On Wednesday evening Victoria’s top-tier REALTORS gathered at the Union Club to preview Cielo Properties’ plans to convert the historic Customs House building into luxury condominium residences and ground floor retail space.

 

Situated at the nexus of Government, Wharf and Humboldt streets overlooking the Inner Harbour’s lower causeway, Customs House will feature 57 upscale one-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom and penthouse residences with layouts sized between 618 and 4,442 square feet. Retail spaces will occupy approximately 16,000 square feet.

 

Introductory pricing for the project’s Urban Collection suites (ranging in size from 618 and 1,435 square feet) starts at $489,900 and scales to nearly $1.7-million. The Harbour View Collection, with layouts starting at 831 square feet and ranging to 2,378 square feet, is priced from $969,900 to just below $3.6-million.

 

The exclusive Penthouse Collection with homes as expansive as 4,442 square feet remains unpriced with unit details available by appointment. The anticipated values, however, are likely to be the highest ever charged (pushing close to $10-million by some estimates) for condominium residences in the Capital Region given the project's location and the level of interior finishings.

 

Construction encompasses a heritage façade restoration of the original four-storey building erected in 1898 while a recessed single storey, affording patios and terraces for top-floor residences, will be added to the roof.

 

The existing modern wing fronting onto Government Street – built in the 1950’s following a fire that destroyed an earlier addition to the heritage complex – will be razed this fall to make way for a seven-storey all-concrete residential building with a commercial ground floor and three levels of underground parking.

 

Completion of both the heritage restoration and construction of the new-build mid-rise is expected by the spring of 2020.

 

Cielo secured municipal approvals for the project in the summer of 2015. Although heritage restoration work began in the spring of last year, details pertaining to suite layouts, unit options and pricing were held back from buyers and agents until Wednesday’s event. C