A mixed-use riverfront redevelopment proposed on the old Howard Johnson hotel lands in Nanaimo would bring 698 housing units, a hotel and a waterfront park to the northwestern edge of downtown.
The Millstone Riverfront Project, with mainly mid-rise residential buildings on 7.2 acres, requires rezoning approval before proceeding.
Mayor Leonard Krog is excited about the site being redeveloped “because it is such an important piece of land in the city.”
“We don’t have very many large parcels in the downtown core, and particularly right next to the river,” Krog said Thursday.
He would not comment on the specifics of the proposal at this stage, but said citizens will have a lot of interest in it.
The scale of the proposal reflects growing confidence in Nanaimo and its future, Krog said.
A numbered company owned by Victoria’s Martin family is developing the site. Brian Martin, who died in 2016, owned both the Nanaimo Howard Johnson and the Royal Oak Howard Johnston in Saanich, and his family is behind the development proposal.
In fall 2018, the Nanaimo Howard Johnson closed after 56 years in business.
The land has been considered for redevelopment in the past. A 2015 proposal, which did not go ahead, would have seen an $80-million hotel with a 5,000-seat multiplex to serve as a base for a Western Hockey League team. In the past few decades, the high-profile property has been mainly used by the motor inn, as a bus terminal and for parking.
The east side of the site is bounded by the Terminal Avenue (the Island Highway) overpass and an intersection with Comox Road.
If approved, the project would see 698 new homes, including rental units and townhouses, a 120-room hotel, 6,000 square feet of commercial/retail, underground parking and a linear park at the Millstone River, which would replace overgrown blackberry bushes.
Most buildings are proposed to range from two to six storeys. The tallest would be a 16-storey residential tower on the east side of the site next to the hotel.
Internal roads will be built by the developer, along with a roundabout with central mini-park and a plaza on the north-east end facing the river.
“The vision of the proposed Millstone River Project is that of a natural extension of Nanaimo’s 19th-century urban design, completing the northern edge of downtown with needed housing while connecting more of the city with a long neglected riverfront,” the submission to the city said.
Architect Franc D’Ambrosio, of D’Ambrosio architecture + urbanism, said the site is the crossover to the downtown, and the project would bring continuity to the area.
It would take the city to the river and link up with existing pathways and cycling routes, he said. Residential units will be within walking distance to services.
“This brings significant population to downtown,” D’Ambrosio said.
Residents would be able to drive to the new riverfront park.
New buildings at the corner would be constructed at street level, creating a landmark site, D’Ambrosio said.
Slightly less than one-quarter of the property has been sold to Ironclad Developments Inc. of Manitoba, which wants to build a large residential building on the west side of the site.
Nanaimo’s economy is seeing the effects of a building boom. New hotels, condominium buildings and rental projects, along with a range of housing, are all going up.
The cost to develop the Millstone Riverfront project will be “easily $200 million-plus by the time the dust settles. It is significant,” D’Ambrosio said.
