Esquimalt’s and Victoria’s Esquimalt Road corridor is going through a historic transformation with numerous mixed-use developments under construction that will deliver nearly 900 homes between 2025 and 2027, according to Citified’s real-estate data.

 

 

Eight projects directly fronting Esquimalt Road, plus one development just off Esquimalt Road near the Admirals Road intersection, are adding significant density to a thoroughfare connecting Victoria’s Vic West neighbourhood to CFB Esquimalt, which also serves as the main commercial artery of the Township of Esquimalt.

 

One of the construction sites is situated in Vic West, with 95 units of rental housing plus commercial spaces on what was formerly an automotive lot. Known as Factory Block, developer Aryze expects occupancy at the six-storey build in 2026.

 

The remainder of Esquimalt Road’s underway inventory of new homes is in Esquimalt-proper, a municipality that surprisingly lost 122 residents between the 2016 and 2021 federal census periods, landing at a population of 17,533.

 

Fast-forwarding several years, Esquimalt is now at the forefront of per-capita housing construction in the Capital Region, having added numerous apartment blocks and condominiums to its residential stock over the last several years, with a significant inventory of homes under construction across the municipality. In early 2024, council even approved what could become the tallest building on Vancouver Island, a 26-storey condominium tower adjacent to an eight-storey rental from Esquimalt-based developer GMC Projects.

 

Seven high density construction sites are active in Esquimalt along the drive, totalling nearly 800 units of apartments and condominiums (the latter comprising 155 units) that will reach occupancy as early as this winter, and through 2027.

 

Starting from the west and moving towards the Victoria border to the east is Light House, a 13-storey rental tower from Aquila Pacific, just off Esquimalt Road at Constance Avenue. Occupancy is planned for early 2025. Near Light House and further north of Esquimalt Road on Saunders Street at Nelson Street is Harbourscape, a six-storey rental block from WestUrban Developments expected to reach completion between late 2025 and mid-2026.

 

On Esquimalt Road at Lampson Street is Proxima, GT Mann’s six-storey condominium on its way to occupancy in 2025. At Head Street is the second of two active condominium sites, known as Pacific House. The nine-storey tower (12 storeys tall if viewed from Wollaston Street) from Lexi Development Group is estimated to welcome residents next summer.

 

A stone’s throw from Pacific House and along the 800-block of Esquimalt Road approaching the Victoria border are three projects that are reshaping former long-time commercial destinations in Esquimalt, including the Cambie Pub complex, Esquimalt Bingo and a convenience store known colloquially as the AM2PM.

 

At the former Cambie Pub site at 858 Esquimalt Road, PC Urban is delivering the largest project among the current active inventory, at just under 200 units of rental apartments in a six-storey massing. Homes will be available for rent in 2025.

 

Further east at 820 Esquimalt Road, Denciti Development Corp. is starting work on Esquimalt Terrace, a six-storey apartment where Esquimalt Bingo formerly operated. And across the street from Denciti’s project is Hythe Pointe, an eight-storey seniors home on the AM2PM property and adjacent parcels, in its early stage of construction at 819-823 Esquimalt Road.

 

 

Elsewhere in the municipality, Esquimalt’s housing stock is also growing, with Abstract Developments’ six-storey Central Block condominium (now selling) set to add 99 homes in 2026 to 1075 Tillicum Road overlooking Esquimalt Gorge Park and the Gorge Waterway. Aragon Properties, meanwhile, is completing its build-out of multiple luxury condominium residences at Oakwoods, an approximately 200-unit multi-building investment on the English Inn property along the 400-block of Lampson Street.

 

Over in Vic West, the potential for construction start-up at a new phase of condominiums at Dockside Green will pad the housing count further on Esquimalt Road by some 300 units, at Tyee Road. Dockside Green is kitty-corner to Bayview Place and Roundhouse, where nearly 2,000 units of future housing density were approved by the City of Victoria earlier in the year. There is no timeline for a construction start at Bayview or Roundhouse. However, work should get underway in the coming years with approvals in hand. C

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