A development proposal overlooking a busy Esquimalt intersection could bring further change to the town’s main thoroughfare.

 

Eyed for several properties along the 1100-block of Esquimalt Road at Lampson Street is a six-storey, 102-unit residential complex comprised of one, two and three-bedroom suites and a collection of nine two-storey townhomes with ground level frontage onto both roadways.

 

 

Victoria-based Praxis Architects has envisioned a staggered height for the building which accommodates the steep incline of Lampson Street north of Esquimalt Road through a terracing effect. The building’s ‘backwards-C’ footprint includes an interior courtyard that will provide a green area and amenity space for residents, while the varied heights allow for two common area rooftop decks with southern exposure.

 

An underground parkade will accommodate 102 vehicles and 150 bicycles.

 

The project is one of several significant development plays that are modernizing Esquimalt Road and establishing the area as a hot-spot for condominiums and modern rental apartments beyond the City of Victoria’s Victoria West neighbourhood, which has experienced a rapid increase in housing density over the last two decades.

 

From east to west, Vanguard Projects recently completed Verde Living, a six-storey condominium comprised of 30 residences in the 800-block of Esquimalt Road. Verde is just a stone’s throw from a proposal to build a 12-storey condominium tower at 899 Esquimalt Road at Head Street (dubbed Pacific House) with 57-units.

 

South along Head Street from Pacific House Tenfold Projects has begun work on the two, five and six-storey Westbay Quay, a three-building condominium and commercial project that will deliver 79 waterfront suites overlooking the western shores of the Inner Harbour. Also underway along Dunsmuir Road (just off the 800-block of Esquimalt Road) is Harbour Landing, a woodframed condominium rising to five-storeys with 32-units.

 

South of 1104 Esquimalt Road is Aragon Properties' Oakwoods project, a multi-phased redevelopment of the English Inn property along the 400-block of Lampson Street. Oakwoods will deliver nearly 200 residences in the form of Tudor-styled condominiums.

 

The same developer is in the final stages of construction of Esquimalt Town Centre, a mixed-use condominium, rental, office and retail development situated next to Esquimalt's Town Hall along the 1200-block of Esquimalt Road. Building heights will range between five and six-storeys.

 

Further west on Esquimalt Road at Admirals Road the Tudor House liquor store re-opened in 2017 on the site of the former Tudor House Pub, which proponents say will re-emerge as an Irish-styled pub further south on Admirals Road next to the liquor store. The historic Tudor House pub and its liquor store were destroyed by fire several years earlier.

 

Kitty-corner from the Tudor House property is a new Red Barn Market, which opened in a retail space formerly occupied by a BC Liquor Store.

 

North along Admirals Road the early stages of construction have commenced for Vista Senior Living, an 11-storey seniors residence that will deliver over 130 homes and a commercial space. Several properties north of Vista is the site of Corvette Landing, a 12-storey condominium tower that will be constructed utilizing mass timber technology.

 

West of Vista and Corvette Landing are two proposals for residential buildings in the form of a 12-storey, 109-unit tower called Shoaling Heights in the 600-block of Constance Avenue, and a 71-unit, six-storey building on Constance Avenue at Saunders Street.

 

And finally along the 1300-block of Esquimalt Road at Grafton Street the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia is planning to redevelop a portion of its property into a five-storey ministry centre with 24-units of seniors housing over four levels. C

Receive Citified's timely real-estate news straight to your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter.