The three-tower proposal – on Douglas Street between Discovery Street and Caledonia Avenue – also incorporates a 90-unit BC Housing-backed supportive housing facility that will rise on the north side of Discovery Street on the hotel’s parking lot. BC Housing currently operates the City Centre Hotel as residences for people experiencing homelessness.

 

Between Discovery Street and Caledonia Avenue with frontage onto Douglas Street, Chard Development will deliver 147 condominiums in a 21-storey tower (plus over 41,000 square feet of office space and nearly 52,000 square feet of retail space), 171 purpose-built rental suites also in a 21-storey massing, and 133 below-market workforce rental homes in a 16-storey tower.

 

At Thursday’s public hearing, councillor Dave Thompson referred to Chard’s concept as “the best application” he’d “ever seen,” while councillor Matt Dell labelled the plans as “a development where the City’s interests were put first.”

 

With Chard Development and BC Housing jointly involved in the redevelopment, Chard Development CEO Byron Chard says the symmetry both organizations shared between their respective holdings allowed a complex pursuit to work for the betterment of the broader community.

 

“Chard had a unique opportunity to partner with BC Housing on this project, being neighbours with aligned interests and sharing a joint vision, to deliver the most homes, representative of the widest spectrum, of residents,” Chard said, adding that both parties approached this project “with the best interests of the broader public in mind, supported by the collaborative way BC Housing does business, made possible through a well regulated process and a robust selection framework.”

 

The cooperative relationship will allow BC Housing to start construction on 90-units of supportive housing on Discovery Street by late 2023 or early 2024, while residents remain in the City Centre Hotel situated on Chard Development’s land. Post-completion, residents will move to new supportive housing, and construction will commence on the three condominium and rental towers, in unison. Once occupancy is reached, BC Housing will assume ownership of the 16-storey workforce rental tower, Chard confirms.

 

Pending completion of the BC Housing supportive units by late 2024, construction on the towers is expected to get underway by early 2025.

 

Serving as a book-end for Victoria’s downtown core and as the gateway to the burgeoning Burnside Gorge neighbourhood, Chard and BC Housing’s concept is slated to be a focal point in an area earmarked for significant densification over the coming decade as more housing emerges on nearby parcels, which for the most part, was land formerly used for light industrial and commercial purposes.

 

With a full-service grocery store planned for the site – and Chard’s commitment to a cross-spectrum supply of new-build housing – the proposal aligns with parallel efforts at the hands of multiple developers each taking part in the early stages of a northern expansion of downtown Victoria. These include Nicola Wealth’s approved rental project between the 600-blocks of Herald and Chatham streets at Government Street, Le Fevre Group’s newly-built Ironworks condominium on Chatham Street at Store Street along with the company’s Albion Residences proposal, and Reliance Properties’ pending redevelopment of the Capital Iron lands between the waterfront and Government Street along Chatham Street.

 

 

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