A six-storey, 135-room Hyatt Centric Victoria Hotel development under construction since 2023 in Victoria’s Old Town is back before the City with an application for two additional floors and more rooms, including family-oriented rooms in the absence of newly-restricted AirBnBs, Citified has learned.

 

 

Chard Development is pursuing approvals to amend the 1314-1324 Broad Street project’s massing and density to push a 2021-approved hotel design up to eight floors, while raising the room count to 166 from 135. The driver behind the application is rising cost, which Chard Development says has catapulted to $595 per square foot for new construction, up 51% from the originally budgeted $394 per square foot.

 

A heritage remediation effort included as part of the project, which incorporates the facade of the Duck’s Building dating to 1892 and an alleyway rubble wall of the Canada Hotel Building on Johnson Street, has well surpassed an estimated restoration budget of $1.6 million and is now $5.1 million, the company says.

 

In a statement provided to Citified by Byron Chard, President & CEO of Chard Development, the developer says a significant change in cost has impacted the viability of what had been formerly described as a $50 million investment into downtown Victoria. A recent clampdown on AirBnBs also means family-oriented lodging is now in short supply in Victoria’s city centre, and therein lies an opportunity to benefit downtown.

 

“While the economic climate has significantly changed since the project was initially approved, Chard is committed to delivering this project and is seeking design revisions to increase the number of hotel rooms within two additional setback floors,” Chard said, adding that in terms of the AirBnB restrictions in Victoria, “many of the new hotel rooms will provide a living room and additional space as a direct response to the changes in the AirBnB policies to attract a variety of visitors to downtown Victoria, including families.”

 

Speaking to the revised architectural design, Chard said "the original massing and setback remains unchanged with the two additional stories set back from Johnson and Broad streets by approximately 31 feet," and said "this hotel will significantly strengthen the local economy of the Old Town, enhance the activation of Broad Street both day and night, and offer an opportunity to promote local events in the ground floor restaurant and meeting space."

 

A rendering of the Hyatt Centric Victoria Hotel depicts a new building massing as viewed from Broad Street. An additional two-storey height ask would raise the building's massing from six to eight storeys, although from the public realm, the change would not be easily noticeable, the developer says.  Chard Development

 

In addition to added hotel capacity and a pivot to also focus on families visiting Victoria in the absence of a family-friendly AirBnB supply, Chard is turning to the local arts community to accommodate a rotating series of art campaigns that will display the work of local artists in the hotel lobby and in five hotel rooms, as well as providing a public meeting space in the hotel for art groups, free of charge for a ten year period.

 

A report submitted to council as part of the new application describes how the ground floor will enhance the public realm, and anticipated tenants.

 

“A restaurant use is being proposed within the Duck’s Building portion of the Broad St. facade, utilizing the existing Duck's Building entrance. A smaller cafe is also intended to operate in between the Legacy Art Gallery [on Yates Street at Broad Street] and the restaurant. This commercial presence along Broad Street will enhance the frontage, pedestrian connections and activity along [the] streetscape. There is opportunity for further street activation by way of restaurant patio or small-scale spillover seating from the cafe,” the document states.

 

A community meeting with area residents and business operators to present the proposed changes is scheduled for October 9th.

 

Chard’s request is not the first ask for added height and density in Victoria or in the region for an already underway building, and may not be the last given the economic climate.

 

Last year, Salient Group secured approvals for an additional level and 14 rental suites within its 825 Fort Street rental development, which will now stand at 11 floors in lieu of 10.

 

Developer Robert Fung told Citified at the time, the request was “the least expensive, least bureaucratic and least problematic way to add more housing units.” Council agreed.

 

However, earlier this year in the Township of Esquimalt, a developer behind the 12-storey (nine as seen from Esquimalt Road) Pacific House condominium was rejected in a pursuit to add an additional two floors and 16 more units to an already underway tower.

 

“The real estate industry is facing significant challenges in bringing new housing supply to market. With interest rates rising at their fastest pace in over forty-years and construction costs soaring 51% since the start of the pandemic,” Lexi Group stated as part of its height and density rationale prepared for council, adding, that “the viability of many projects has been severely limited. This has prompted many builders to reassess and modify their construction plans, often requiring increased density to offset rising costs.”

 

 

Esquimalt council voted 3-3 on the application, which resulted in an automatic rejection.

 

Back in Victoria, just last week the developer behind Tresah West, a 12-storey, 179-unit condominium in Victoria’s Burnside Gorge neighbourhood, announced the highrise tower was unable to proceed as a condominium and could switch course to become a rental block instead. Developer Mike Geric Construction is currently working with purchasers to return deposits and plan the building's future. Construction costs had risen by 35%, MGC told Citified, placing the project in a precarious situation with so many of its units pre-purchased at costs that would not cover the budget necessary to complete the tower. C

 

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