The first phase of a three-phase redevelopment spanning the 900 and 1000 blocks of Yates and View streets between Quadra and Cook streets is officially underway, with soil remediation efforts having commenced at ‘Harris Green Village’s’ first phase on Cook Street at Yates Street.

 

 

Planned for the Harris automotive dealership lands, formerly home to Ensign Chrysler, are two towers of 20 and 21 storeys sharing a five-storey podium.

 

526 one-through-three-bedroom apartment suites plus townhomes will be built as part of this initial phase, 80 of which will be priced below-market. It is anticipated that Yates Street’s Market on Yates grocery store, currently located at Quadra Street, will relocate to the new-build.

 

Developer Starlight estimates completion of phase one will occur in 2029.

 

The subsequent two phases of Harris Green Village will redevelop the actual (current) Harris Green Village strip mall along the 900-block of Yates Street between Vancouver and Quadra streets, with an additional 1,000 to 1,100 residential units in towers of up to 32 storeys. Construction is not expected to begin until after phase one at Cook Street completes. Total build-out is not expected until the mid-to-late 2030s, pending market conditions.

 

An artist's rendering of Harris Green Village's first phase, on Cook Street at Yates Street.  Starlight Investments

 

With nearly 530 units of residential density, Harris Green Village’s first phase will be the largest-ever single construction project in downtown Victoria’s history, as far as residential density is concerned. The only development that comes close is the adjacent 1050 Yates investment from Chard Development, where 450 rental homes are now underway in two towers of 15 and 25 storeys on the former Pacific Mazda lands. Completion is targeted for 2027 or 2028. 

 

Chard’s new towers are in addition to the company’s recently completed Haven and Nest condominiums immediately to the east, along the 1100 blocks of Johnson and Yates streets, that delivered over 200 homes this year to downtown Victoria’s border with the Fernwood neighbourhood.

 

Starlight’s journey towards construction of Harris Green Village, meanwhile, follows an about-face approval in February of 2023 after several years of municipal planning, when council added last-minute conditions alongside its green-lighting of Starlight’s concept.

 

 

The company found itself with council’s blessing, albeit with an unexpected requirement to reduce its on-site parking supply well below the proposed threshold already factored into a financial pro-forma. Facing a restriction that undermined projected revenues, Starlight would return to council two months later arguing that parking maximums should correspond to bylaws applicable to all developers, and not be mandated by elected officials on a project-by-project basis. Council would ultimately side with Starlight. Phase one includes approximately 270 parking stalls. The final supply of parking in phases two and three is to be determined.

 

Following the 2022 relocation of Harris Victoria Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram from its long-time location at Cook and Yates streets to the City of Langford, Starlight’s development site for Harris Green Village’s phase one has sat vacant, and ready for work crews to begin the process of ground preparation ahead of construction. C

 

 

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