Victoria councillors have sent back to its advisory committees a proposal to build 132 units of seniors housing on the historic Mount St. Angela property in the Humboldt Valley to see if they can reach agreement.
The Norwood Group is seeking a rezoning and heritage alteration permits for the property at 913-929 Burdett Ave. and 914-924 McClure St., to allow construction of a 132-unit, six storey seniors’ residence to the rear and side of the historic Mount St. Angela building.
The Mount St. Angela building, built with brick in 1866, would be linked to the new seniors complex by what is being described as a glass curtain wall.
Senior heritage planner Merinda Conley told councillors the proposal presents an approach to heritage conservation that has not been seen in this city before.
“The glass curtain wall abuts to the existing brick walls to emphasize the solid mass and prominence of Mount St. Angela,” she said. “The proposal does not create a false sense of historical development through replication or continuation of style, but rather integrates new development utilizing contrasting and in-kind materials to design a new addition in a manner that draws a clear distinction between what is historic and what is new,” she said.
While the proposal was recommended for approval by the city’s advisory design panel, it was unanimously rejected by the heritage advisory panel.
At Coun. Pam Madoff’s suggestion, council is recommending a joint session of the two panels be held to review the application.
“I think in particular with a site like this, a very large property considered for its heritage value, where both additions to heritage buildings and new infill are occurring, that it really would have benefited by the [joint] review by both of the panels and would have resulted, I would say, in a more comprehensive recommendation coming back to committee and council,” Madoff said.
In all, three heritage-designated buildings, Mount. St. Angela College, the Cartreff residence at 923 Burdett Ave., and the Temple residence at 924 McClure St. are to be restored at an estimated cost of $4.3 million and incorporated into the project.
The Cartreff residence is to be lifted and moved forward 1.8 metres and placed on a new foundation. It will remain as a duplex and be linked to the main complex through a rear addition.
The Temple residence is to be relocated to the southeast end of the site and reconfigured to contain seven suites.
The concept is for the three-storey glass curtain wall to link the south end of the 1866 Angela College building to the south end of a new addition to the Cartreff residence at 923 Burdett. It will also link to a five-storey wing on the east end of the complex, providing a transparent backdrop to the heritage buildings.
A 1912 addition at the rear of the college would be demolished to make way for new development, but portions of the existing north, west and east brick walls of the 1912 addition are to be used as features in the interior atrium which is to be the main dining area for residents, says a city staff report.
“There is a lot about this application that I really like,” said Mayor Lisa Helps, who agreed the proposal would benefit from the joint meeting of the advisory panels.
“I think also that it should give us pause when we see a significant heritage site coming forward with the unanimous decline from the heritage advisory panel,” Helps said.
The new units would range in size from 255 square feet (assisted living) to 1,030 square feet and include a mix of studio, one-bedroom, one-bedroom-and-den, two-bedroom and assisted-care units.
A housing agreement would ensure that a minimum of 50 per cent of the units are maintained as market rental for 20 years and 26 units are to be used for assisted living.
