2025 is shaping up to be a big year for housing in downtown Victoria, with several purpose-built rental projects coming due next year within downtown-proper, and one on the periphery in the North Park neighbourhood.

 

 

The year will also see the completion of downtown Victoria’s first office tower since the opening of 750 Pandora Avenue in 2018, a 13-storey highrise built in tandem with a six-storey office complex at 1515 Douglas Street opposite Victoria’s City Hall.

 

On the housing front, Citified’s project tracking shows four residential developments will collectively deliver 680 rental apartments in downtown-proper next year, which include Denciti Development’s five-storey Spencer Block on Government Street between Chatham and Herald streets, J Gordon Enterprises’ six-storey 1124 View Street complex, Salient Group’s 825 Fort Street tower (rising to 11 storeys) and 975 Pandora Avenue, a 16-storey tower from developer Townline. Collectively, the rentals will also add over 27,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. There are no condominium developments currently underway in downtown Victoria.

 

At a new housing total hovering just below 700 units, 2025 is likely a record-breaking year for new rental housing completions in downtown-proper, which includes the central business district, and Harris Green.

 

In addition, on the northern border with downtown in the North Park neighbourhood, Primex Investments is expected to reach occupancy at its Parkway project, replacing the Wellburn’s Market building with just over 100 homes and more than 11,000 square feet of retail space in a six-storey massing on Cook Street at Pandora Avenue. Primex recently secured a three-year tax break from the City of Victoria in exchange for the company’s efforts to retain the Wellburn’s facade, dating back to the early 20th century. Adding Parkway to the total, the downtown community will see a rental housing infusion of nearly 800 units.

 

 

Meanwhile, in south downtown on Douglas Street at Humboldt Street, Telus Corp. is expected to complete its highly anticipated Telus Ocean office block with over 153,000 square feet of Class-A office space, and some 5,000 square feet of retail space. The 10-storey investment will create a modern, environmentally-forward landmark joining Telus’ real-estate investments across Canada. The company plans to occupy a portion of the office space, with the rest available for lease.

 

2024, however, will be subdued in terms of housing completions in downtown-proper compared to 2023's excess of 500 rental and condominium units, while 2022 delivered zero residences in any form.

 

Only two projects are expected to complete this year within the borders of downtown Victoria, those being a duo of rental towers along Johnson Street (known as Skinny and Wedge from Cox Developments), splitting 130 homes between them.

 

That being said, on the eastern border with downtown in the Fernwood neighbourhood on Cook Street between Johnson and Yates streets, Chard Development is nearing completion of two condominium projects, one a six-storey woodframe (called Haven), the other a 12-storey concrete tower (called Nest). 211 units are included among them, plus commercial spaces within the tower.

 

Citified's live tracking of projects throughout the Capital Region makes it easy to view what is planned and underway, and recently completed, in your community. View Citified's project portals for more details: rentals, condos, townhomes and subdivisions, and office/commercial projects. C

 

© Copyright 2024 by Citified.ca. All rights reserved.