The parking lot behind the former Capital Six movie theatre on Blanshard Street will be transformed into a 15-storey mixed-use residential and ground floor commercial tower by Chard Development.

Currently known as 819 Yates, the project is comprised of 209 rental apartments in one and two bedroom configurations between 508 and 1,052 square feet. Approximately 6,600 square feet of ground floor commercial space will front onto Yates Street.

The design calls for 15-storeys above Yates Street and 11-storeys above View Street. A mid-block walkway will span the entire property and tie in to a newly installed pedestrian crosswalk on Yates Street. Excavation will be starting this summer with completion in the spring of 2018.

Although no stranger to residential developments in Victoria, 819 Yates represents developer Dave Chard's first foray into the purpose-built rental apartment industry.

Aerial and approximate massing of 819 Yates.  Citified.ca.

"Since our experience with The 834 condo where there were many investor buyers who rented their suites we have been interested in bringing the 'new condo' experience to the primary rental market," said Chard.

Victoria's rental vacancy doesn’t hurt, either. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation pegged the rate at just 1.5% which translates into fierce competition for desirable homes in a market infamous for its aging rental stock mostly dating back to the 1960's and 1970's.

It comes as no surprise that given the tight vacancy rate Chard Development is one of several developers working feverishly to supply a market hungry for new stock. According to Citified’s data, in downtown Victoria there are 322 rental units under construction with over 500 in planning. And across the region 1,600 rental units are planned with over 500 under construction. C

 Resources: view Victoria's most comprehensive new-build rental listings | Learn more about 819 Yates on Citified | Discuss 819 Yates on VibrantVictoria

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Hundreds of homes, Victoria's tallest building planned for Hudson District