The second phase of a Friends television show-inspired rental complex in Victoria’s Quadra-Hillside neighbourhood has been proposed by Aryze Developments.

 

 

Aryze, currently building the sitcom-themed Ross Terrace along the 2500-block of Fifth Street just south of Kings Road, is seeking approvals for a nearly 60-unit, six-storey design at 1025 Kings Road that would rise adjacent to Ross Terrace.

 

Submitted plans indicate the building will feature a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom suites, including three street-fronting townhomes with independent entrances accessible via its Kings Road frontage.

 

Parking will be in the form of a covered ground level lot with capacity for 22 vehicles. Each residence will be provided with a Modo car share membership, while capacity for bicycle storage will accommodate 83 bikes.

 

The concept is envisioned for a property currently home to a 15-unit, four-storey apartment building constructed in the 1970s that is approaching replacement age.

 

Luke Mari, Principal at Aryze Developments, says with Ross Terrace well underway, existing tenants at 1025 Kings Road will have the option of relocating next door into the new-build upon its completion in 2021.

 

“This project provides us with an opportunity to present the residents of 1025 Kings Road with the choice of moving into newly-built homes at Ross Terrace, while we proceed with the redevelopment of an older and significantly less dense apartment building into a series of new rental homes in an amazing urban village,” Mari said.

 

As for the Friends theme extending to 1025 Kings Road, Mari confirms that no decision has been made with regards to the second building’s pop culture reference, or if any such cues will be incorporated into the upcoming phase.

 

An affordable component will be allocated among the units as is the case with Ross Terrace, where a combination of market rentals and below-market rentals will be available to tenants.

 

“This latest proposal affirms our commitment to providing high quality rental housing with affordable housing mixed in throughout the project,” Mari said. “We believe that every neighbourhood should have diverse housing types and tenures for all incomes and demographics. A densified, compact, walkable lifestyle is critical to solving our climate and housing crisis all while creating more liveable and healthier communities.”

 

Pending approvals from the City of Victoria, construction is likely to get underway in 2022 following demolition of the existing complex. 

 

Victoria’s Quadra-Hillside neighbourhood has seen several residential undertakings materialize in recent years and continues to draw development proposals.

 


In addition to Ross Terrace, a three building project north of Hillside Avenue between Quadra and Fifth streets, known as Quadra Villa, will add nearly 40 homes to a surface parking lot adjacent to a two-storey apartment. Not far from Quadra Villa, the Summit at Quadra Village recently delivered 320 beds of long-term senior care as a replacement for the Oak Bay Lodge seniors facility near Oak Bay High School.

 

A stone’s throw from the Summit, BC Housing is constructing 21-units of affordable housing for Indigenous woman facing homelessness adjacent to the Evergreen Terrace community on Hillside Avenue at Blanshard Street, which is just a block east of a newly approved proposal to restore the historic Scott Building on Douglas Street at Hillside Avenue into rental apartments and retail space. The total density between the heritage and new-build (on an adjacent surface parking lot) components will yield over 150-units.

 

And closer to Aryze’s proposal, the Greater Victoria Housing Society is in the early stages of approvals for Forest Heights, a redevelopment of a 19-unit apartment along the 2500-block of Quadra Street into a modern building offering twice the number of homes. Forest Heights is situated adjacent to a 15-unit rental project that completed in 2018 at the hands of developer Groupe Denux. C

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