Momentum for downtown residential development continues to build as developers snap up properties and map out plans on the east side of the city centre.
Victoria’s Alpha Project Developments Ltd. has submitted a rezoning proposal to city hall for a 17-storey condominium at 960 Yates St., home of Philip Nyren Menswear and Womenswear.
Nyren is holding a store closing sale. Once called British Importers, the store’s roots go back more than 90 years in Victoria. It has been in a number of locations downtown and had several owners.
Nyren is looking for a new location downtown. He will remain in the current spot no later than the new year. After that, the soonest he could re-open would be in April, if he finds another site.
“It’s business as usual,” said Nyren. “I’m not ready to retire. I’ve got too much gas in the tank.”
Alpha’s Legato (named for a musical symbol) proposal conforms “exactly” to the official community plan, said Fred Rohani, company partner.
Plans calls for about 90 units at mid-range prices. Units would range from 500 square feet to 1,500 square feet. Three levels of underground parking are planned, Rohani said.
“This particular location is ideal for residential because of its proximity to the London Drugs shopping centre and you’ve got the Market [on Yates] there,” he said, adding that restaurants and entertainment are also nearby.
The Legato is designed by de Hoog and Kierulf Architects, the same firm responsible for Alpha’s Mondrian 101-unit condominium project at 1090 Johnson St., completed in 2013. “It is somewhat similar to the Mondrian. It is quite a modern building,” Rohani said.
Downtown Victoria has undergone a residential building boom in recent years, as developers rebounded from the 2008 recession. Hundreds of new units have been and will be built, boosting the downtown population.
Construction costs put many millions of dollars into the economy and create jobs. Residents support downtown shops and services, adding economic diversity to the core.
Another recent sale has seen Victoria’s CGS Properties acquire the McCall Bros. Funeral Homes and Cremation Services property at Vancouver and Johnson streets and the associated parking lot. McCalls will consolidate its operations within two years at its other site, at Sequoia Gardens in Royal Oak.
The plan is to develop the parking lot, Daniel Cox, of CGS, said in an email. “In terms of massing and design of the building, it is very early in concept and I can’t speak to the final product. This development will be a residential condo tower, with a mix of unit sizes.”
Cox said CGS looks forward to being part of the revitalization of the downtown core and, in particular, the Harris Green area.
“We feel this area will be a centre, consisting of residences, grocery stores, restaurants, coffee shops, gyms, which ultimately will result in a very vibrant area and a focal point of where young people and families will live and start their new businesses.”
As for the funeral home’s John Di Castri-designed chapel and gathering space, the developer intends to keep the building in its current form and find another use for it, Cox said.
CGS is focused on its planned 13-storey, 138-unit rental building, at 1075 Pandora Ave., that is designed to create a community. The plan has gone through rezoning and received a development permit from the city. CGS is planning to build, own and operate the building at the corner of Pandora and Cook for the long-term.
The company hopes to start construction in the next few months, Cox said.
This project will have some notable features, including a lighted blue stairway. The second level includes a children’s play area, a sculpture and art garden, an interactive blackboard for residents, a mosiac wall, and a climbing wall for kids.
Elevators will be extra-large to provide room for bicycles, which could be parked next to units. The plan also calls for 8,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
The project was designed to encourage residents to interact, the developer told city council.
Also in the works nearby is a proposal from Blue Sky Properties, a Robert Bosa company, for about 200 rental apartments at the former St. Andrew’s Elementary School at 1002-1008, 1012 Pandora Ave.
