Mike Miller (right), head of Abstract Development, together with project architect Gregory Damant of Cascadia Architecture look on as crews remove a building on Bowker Avenue at Cadboro Bay Road to make way for Abstract's Bowker Collection condominiums. Construction officially kicked off today during a groundbreaking ceremony held at the site. Citified.ca
Bowker Collection construction start marks Oak Bay's third condo development in two decades
MIKE KOZAKOWSKI, CITIFIED.CA
Published February 7, 2018
Construction has begun on Oak Bay’s Bowker Collection mixed-use residential and ground floor commercial development at the nexus of Bowker Avenue and Cadboro Bay Road.
The 43-unit luxury condominium project – comprised of one and two bedroom suites plus a collection of exclusive top-floor penthouse residences – was so well received that nearly every unit sold within months of Bowker’s summer 2017 sales launch.
Developer Mike Miller of Abstract Developments says the response to the project’s up-market offerings was impressive, but not entirely surprising considering Oak Bay’s limited inventory of new-build condominiums.
“Opportunities to secure a new condominium in Oak Bay are extremely rare,” Miller said. “We knew from the turnout at Bowker’s public hearing that demand would be high, but we did not expect the speed with which these luxury homes would be absorbed by the market.”
With Bowker representing only the third condominium development to pad Oak Bay’s housing count since the mid-1990’s, the rush to acquire a unit in Miller’s project was ignited by years of pent-up demand.
Over the span of two decades just two prior developments received municipal approvals and were constructed in the municipality. First was the three-storey, 15-unit Marina Bay completed in 2003 at 1283 Beach Drive. No less than a decade later a 20-unit resort-style offering at the rebuilt Oak Bay Beach Hotel hit the market.
Abstract Developments’ local presence and reputation for quality has kept the company busier than ever been with a sizable volume residential units currently under construction and multiple projects having recently welcomed residents.
Currently underway along the upper Fort Street corridor is the 75-unit Black and White condominium nearing sold-out status with completion slated for mid-2019. In Saanich the company is embarking on its largest project to-date, a five-storey, 95-unit purpose-built rental complex on Boleskine Road at Whittier Avenue.
A stone’s throw from Black & White Abstract’s Emerson project on Rockland Avenue near Cook Street recently completed, bringing 14-units of up-market condominiums to Victoria’s Fairfield community. And not far from Emerson is 8 on the Park, a boutique residence overlooking Victoria’s picturesque Beacon Hill Park. It too recently completed with a collection of eight homes.
In Rockland along Victoria’s Oak Bay Avenue corridor Miller just finished putting the finishing touches on Maddison, a 22-unit high-end condominium within strolling distance to Oak Bay’s quaint village centre. The project is situated just blocks away from Village Walk, a 22-unit condominium the company built in 2014.
"The Abstract brand has become synonymous with the upper end of Victoria's new-build condominium market and has given us the ability to capture the market from multiple angles," Miller said, adding that from the buyer's perspective Abstract's "unwavering commitment to quality, attention to detail and innovation is what keeps us in business. With each new development, we continue to raise the standard for homebuyer expectations.”
Abstract Developments, founded in 1999, has built 275 condominiums, townhomes and single-family homes throughout Greater Victoria with over a hundred in various stages of planning.
To learn more about Bowker Collection and Abstract Developments' homes, click here to view the company's website. C
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Article resources
- View Bowker Collection's official website here
- The the progress of Bowker Collection with Citified | Discuss Bowker Collection on VibrantVictoria
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