The former bus terminal in downtown Victoria could be replaced with an eight-storey, long-term rental building on the Empress Hotel grounds, under a proposal submitted to city hall this week.
An earlier concept from Bosa Development for a 10-storey building was shaved by two storeys and its footprint was altered after consultation with Humboldt Valley residents, architect James Cheng said Thursday.
“We rotated the building 90 degrees so that they [Humboldt residents] get a view directly to the water,” he said.
The building would match the height of the nearby Royal B.C. Museum.
Commercial space would go in on the ground floor and upper levels would have long-term, luxury rental apartments, with underground parking.
A total of 72 units are planned.
The hotel’s garden would be extended to Douglas Street. The design would also open up the view of the Crystal Garden building from the causeway, Cheng said.
The 87,037-square-foot building’s contemporary design will use brick and stone on its exterior, similar to the materials used to build the Empress Hotel. Those ideas came out of consultations with area residents, Cheng said. “All the residents said, ‘Don’t copy the Empress Hotel [in design]. That’s the grande old dame. It should look beautiful and we should complement it rather than copy it.’ That is exactly what we are doing.”
A rezoning application for 700 Douglas St. was submitted to Victoria on Wednesday.
After Nat and Flora Bosa bought the hotel in 2014, the heritage property went through an extensive renovation. The bus service was relocated across Douglas Street at the Crystal Garden.
“What is left on this site to bring it up to world-class quality is this leftover corner that used to be the bus [depot],” Cheng said.
The bus depot is not compatible with the architecture of the Empress, he said.
“It does nothing to address Douglas Street as a pedestrian street with shopping and retail and all that. It is does nothing for the corner,” Cheng said. “Our purpose is to clean that up, create a complementary use to the hotel.”
The intent is that Fairmont, which manages the hotel, will also manage the building. Some units might be used as longer-term furnished hotel rooms, Cheng said.
Also being examined is whether hotel services, such as room service or housekeeping, and amenities, such as the spa and gym, could be shared with renters.
The apartments would remain as rental and not become condominiums, Cheng said. “Mr. Bosa would keep the Empress grounds intact under one owner.”
The commercial component might see the continuation of retail in the hotel, Cheng said.
Retail on that block of Douglas Street has struggled at times. The goal is to develop a commercial space that complements the museum, as well as the planned development by Concert Properties of the former Crystal Court motel site.
After rezoning, a development permit would be required and plans would be more refined.
It will be at least three or four years before the building would be open, Cheng said. It is too soon to know what construction costs might be.
