Three duplex properties in Victoria’s Vic West neighbourhood could be replaced with a six-storey affordable rental building for Indigenous persons, if plans for a rezoning application on Langford Street at Alston Street are approved.

 

 

M’Akola Development Services has submitted a rezoning application to the City for the 200-block of Langford Street at the 800-block of Alston Street for a six-storey studio through four-bedroom apartment where six units in two-storey duplex form are currently situated.

 

The units will cater to families, Elders, singles and couples.

 

The existing homes on the properties date back to the early 1990s and are nearing their end-of-life. One of the six units is presently vacant.

 

“The existing buildings are not documented as having heritage value (not listed on any heritage registers). Therefore, the existing structures will be demolished in order to accommodate the proposed development. The proposed density would allow for a significant increase (42 net new [sic]) in homes for Indigenous tenants on the site,” the proposal reads.

 

Envisioned immediately adjacent to the newly-built Catherine and Langford streets Kwum Kwum Lelum, a four-storey, 45-unit modular housing facility with supports for Indigenous homeless persons, and one block over from Aryze Developments’ upcoming three-storey, 27-unit 822 Catherine Street mixed-use rental and commercial project, the M’Akola proposal will add to a growing urban village centred on Catherine and Langford streets. Two blocks north on Alston Street, a five-storey residential and commercial project was recently approved with 56 units overlooking a residential hub known as The Railyards.

 

Designed by Low Hammond Rowe Architects, the new building’s form is described as “ compact and simple, with no balconies, and judicious use of articulations for architectural expression, resulting in a thermally efficient form with limited thermal bridging,” while ground floor units fronting Langford Street will have direct access to the exterior via private patios. The main entrance will be at the intersection, and 17 surface parking stalls located off Alston Street will provide a buffer for single-family dwellings to the south.

 

An initial meeting with the Vic West Community Association was held on June 11th, with a follow-up meeting planned for August 14th.

 

 

Victoria’s Vic West neighbourhood, which borders the Township of Esquimalt, is among the fastest growing regions of the Capital. Vic West’s Railyards, Dockside Green and Bayview communities fronting the Gorge Waterway, Upper Harbour and Inner Harbour, respectively, have delivered thousands of residential units over a 20 year period, and save for The Railyards which reached full build-out not long ago, will continue to add residential density and commercial spaces to formerly industrial lands.

 

Bayview recently secured approvals for nearly 2,000 additional residential units that will add to three existing highrise condominium towers completed between 2011 and 2019, while Dockside Green (underway since the mid-2000s) completed three highrise residential towers between 2023 and 2024, with several more outstanding prior to build-out. C

 

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