Vancouver-based Omicron has signed an agreement with the airport to be the exclusive developer of the Sidney property, pending required approvals, including a rezoning. A 62-year lease would be signed for the land, which is owned by the federal government and leased to the airport.
Ideally, construction would start this time next year and finish about 14 months later, Peter Laughlin, Omicron’s director for Vancouver Island, said Thursday.
The project’s value would be about $35 million, he said. Construction costs alone would run to about $20 million.
Sidney Gateway hits “all the right marks,” Laughlin said. It dovetails with the airport’s commercial development plan and would deliver tax revenue to Sidney. Plans were drawn up after public consultation last year.
Improved traffic access, a rejigged roadway, and signs would all complement Sidney’s downtown core and help attract more Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Island shoppers, along with tourists, to the area, he said.
The shopping centre would also help meet demand from the growing population on the Peninsula, where new housing is being built, he said.
Geoff Dickson, Victoria Airport Authority president and chief executive officer, said creating a diversified revenue base and supporting this kind of commercial development, “gives us the opportunity to generate new revenue streams and keep our costs low.” Victoria airport has one of the lowest improvement fees among the country’s major airports.
“I just think it is a tremendous opportunity to add some vibrancy to the local community,” he said.
Omicron worked on a similar development plan on the former Sandown lands in North Saanich, but after failing to reach an agreement with that property owner, it turned its attention to the airport. The company is also developing the mixed-use Eagle Creek Village near Victoria General Hospital.
The shopping centre, to be named Sidney Gateway, calls for 10 buildings. An anchor grocery store would be between 30,000 and 50,000 square feet, Laughlin said. The bulk of the space would be retail but other tenants, such as a medical clinic, are planned. A pharmacy, café, sit-down restaurant, banking services, and a plaza, with views of planes arriving and departing, are planned.
Many trees would be dotted throughout the site. Omicron has learned from other developments, “how important the walking environment is to people,” Laughlin said. “You are providing shade. You are providing seating areas. The retail environment is not simply a case of just running in, running out anymore. If you want people to come and stop and enjoy the Sidney environment, you have to be able to provide that location.”
First on the agenda is a request to remove a 10-acre chunk of land from B.C.’s Agricultural Land Reserve. An application for a comprehensive development zone to permit the development will be submitted to Sidney.
The airport has long designated this section of land to be used as commercial. Sidney’s official community plan also envisions a similar use for the property. Its current municipal zoning is for a combination of industrial and residential.
Once built out, the area developed would be about 10 acres, plus areas such as a new roadway and green spaces, said James Bogusz, airport authority director of airside operations, technology and environment.
Sidney Mayor Steve Price said it’s too soon to comment on the proposal. “They will have a public open house because I think council wants to hear from the residents of Sidney on what they think of it,” he said.
The airport authority wants to work closely with the town and local businesses to enhance the area as a shopping destination, Price said. “Anything they do, they want to harmonize it with the rest of the business area.”
