In last week’s committee of the whole meeting, Victoria’s city council unanimously approved the recently updated plans for what had been previously proposed.
The Reliance Properties development will be built on the Capital Iron property and surrounding lands, which will include the addresses 1824, 1900, 1907, 1908, 1924 and 2010 Store Street, as well as 530 Chatham Street.
When completed, the project will essentially take up two city blocks.
The nearly 6.7 acres of land would see numerous buildings constructed, two of which would be 14 storeys tall and intended specifically for strata housing.
Two other buildings will be for rentals, one building will be dedicated to arts and culture and there will be space for commercial, as well as light industrial use.
Most notably, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) and the popular fishmonger business, Finest at Sea are already onboard to move into this hub, once completed.
“As a major public art museum in BC, moving to a vibrant new space in a central district dedicated to arts and culture will create enhanced opportunities for Victoria residents and visitors to access our collections, programs and exhibitions,” said Nancy Noble, the AGGV’s CEO and director, in a statement last year.
Furthermore, Reliance Properties says that there will be live-work artist studios, new homes, high-value job spaces and spaces which can accommodate heavy and light industrial uses, which will include a new space for Capital Iron.
This development first came into the public eye after a council meeting in May 2024, where city planners discussed the plans for a future arts district with residences in the area.
The proposal for this development was not accepted last year, but instead sent back to the developer to work with the City on some revisions, which have now been made.
Specifically, the numbers have been changed so Reliance must include 87 dedicated rental units in the first phase of construction, with more to be built in phase two.
There are two buildings, five and six storeys tall, respectively, that are meant for rentals, and there are three buildings that are intended for residential strata use.
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The developer also revised their plan to retain three trees on Chatham Street that would have been cut down as per the previous application, the two buildings intended for residential use have been changed from 15 and 20 storeys to both be 14 storeys, while another building has had its height changed from seven storeys to eight.
There were also slight changes in walkway/amenity design to accommodate for ease of construction.
The changes made by Reliance are quite noticeable in terms of building layout, and have had their density capabilities to be more aligned with the official community plan since the last time city council saw this application before them.
Additionally, historic preservation is top of mind for this development. Reliance says that the three Capital Iron heritage buildings that would be involved in the development will be kept mostly intact and will be incorporated into a modern architecture approach to the development.
In the committee of the whole, a couple amendments were made, one of which called for the developer to commemorate the history of local First Nations in the site, as that was not specifically included in the preliminary plans.
The motion to approve the application was approved unanimously by council.
Next steps for the project will be that Reliance Properties hosts a public hearing and conducts community engagement to garner their support.
