An artist's rendering of The Scott Building, a three-storey, 106-year-old office complex on Douglas Street at Hillside Avenue slated for a transformation into rental apartments. An adjacent six-storey lowrise depicted on what is currently a surface parking lot will feature five levels of residences and a ground floor commercial component. Both buildings will be connected by a three-storey wing. District Investments Group
Scott Building transformation and adjacent parking lot redevelopment to yield over 90 rental units
MIKE KOZAKOWSKI, CITIFIED.CA
Published May 4, 2018
Victoria’s historic Scott Building situated at the nexus of Douglas Street, Government Street, Gorge Road East and Hillside Avenue could be transformed into residences as part of a 91-unit, mixed-use development proposal that also incorporates an adjacent surface parking lot, Citified has learned.
The 106-year-old office complex is comprised of over 50,000 square feet across three levels and up until recently was anchored by a ScotiaBank branch. Less than a decade ago the building's previous owner, Three Point Properties, undertook a multi-million dollar restoration effort to partially modernize the aging structure.
Fresh development plans unveiled by Vancouver-based District Investments Group depict the Scott Building’s restoration and interior remodelling as containing purpose-built rental apartments on floors two and three. The ground floor, with frontage onto Douglas Street and Hillside Avenue, will be retained for office or retail uses.
A surface parking lot at 735 Hillside Avenue and to the east of the Scott Building will be redeveloped into a six-storey purpose-built rental building with five residential levels and a commercial ground floor. A three-storey wing will connect the Scott Building to the new-build along Hillside Avenue.
The repurposed Scott Building will contain approximately 46 residential units while 45 are slated for 735 Hillside Avenue. Layouts will be in the form or one, two and three-bedroom suites.
A formal municipal planning application before the City of Victoria is anticipated this spring with approvals by early-to-mid 2019. Construction is likely to begin by mid-to-late 2019.
The City of Victoria’s Humber Green district along the Burnside-Gorge neighbourhood’s southern Douglas Street corridor has seen a significant rise in construction activity and development proposals in recent years.
The eight-storey Midtown Court office complex with ground floor retail space completed in 2015 along the 700-block of Hillside Avenue. Several years prior an eight-storey seniors residence was constructed immediately to the south of the Scott Building.
In planning is a redevelopment proposal for the Times Colonist building half a block south of the Scott Building. The sizeable structure will be transformed into tech offices, retail and restaurant spaces, and a residential component on the building’s surface parking lot. The project proponent is currently working to secure commercial tenants for the modernized and repurposed Times Colonist building.
Further south near the downtown Victoria and Burnside-Gorge border a mixed-use residential and commercial proposal has surfaced for 2300 Douglas Street. Developer Laing Properties hopes to secure approvals for a 60-unit rental complex with a ground floor luxury automobile sales centre. That project is currently before the City of Victoria. C
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