The group behind the $27-million re-imagining of the former Times Colonist building at 2621 Douglas St. is preparing to add a 12-storey residential building, with no residential parking, at the rear of the property.
Merchant House Capital, which bought the 51-year-old building in 2017, has sent its plans for the rental building to the Burnside Gorge Community Association for feedback. No formal application has been made yet.
The project, a purpose-built rental building with 160 units and a publicly accessible courtyard, is to be located on a parking lot at the eastern side of the property on the corner of Kings Road and Ross Lane.
It’s the final piece of the transformation of the Times Colonist’s former home into a mixed-use development.
In a letter to the Burnside Gorge Community Association, Merchant House chief executive David Fullbrook said the rental component will include two levels of underground parking, but not for residents.
The parking is intended for the adjacent commercial building on the west side of the property as well as commercial tenants on the ground floor of the rental building, he said.
Merchant House said the lack of residential parking aligns with the city’s goal of prioritizing housing over parking.
Victoria council has already signalled that it’s willing to support projects that don’t provide the amount of parking required under its bylaws.
In the pre-application package, Merchant House said the building’s tenants will have access to a multitude of transit options, with six bus stops served by 20 transit routes within a three-minute walk.
It also notes that the building sits on the Kings-Haultain cycling corridor, and that other multi-family residential buildings have been built without parking.
Alternative transportation measures such as bus passes, long-term bicycle parking spots and car-share vehicles will likely be included in the project to support a car-free lifestyle, it said.
The company said it envisions the development as a “destination for commerce, culture, and innovation adjacent to both downtown and the emerging Rock Bay arts and innovation district.”
“The development is a beacon to sustainability as it has revitalized an existing heritage structure, as well as its compact form which features a vibrant mix of uses in a new urban village,” Fullbrook said.
The Times Colonist moved its editorial, advertising and business operations to Upper Harbour Place in Vic West in 2020, and its delivery staff to Esquimalt.
The newspaper will not be returning to the Douglas Street location, where it had been since the building was completed in 1972.
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