A proposal to transform the historic Customs House in downtown Victoria into a retail/condominium project will go to public hearing.
Victoria council agreed Thursday to forward the redevelopment plan to a hearing, pending review by the heritage advisory panel and the advisory design panel. No date has been set for the hearing.
“I think this is a prominent gateway to our downtown and I really see these two buildings — this new proposed building on the corner and the Belmont [a heritage building across the street] … — as forming a really nice entranceway in tandem,” Mayor Lisa Helps said.
Stan Sipos, of Cielo Properties, is seeking to transform the city block including the Customs House, at 816 Government St., into 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and 105 condominiums in seven storeys above. The proposal also contemplates a distillery or brewery, with a retail liquor sales as an accessory use.
The Customs House building, surrounded by Government, Wharf and Courtney streets, served as an early post office. It has had several additions over the years.
Under the proposal, the four-storey, box-like 1950s portion of the building, facing Government Street, will be demolished and replaced with a seven-storey building — roughly the same height as the nearby Belmont. Underground parking for 94 vehicles is planned.
The 1914 heritage building’s facades on Wharf and Courtney streets are on the city’s heritage registry and are to be retained and upgraded. A single-storey rooftop addition is planned.
City staff are recommending the sixth and seventh storeys of the new building be set back to reduce the appearance of height. Both councillors Charlayne Thornton-Joe and Pam Madoff questioned the proposed 30-metre height of the seven-storey building. Madoff said it’s essentially double the 15-metre height restriction for Old Town.
When the restriction was established, the notion was that new construction would not be taller than the 15-metre midline for a five-storey building in Old Town. So the notion is that the most important value in Old Town is the form, the character, the height and the skyline, Madoff said.
“So, for me, it is really important that the heritage buildings are the ones that take prominence,” she said.
Murray Miller, Victoria’s senior heritage planner, said buildings in Old Town generally range between one and five storeys.
“This would be higher than what is characteristic in Old Town. However, staff believe there are opportunities for how that height is actually experienced,” Miller said. “The guidelines focus on the effect of height rather than an absolute height and, with setting back the upper levels, I think one could allow a seven-storey building to feel more like a five-storey building.”
Madoff also raised concerns about a proposed rooftop addition to the heritage building. Such additions are supposed to be inconspicuous, something that will be difficult to achieve given the building’s location, she said.
“We often see applications where we are told if we stand on a particular corner and look at it in a particular way, we’re not going to see those rooftop additions. In this particular case, it’s the Inner Harbour, so you’re going to see it from the legislature. You’re going to see it from the CPR Terminal. You’re going to see the long view,” Madoff said.
“So it can’t be inconspicuous in terms of its visibility. So are there ways it can be made less conspicuous.”
Helps said she hopes that if the project is approved, the demolition can be scheduled to start after the height of tourist season.
Coun. Ben Isitt said the project has the potential to assist in “revitalizing one of the thornier parts of Government Street.”
“When I first heard about this, I was hoping that the rehabilitation would involve both buildings,” Isitt said. “I think there are reasons that may justify replacing the 1950s building with a new one, but I think there is still perhaps a discussion there and we’ll hear what the heritage panel has to say and then certainly hear from the public.”
