Victoria residents will get their say on a large development at Cook and Yates that includes a tower with 13 storeys — five more than is currently permitted at that location under the city’s official community plan.
Councillors meeting in committee of the whole voted to send the project to a public hearing so people can weigh in on the developer’s vision for the properties at 1309 and 1315 Cook St., 1100-1120 Yates St. and 1109-1115 Johnson St.
Chard Development wants to build two new buildings — one 13 storeys and the other six storeys — and retain an existing five-storey medical professional building on Yates.
The project features a central courtyard, daycare spaces, hidden utility lines, pedestrian and transit improvements, and underground parking. Of the 217 residential units, 104 will be sold at below-market value.
Councillors raised concerns about the project’s height and lack of rental units, but ultimately felt it had enough merit to seek public comment.
“Is this perfect? No. Is it really great? Yes,” Coun. Marianne Alto said. “And I certainly think it’s great enough to move on to a public hearing.
“At that point, I would look forward to hearing what people think about applications like this.”
The proposed 13-storey building at Cook and Yates will have commercial space on the ground floor, strata units and a daycare for up to 50 children on the second floor, and more strata units above.
Coun. Geoff Young said residents might have concerns about the building’s height, which will require an amendment to the official community plan.
But he said it likely represents a reasonable transition from the 15- to 17-storey buildings permitted directly across Cook Street.
“I think the public has shown it is willing to accept high buildings in the downtown,” he said.
The six-storey residential building on Johnson, meanwhile, will have 104 strata units, all of which will be sold at 10 per cent below market value under B.C. Housing’s Affordable Home Ownership Program. The target household income ranges for prospective buyers include $35,000 to $55,000 for studio units and $55,000 to $85,000 for one- and two-bedrooms
Under the program, the amount of the 10 per cent discount is secured as a second mortgage on the registered title. If the homeowner sells their unit at some point down the road, the second mortgage will be repaid at the current market value and deposited in Victoria’s affordable housing reserve.
In the case of the Chard project, the city expects to eventually receive about $5 million to spend on other affordable housing projects.
Mayor Lisa Helps praised Chard Development for heeding council’s call for below-market housing with family-sized units and child care spaces.
She said the project serves as a “demonstration to others that this is something that can be done and still have lots of units and beautiful buildings.”
Coun. Ben Isitt, however, voted against sending the project to public hearing, arguing that it doesn’t go far enough in providing affordable housing for the city’s poorest residents.
“If we are going to open up the [official community plan] and grant these kinds of entitlements beyond the existing zoning, I think we have to channel that new value into affordability for the poorer half of the population,” he said.
“For me to be able to support this, it would require a portion of the new units be residential rental.
“If we look at the size of this project, it’s going to be definitely skewed to more affluent people.”
Coun. Jeremy Loveday echoed those concerns, although he voted in favour of sending the project to a public hearing.
“I think this is a large site and I question how many large sites do we approve without any affordable rental housing on it, without anything for the people who are struggling the most?”
Helps countered that the city needs housing for people at all income levels. She said Chard Development will offer places for young professionals who currently can’t afford to buy a place in the city.
“If we go in the direction that Coun. Isitt suggested, we’re going to end up with a city that has really rich people and really poor people,” she said. “And that’s not the kind of city that I want.”
