The District of Saanich is processing 2,800 units-worth of newly submitted high density housing development applications as developers respond to a pressing need for homes in the Island's largest municipality, and a Provincial housing quota calling for the delivery of thousands of new units by the end of the decade, according to recently filed municipal documents.

 

The spike in activity is primarily occurring beyond the auspices of proposed zoning changes in the Quadra-McKenzie plan, that if adopted, will allow apartment-style mid-rise, townhome and multi-unit projects by-right in several primarily single-family-home communities along Quadra Street and McKenzie Avenue.

 

 

In recent months, around a dozen significant development pursuits have filed plans with the District or are spearheaded by the District itself, including three projects comprised of 300 to 400 homes each, affordable housing targeted at First Nations and Metis populations, and market condominiums.

 

The plethora of recent activity also features a freshly submitted density uplift from Aragon Properties for a Cordova Bay development on the former 26-acre Trio Ready-Mix lands at 755 Cordova Bay Road, which a decade ago, encompassed around 350 units, and is now back before the District seeking approvals for 1,160 units. Housing forms are cited in planning documents as a mix of condominiums, market and below-market rentals, and townhomes, along with commercial spaces. Building heights range from two to 11 storeys, as depicted in architectural plans from Victoria-based DAU Studio Architecture and Urbanism.

 

Historically a slow-growing community known for its reserved appetite for residential construction compared to Victoria-proper and the City of Langford, Saanich has more recently set a course for housing growth through municipal agendas like the Quadra-McKenzie Plan – which aims to densify the nexus of the two thoroughfares while reducing private vehicle capacity – and a planning department pivot working to satisfy Provincial housing targets calling for 4,610 net new housing occupancy permits by 2029.

 

Additionally, there are newly-minted municipality-led housing plans like the redevelopment of Greater Victoria Public Library’s Nellie McClung library branch into a 210-unit, two-tower affordable rental community, and a housing initiative which could include upwards of 400 residential units in multiple towers on West Saanich Road opposite the Royal Oak Shopping Centre.

 

As tracked by Citified, currently under construction within Saanich are just under 300 units of condominiums, with occupancy slated for this year through 2027, and approximately 1,100 units of purpose-built rentals are underway that will reach lease-up starting this year and through 2027. This leaves a significant gap between recently completed and upcoming completions, and the 4,610-unit Provincial mandate.

 

In terms of the new applications, residents of the upper Quadra and Broadmead areas can expect major changes to a large parcel on Quadra Street at Chatterton Way, where Merdyn Group has proposed the redevelopment of a large mostly vacant site into 300 rental homes in four six-storey buildings.

 

Even larger by unit count, Invictus Commercial Investment Corp. has eyes set on an Edgelow Road property just a stone’s throw from UVic west of Finnerty Road, for a duo of six-storey apartments totalling just under 350 units.

 

 

In the Tillicum Area north of Highway 1, M’Akola Development Services has revived a formerly rejected condominium application on Raymond Street South overlooking the Tillicum Road and Highway 1 intersection. The organization hopes to secure approvals for 55 affordable rental units for the Metis Nation of BC. Not far from the M’Akola application, the Aboriginal Land Trust Society is seeking approvals for just over 100 units of affordable rentals across six floors on Cadillac Avenue at Wascana Street.

 

In the Cloverdale, Cook and Quadra area, a formerly approved 32-unit development in a trio of three-storey buildings is back before the municipality seeking approvals under a different development firm for around 100 units in a six-storey massing.

 

Additional applications, totalling several hundred units, are focused on projects along Normandy Road, Rock Street, Finnerty Road and Shelbourne Street. C

 

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