Wander into the lobby of the former Queen Victoria Hotel and it’s clear to see there’s a lot of life in the old gal yet.
From the glassed-off residents’ lounge to the freshly painted walls and new tiled floors, nothing about the building would suggest it was built 50 years ago.
But the QV is no longer a hotel. It’s Victoria’s newest rental apartment.
It’s also the first new major offering of purpose-built rental apartments in this part of downtown in about 30 years, said Alison Wedekind, senior sales manager in Victoria for Concert Properties.
Bought by Vancouver-based Concert in 2012 for about $19.25 million, the former 146-room hotel at 655 Douglas St. has been renovated and rebranded as the Q Apartments, a 124-unit, eight-storey apartment block.
Work on the building, which is near Beacon Hill Park on James Bay’s northern border, included recaulking and painting the exterior, replacing balcony railings, filling in the pool, adding bike storage rooms, modernizing the elevators and putting new kitchens, flooring and electrical in the suites. The stated building permit value was $3.5 million.
“It was actually a more extensive renovation than what we had anticipated but I think the result is terrific,” said Wedekind, calling it a “nice marriage of old and new.”
Interest in the building has been strong, she said. About a third of the building’s suites have been leased.
“Age-wise, we kind of run the spectrum. We’ve got everything from the young couple just arriving in Canada, making their first start here, to the retired couple who have sold their last home and decided they are not going to play the real estate game anymore,” Wedekind said.
Concert initially considered turning the QV into a seniors’ residence, but after reviewing market demand and the building itself, determined it was more viable as a rental apartment. They are not alone.
The Q Apartments is the first of a number of new rental buildings on the downtown’s horizon. Farther north at 1003-1008 and 1012 Pandora Ave., Blue Sky developments wants to build more than 200 rental apartments on the site of the former St. Andrew’s Elementary School. Just up the road at 1075 Pandora Ave., CGS Property Group is planning to build and manage 146 rental units. Nearing completion at 780 Fisgard St. is the 12-storey Hudson Mews, which will offer 120 one- and two-bedroom rental suites.
The latest figures from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. show the average vacancy rate for the capital region has been holding steady at about 2.8 per cent. But vacancy rates are generally lower near the city core, where home ownership costs are higher.
Coun. Chris Coleman, council liaison to James Bay, said rental units are needed to service a wide demographic range from students to seniors.
“We can’t target just one area of rental, it has to be multi-faceted,” he said.
Coun. Lisa Helps, council liaison to the downtown area, said the need for affordable rental is still there.
“I think the key is to make sure the rental that is built is a diversity of units,” Helps said, adding “affordable” would include a mix of market-based units that are 85 per cent of market value and units where the rent is geared to income.
“I feel that that is the nut we need to crack. I certainly don’t think the city should be building affordable housing … but I think we need to be a really good partner with the housing providers and to the housing sector,” Helps said.
While leases at the Q Apartment don’t officially start until April 1, some tenants will start moving in next week.
Eighty-nine of the units are studio apartments, from 378 square feet to 447 square feet, with the balance being one-bedroom suites, ranging in size from 589 sq. ft. to 631 sq. ft., and two-bedroom suites (786 sq. ft. to 1029 sq. ft.). Rents will range from $845 to $1,015 per month for studios; $1,235 to $1,340 for one-bedrooms and $1,590 to $1,995 for the two-bedrooms. All rents include heat, electricity and water.
The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the region in fall of 2013 was $833 and $1,068 for a two-bedroom.
