Latest Market Reports

Sept 2, 2020 "Once again we saw a very active month in terms of property transactions," says Victoria Real Estate Board President Sandi-Jo Ayers. "And once again I will note that this is not a trend, but that this is our market at this moment in time during a unique situation. It is a challenging time to define what is happening in the market given so many factors that don't exist in a normal year. We have been surprised by the pace of the summer market and are grappling with the evolving socio-economic effects of the pandemic and how these underlying factors will influence our fall real estate market." Continue Reading...

Rezoning Proposal at E&N Roundhouse

Roundhouse plan would bring 1,000 rental units; 26- and 30-storey towers proposedA proposal to allow more than 1,000 rental units in at least four 26- and 30-storey towers in the area around the historic E&N Roundhouse will go to the City of Victoria this week.The rezoning plan would add residential use to a portion of Bayview Place in the Songhees off the 200-block of Esquimalt Road, where it had not previously been planned.

Ken Mariash, founder of Focus Equities, the master developer for Bayview Place, said the project would supply many affordable housing units for Victoria, along with a critical tax base for services, with pedestrian and bicycle access. For decades, Victoria has struggled with a shortage of rental units.
 Mariash said the right of way and rail corridor through the site to the Johnson Street Bridge would be maintained in the plan.
The Roundhouse site is already zoned for 53,000 square feet of retail and commercial in the old buildings. New plans propose adding another 10,000 square feet of ground-oriented retail, to be distributed within the new buildings along streets and corridors, Cotter said.“It will be a combination of residential and retail in the appropriate places.”The proposed towers will create enough of a population to support the planned retail, he said. Plans call for an open, lively site offering easy to access from the surrounding area.Mariash noted that the E&N corridor, which runs through Bayview Place land, has been widened and can be used as a link to downtown.Three of the rental buildings on the northwest side of the site would be 26 storeys. Another behind the Roundhouse would also be 26 storeys, while another nearby tower would be 30 storeys, Cotter said.To the centre and south of the Roundhouse site, there is another location already rezoned for a rental building. That will likely be the first rental tower to go up, followed by the other three. “So we are fairly confident that this proposal is looking at rental in the first four buildings, in excess of roughly 1,000 units,” Cotter said.

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