment’s publication, only a handful of units remain for sale at each project. Completion is targeted for late 2023 or early 2024.
Hudson Place One, Vancouver Island’s tallest building, has is now sold-out of its 176 condominiums. The 25-storey highrise from developer Townline was completed in 2020 and stands at 777 Herald Street in downtown’s Hudson District.
Adding to the theme of sales success, Jawl Properties’ and Concert Properties’ Capital Park Residences along the 500-block of Michigan Street is now sold-out. The three-building final phase of the master-planned community completed earlier this year, marking the end of a significant transformation near the BC Legislature from a surface parking lot into provincial offices, retail spaces, rental apartments, condominiums and townhomes.
Mike Kozakowski is with Citified Media and can be reached at mailto:mike@citifiedmedia.com
