A proposal to develop a $20.5-million seniors’ care complex near the new Craigflower bridge in Saanich will go to public hearing next week.
Saanich Senior Living Inc., of Vancouver, in a joint venture partnership with BayBridge Senior Living, wants to redevelop the 994 and 998 Gorge Rd. West property, which is also home to an old motel and garage. A public hearing has been set for Jan. 14.
Part of the proposal is a plan to rehabilitate the heritage building that was once home to Brookman’s Grocery store.
The building would be shifted slightly to the corner, where it would be fixed up and used for local retail space and possibly a coffee shop.
Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard said the developer has consulted extensively with residents in the neighbourhood and with the community association.
“It’s quite a comprehensive development. It’s quite significant and it involves moving the corner heritage building — the old corner store — and using is as part of the development,” Leonard said.
The plan is to build a 143,035-square-foot facility. The residential mix would include 128 independent supported living and assisted living units comprising 16 studio units, 78 one-bedroom units, 20 one bedroom plus den units and 14 two-bedroom units. In addition, there would be 12 community care (also known as memory care) units for a maximum of 24 people.
The total would be 166 beds, a Saanich staff report says.
Saanich Senior Living senior vice-president of development John Kuharchuk said the company has done extensive demographic research within a five-kilometre radius of the site.
“It’s certainly pointed out to us that there is very substantial need for this type of property,” Kuharchuk said, adding that the idea is to provide a facility with a continuum of care.
“We have proposed in our facility that we would have independent supportive living, that we would have assisted living as well as memory care. So someone conceivably could arrive and stay until they became at a very advanced stage, where they needed much more medical intervention.”
About 70 per cent of the development’s residents are expected to come from Saanich, View Royal and Esquimalt, the Saanich Senior Living website says.
Leonard said there seemed to be a lot of support in the community for this type of facility when the proposal was reviewed by councillors in the summer. However, there were neighbourhood questions about issues such as building heights.
“So we’ll get a [reading] of that at the public hearing,” he said.
The facility’s main entrance would face Gorge Road West. Plans include underground parking, two landscaped internal courtyards and a terraced area, the Saanich staff report says.
Building heights would range from two to four storeys. The developer is seeking a parking variance to reduce the number of spaces provided to 74 from 85.
Kuharchuk said the number of parking stalls was increased from a previous proposal by about a third because neighbours were concerned staff and visitors would park on adjacent streets.
A transportation demand review noted that the average age of entry will be 83 to 85 and that an on-site shuttle would be available to all residents for scheduled group outings. As well, the applicant has agreed that should staff demand for parking exceed expectations, a ride sharing and/or a bus pass program would be implemented.
Construction would take 20 months and begin as soon as possible following necessary approvals, Kuharchuk said.
BayBridge Senior Living, owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, would co-own the project with Saanich Senior Living.
Saanich Senior Living is responsible for developing and constructing the project and BayBridge would operate the facility, Kuharchuk said.
Brookman’s Grocery had been a landmark in Saanich for about 80 years. Arthur Brookman Sr. opened the store in 1930, which stayed in the family for about 40 years. It was bought by Maurice (Mo) and Kileasa Wong, who also ran it for about 40 years. They sold the property in 2011.
