A former private bank-turned-office-building on Douglas Street will become a bank once more next spring.

 

 

Vancouver-based VanCity Credit Union has leased a 2,135 square foot portion of 1280 Douglas Street, a two-storey landmark at the southwest corner of Douglas and Yates streets.

 

Following the closure of a ScotiaBank Private Client Group branch at 1280 Douglas Street, the building sat empty for some time until temporarily being leased to Victoria-based event and music planning company Atomiq Productions, which in 2016 adorned the Douglas Street façade with an art display that utilized different coloured materials and lighting to create the impression of a person performing acrobatics around the entranceway and windows fronting onto Douglas Street.

 

Atomiq’s initiative was part of a short-lived Douglas Street beautification plan that included (since removed) colourful crosswalk designs across Douglas Street at Yates Street and accommodations for food truck stalls at the intersection.

 

VanCity’s new branch, a lease-up brokered by the Victoria offices of commercial real-estate brokerage CBRE, will replace the credit union's existing downtown location along the 700-block of Fort Street, and is expected to open in May of next year. VanCity also operates a branch on Douglas Street at Finlayson Street within the burgeoning Mayfair District.

 

The bank's move from Fort Street to Douglas Street comes as the end-cap to a significant retailer shuffle along the 1200-block of Douglas Street that saw long-time downtown fixture Chapters relocate its three-storey operation to Mayfair Shopping Centre following the mall's expansion, and Shoppers Drug Mark move from its digs adjacent to 1280 Douglas Street into the Chapters space. Last week, meanwhile, dollar store chain Dollarama opened its first downtown Victoria store in the former Shoppers Drug Mark space. C

 

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