A new tallest building has emerged on the West Shore, but you’d never know it by traveling through the commercial cores of Langford or Colwood.

 

 

One Bear Mountain, an 18-storey luxury condominium rising at 2000 Hannington Court atop Bear Mountain Resort, has nearly reached its full height and now stands as the loftiest, albeit tucked away, highrise in the Capital Region outside of downtown Victoria.

 

Comprised of 209 residences, One Bear Mountain features a 15th floor outdoor pool, a 16th floor lounge, and a fitness centre on the third level. Its homes span from one-bedroom residences to three-bedroom plus-den layouts, including expansive penthouses. Pre-sales are on-going with remaining inventory priced from the mid-$700,000s.

 

The project got underway in 2020 as crews began dismantling the shell of the stalled Highlander condominium. That project reached the roof of its fifth of 14-storeys before work was halted in 2009 in the wake of a global financial market crash. In 2020, One Bear Mountain was scheduled for completion in 2022, however, that target has now been extended to summer of 2024, according to the development team.

 

A rendering of One Bear Mountain, currently under construction at 2000 Hannington Court in the City of Langford at Bear Mountain Resort.  360 Pacifica/Terracap

 

Despite condominiums initially representing the majority of homes at Bear Mountain Resort, One Bear Mountain is the first major high density project in over a decade, with new housing at the resort comprising primarily of single-family-homes and townhomes.

 

The mountain's now former tallest building is Finlayson Reach, an 11-storey condominium completed some 15-years-ago as part of Bear Mountain Resort’s initial phase of development. Elsewhere on the West Shore, a 12-storey mass timber-built rental tower was recently completed in downtown Langford (Tallwood 1), and follows on the heels of the nearby Danbrook One, an 11-storey concrete tower along Claude Road subsequently renamed Ridgeview Place.

 

One Bear Mountain’s new landmark tallest status may be short lived, provided an 18 and 24-storey condominium pre-sale effort north of downtown Langford along the 2700-block of Scafe Road at Peatt Road proceeds to construction. The two-tower proposal, known as The Scene, has yet to proceed to site servicing in preparation for construction. Meanwhile, another two-tower condominium project, planned for Jacklin Road at Dunford Avenue, could usurp The Scene with building heights of 25 and 29-storeys.

 

At 29-storeys, the Jacklin Road proposal could even surpass downtown Victoria’s tallest buildings, which currently top out at 25-storeys (Hudson Place One, also the Island’s tallest highrise). A 32-storey tower on Yates Street at Vancouver Street is lined up for a public hearing this winter in anticipation of approvals, which if built, would stand as Greater Victoria’s and Vancouver Island’s tallest building. C

 

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