A test of the Victoria’s
appetite for taller
buildings will happen on
Feb. 22.
That’s the day the public is
to weigh in on the proposal
to redevelop the historic
former Bay building and the
surrounding land.
The Townline proposal —
years in the making — is
complex, marrying heritage
preservation with highrise
development in three towers
(24,18 and 14 storeys) and
residential accommodation
with commercial enterprise.
It offers a guarantee the
building will be preserved
as a heritage building in
exchange for urban elements.
The plan has supporters, but
in a city where low-rise
buildings dominate, it will
have detractors too.
In the seven months the
application has been at City
Hall, it has been
scrutinized by three
advisory panels, been the
subject of a staff workshop
on building height, and the
topic of informal public
presentations by the
developer.
It is one of three large
projects planned for the
north part of the city’s
downtown that could
transform the area over the
next few years.
Revitalization of the area
was one of several goals
Mayor Alan Lowe stated in an
inaugural speech, although
he has since kept silent on
his views of this particular
project.
Robert Randall, president of
the Downtown Residents’
Association, supports the
project and said city
council’s support of it
would signal “a serious
commitment to people living
downtown.”
If approved by council, the
Townline project would put
527 condominiums on the
block and possibly “a real
grocery store,” said
Randall, who believes
downtown is enjoying a
resurgence in the last five
or so years.
Townline developer Rick
Ilich hasn’t named
commercial tenants, but
downtown residents have long
hoped that a full-scale
grocery store will locate in
the area, signalling that
downtown is as much a
neighbourhood as James Bay
and Fairfield.
Gene Miller, a development
planner and frequent
commentator on development
issues, said the Bay project
“is one more opportunity,
and a major one, for the
city of Victoria to define
its aspirations.”
He “worries about
councillors’ ability to
bring maturity of thought to
this. … I think about the
aspirations of the Western
Communities to grow, to
prosper, to succeed ,and
there seems to be such a
clarity of purpose, energy
and urgency around what
they’re doing. Victoria ...
behaves like it has all the
time in the world.
“It’s insane. The risks are
that downtown Victoria wakes
up dead someday.”
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