A thrift store next to RidgeView Place — the 11-story residential tower in Langford that was evacuated in late April over structural concerns — has moved back in after the city eased warnings around the troubled tower.
Shortly after the building was evacuated, the city installed large warning signs on either side of the Claude Road building saying pedestrians and others should avoid entering the area “unless they have a pressing reason or urgent business.”
The city said Tuesday it is removing the restrictions on sidewalks and passageways in the immediate vicinity based on confidential information provided by the building owner, Centurion Property Associates Inc.
The Langford chapter of Saint Vincent de Paul moved back into its location on Claude Road last week after receiving a letter from the city saying warnings for the immediate vicinity had been removed.
The store had been operating out of a smaller space in Langford City Hall for nearly two months.
“We feel really, really great about this. We’ve already had an influx of donations coming in, lots of people visiting the store. People are very happy to see us back,” said Derek Pace, executive director of Saint Vincent de Paul.
In a statement, the city said it is still awaiting further information from Centurion regarding the details of any remediation work.
“The City did receive initial preliminary information from Centurion Properties in early May relating to the structural integrity of the building,” a city spokesperson said in a statement “At this time, Centurion Properties has not allowed the city to release this information as Centurion Properties deemed this information confidential.”
The city said it recognizes the “information deficit” about the building’s condition is an “imperfect situation.”
Centurion did not respond to a request for comment.
Little has been shared publicly about problems with the building, originally called Danbrook One, since it was evacuated on April 24, more than three years after the apartment tower was first emptied because of an investigation by the Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. over structural flaws.
Two engineers involved in the original work lost their registration with the provincial regulatory body and are not allowed to practise engineering in the province.
Langford re-issued an occupancy permit in April 2022 after remediation work was completed, but in mid-April this year, the regulatory body told Centurion and Langford it had opened an investigation into the engineer responsible for remediation work, leading to a second evacuation.
In a letter, the regulatory body provided details of a variety of potential structural design issues that may not have been addressed by the original remediation, and concluded that it had received no evidence that a comprehensive review of the building’s structural design or the built structure was ever conducted for the remediation work.
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