Dignitaries celebrate the groundbreaking of Tresah, the region’s first mass timber-designed condominium tower now underway between the 600-blocks of Frances and Speed avenues in Victoria’s Mayfair District. Mayor Lisa Helps, at left, assists developer Edward Geric, at right, with a customary first shovel’s-worth of moved soil. © Citified.ca
Langford
A duo of residential towers have been proposed across the street from Centennial Park near Spencer Middle School. Landowners representing 1020 Costin Avenue and 2836-2854 Carlow Road (just south of Goldstream Avenue) are seeking a rezoning from the district’s One and Two-family Residential zone, which blankets the proposal’s five properties, to City Centre zoning permitting taller structures and significantly higher densities. Approximately 170 rental residences in one and two-bedroom layouts that include ground-oriented units are envisioned by the proponents as part of ten and 11-storey mid-rises, according to submitted plans.
The first phase of development at the Tri-Way seniors mobile home park in the 2700-block of Spencer Road could be an affordable senior’s complex. Envisioned with nearly 60 apartments, if approved the Capital Regional District-operated project will be situated at the Spencer Road end of the park owned by Tri-Way Development Ltd., which earlier this year announced redevelopment plans for portions of its holdings.
Langford & View Royal
The Capital Region Housing Corporation (CRHC) has completed two affordable rental projects on the West Shore with nearly 300 residences scheduled for December move-ins. Spencer Close, a 130-unit complex in Langford along the 2700-block of Spencer Road, features one and two-bedroom layouts with in-suite laundry and available on-site parking. Qualification for one-bedroom homes requires an annual household income range of $42,500 to $74,150, while two-bedroom layouts are available with earnings of $56,000 to $113,040. Meanwhile, construction of the CRHC’s West Park, a two-building, 152-unit collection of one and two-bedroom apartments along the edge of Thetis Lake Park, is now complete in the 1800-block of View Royal’s West Park Lane. West Park’s rental qualifications mirror those of Spencer Close.
Victoria
The massing of a five-tower development proposal between the 900 and 1000-blocks of Yates and View streets has been adjusted following feedback and formal planning sessions. Building heights at Starlight Developments’ Harris Green Village redevelopment effort, planned for the London Drugs and Market on Yates-anchored Harris Green Village retail node and the Harris automotive dealership one block east, are now envisioned to reach the tallest heights on Vancouver Island. The updated proposal, if approved, would yield a landmark tower of 32-storeys situated half-way up the 900-block of Yates Street that represents a notch upward from its originally planned 25 or 27-storeys. A 28-storey tower is now proposed at the intersection of Yates and Quadra streets, several storeys taller than originally proposed, and a third will stand 27-storeys tall at Vancouver Street, also multiple floors higher. Further east at Cook Street, a former 19 and 17-storey massing has been adjusted to 21 and 19-storeys, respectively.
The land below a popular dining destination in the Burnside-Gorge neighbourhood has been acquired by Jim Pattison who appears to be banking big on the Capital’s emerging ‘midtown’ also dubbed Mayfair District. Douglas Street’s location of Denny’s, a diner-style chain of eateries headquartered in South Carolina, is now in the hands of Pattison’s The Pattison Group, adding a final piece to significant land holdings under the billionaire businessman’s control between the 600-blocks of Finlayson Street and Frances Avenue.
A ground breaking ceremony kicking off the construction start of Victoria’s first mass timber-designed condominium tower took place on November 17th in the Mayfair District. Developer Mike Geric Construction will deliver nearly 250 residences to the 600-blocks of Frances and Speed avenues in a duo of buildings known as Tresah West, a 12-storey highrise tower constructed from state-of-the-art cross-laminated and glue-laminated timbers, and Tresah East, a six-storey lowrise counterpart. Tresah’s late summer initial sales release produced a 50 per cent sell-out of Tresah East’s 68 homes, and 20 per cent of Tresah West’s 179 residences have been reserved as a fall sales campaign ramps up.
A former private bank-turned-office-building on Douglas Street will become a bank once more next spring. Vancouver-based VanCity Credit Union has leased a 2,135 square foot portion of 1280 Douglas Street, a two-storey landmark at the southwest corner of Douglas and Yates streets. VanCity’s new branch, a lease-up handled by the Victoria offices of commercial real-estate brokerage CBRE, will replace the credit union’s existing downtown location along the 700-block of Fort Street, and is expected to open in May of next year. VanCity also operates a branch on Douglas Street at Finlayson Street within the Mayfair District.
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