1520 Blanshard Street, a parcel currently occupied by a three-storey office building dating to the early 1980s, could be redeveloped into a 35-storey mixed-use residential and retail tower by Vancouver-based Reliance Properties. Google
Vancouver-based developer pitches Victoria's tallest building for Blanshard Street property
Mike Kozakowski, Citified.ca
Published January 3, 2025
A three-storey office block in downtown Victoria could be redeveloped into a 35-storey mixed-use residential and retail tower, Citified has learned.
Vancouver-based Reliance Properties has pitched what may become the tallest building on Vancouver Island for a nearly one-acre parcel at 1520 Blanshard Street, currently occupied by a 36,000 square foot office block constructed in 1981, according to BC Assessment.
Reliance will be presenting its plans to local community groups in the coming weeks. The development is described as offering studio through three-bedroom residential units, with a ground level retail component and a floor dedicated to co-working spaces.
Currently occupied by the BC Ministry of Forests, according to Google Maps, the property features an all-concrete building above an underground parkade fronting Blanshard Street, along with a sunken public plaza to the west of the complex between Pandora Avenue and Cormorant Street.
If approved at a height of 35 storeys, Reliance’s tower could become the tallest building on Vancouver Island. Currently, the Island’s tallest building is developer Townline’s 25-storey Hudson Place One condominium standing two blocks north of the Reliance proposal, on Herald Street off Blanshard Street.
Elsewhere in downtown Victoria, Toronto-based Starlight Developments has secured approvals for a 32-storey residential massing as the third phase of redevelopment of Harris Green Village in the 900-block of Yates Street. The latter may not proceed to construction until the 2030s, however, while phases one and two are built.
On the West Shore, developer Onni Group is pursuing plans for two 33-storey towers at Colwood Corners, while not far away in Langford-proper, tentative approvals have been granted for towers into the mid and high 20-storey range
Reliance Properties is among the most active real-estate development firms in the Capital Region, with multiple projects planned for Victoria, and a partnership stake at Colwood’s oceanfront Beachlands community adjacent to the Royal Bay development on Metchosin Road.
Reliance has approvals for a residential project along Dallas Road and a residential project on Wharf Street at Johnson Street. The company is anticipating a verdict in 2025 on its large-scale redevelopment plans for the Capital Iron lands in north downtown, along with plans for a mixed-use residential-hotel tower at 780 Blanshard Street that incorporates the restoration of an art-deco office building into hotel rooms and a new-build highrise residential tower above. In 2016, Reliance completed a heritage restoration of the Janion Hotel into micro-condominiums, and a new-build residential addition fronting the Upper Harbour.
As far as tall building history on the Island is concerned, a 26-storey condominium constructed in the mid-1990s in Nanaimo stood as the Island’s tallest building until it was surpassed by downtown Victoria’s Hudson Place One in 2020. Prior to the Nanaimo project, a 22-storey tower in James bay held the title for three decades. C
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