MAPPING VICTORIA - June 2026

Foul Building Approved - Posted June 26, 2026

We don't usually publish news on rezoning and development permit approvals for smaller developments, so this post is a reminder to check out the Project Listing for the latest status on projects around town. We review every proposal and under construction project on a regular basis with the goal to have status updates from zero to sixty days old. Our FAQ section also covers F*cking Annoying Questions (oh wait, we mean frequently asked) on our project tracking

Unanimously approved yesterday by city council is the six-storey, 87 unit rental apartment building at 1908 Foul Bay Rd. Check out MappingVictoria's project page for a detailed project overview and the Times Colonist June 26, 2026 story for more info.

1908 Foul Bay Rd - image © RLA Architects

Mormon Temple Coming to Langford - Posted June 25, 2026

A Times-Colonist story from today reported on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple to be built in the Victoria suburb of Langford:

"The temple plan, approved by Langford council in 2024, calls for a single-storey 250-seat facility with a tall spire on a 4.7-acre site in a new subdivision overlooking Langford Lake. Officials said the temple building, on Mantle Heights Road just off Leigh Road, will be 11,400 square feet with an accompanying patron waiting area Church spokesperson Graham Sanderson said in an interview that the site has been blasted, and levelling is underway."

Location as of April 22, 2025 - source

Funky Fernwood's Mysterious Proposal - Posted June 20, 2026

Eventually the cat will be let out of the bag, or descend the telephone pole - but for now a mysterious new potential proposal has surfaced for Fernwood Village. Colin Harper Architect posted three possible designs on Instagram today for "18 dwelling units + commercial retail (ice cream?) coming to Fernwood village."

Colin Harper has designed some excellent buildings in Victoria, with three currently being tracked by MappingVictoria - 1545 Bay St, 1701 Richardson St and the under construction 1276 Gladstone Ave. A quick stroll tonight both literally and using Google Street View revealed the likely location and surprise, surprise, it appears to be also on Gladstone, at 1252.

Better yet is this classic Fernwood F*ck the Man double obscene jesture by Dexter on the garage mural and the gentleman giving the finger to the Google Street View car. Zoom in and enjoy the fun and while you're at it youll notice the geometric shape of the side facades of the neighbouring homes matche what is shown in the new build renders. How close this is to becoming an official development proposal is still unknown but it's good news for Fernwood. It would make for three projects on the 1200 block of Gladstone, the biggest being the just completed 158 affordable rental units project at 1211 Gladstone.

One of our favourite Colin Harper projects is the former corner store turned home on Dominion Street. Also shown below is their 1276 Gladstone project in collaboration with developers Tonny and Ashley Kiptoo which may feature a bakery on the main floor. Bakery and ice cream on the same block - yes please!

1276 Gladstone Avenue - May 29, 2026 - photo © John Johnson

A $100 Million Dollar Graving Dock Expansion - Posted June 19, 2024

The Times Colonist is reporting the Ralmax Group is ready to move ahead with expanding the graving dock and Point Hope Maritime shipyard. The newly expanded graving dock would be able to accommodate vessels up to 560 feet in length and Ralmax founder Ian Maxwell "has been told that makes it the only graving dock ever built in Canada with private money." Also located in Greater Victoria is the federally owned Esquimalt Graving Dock, which is the largest non-military hard bottom dry dock on the west coast of the Americas.

CHEK News also featured the story on their June 19, 2026 evening news:

Red line indicates current dock - artist renderings above and below © Ralmax

Viewed from the Janion condo on the downtown side of Johnson Street Bridge

Point Hope Maritime Shipyard - photos above and below © John Johnson

Graving dock construction process

January 16, 2026 drone footage of Esquimalt Graving Dock - © Highrocker1298

Saanich Quadra and McKenzie Development Plan Approved - Posted June 19, 2024

On Tuesday, June 16th Saanich Council voted 6-2 in favour of the Quadra McKenzie Plan. The Times-Colonist story as well as CHEK News story below dives into the details of this long and contentious debate which culminated in the approval of the plans for increased density, although now reduced in height and scope.

Source

Speaking of development and moving north to umm, well, North Saanich, the Province is now commenting and taking action on CRBE's final report dated April 1, 2026. The Province appointed CRBE as a housing advisor to look into the District's progress towards meeting provincially mandated housing targets and they note "The District's Housing Target Order came into effect on August 1, 2024, establishing a cumulative five year target of 419 net new units by July 31, 2029. In Year 1, the District delivered only 12 net new units against an annual target of 60, representing a 20 percent completion rate."

The report lists the policy, regulatory, administrative, and governance factors impacting North Saanich's ability to meet housing targets and lays out 19 recommendations. The Times Colonist has reported "Housing Minister Christine Boyle issued four directives to the district, based on 19 recommendations from CBRE, including that minor development variance permits be delegated to municipal staff, that parking requirements be updated, that minimum lot sizes be reduced and that areas where secondary units, such as guest cottages and carriage houses, are allowed be expanded."

They Paved Paradise But Took Down a Parking Lot - Posted June 4, 2026

On May 26, 2026 the City received another set of revised plans from GWG Realty Advisors for their 617 Broughton Street proposal. The 12 storey rental building would replace the Broughton Square Parkade in downtown Victoria next to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Based on City and public feedback the height has been reduced from 13 to 12-storeys although the two wings are increased from 6 to 7-storeys. The number of units is reduced from 251 to 242 units, while the density slightly increased from 5.9 FSR to 5.94 with vehicle and bike parking remaining unchanged.

The 1960 built Broughton Square Parkade currently has 325 parking stalls and several retail stores at ground level facing Broughton, Gordon and Courtney streets. Retail units will again be incorporated on all three street frontages as well as a 583 square metre privately-owned public plaza along Broughton Street opening up the space behind St. Andrew's Church where the parkade currently site within 1 metre of the church.

The traditional design with high quality materials is one of the best we've seen in the past fifteen years in Victoria, especially for a purpose built rental building. The question is will height be it's downfall with city councillors? Likely not considering the voting records on housing proposals lately and the developer noted in their revised plans "the proposal aligns with the existing context of this portion of downtown Victoria, where a range of taller heritage and contemporary buildings already exceed the five-storey guidance within the OCP and DCAP—including the Belmont Building, Yarrow Building, Weiler Building, Magnolia Hotel, and The Sovereign."

Check out our MappingVictoria project page for 617 Broughton, the most extensive we've created to date including a deep dive into the site history.

Whoa, Nelly! - Posted June 1, 2026

No, I'm not referring to Nelly Furtado's debut album by the same name - but the library she likely visited a few times while growing up in Victoria.

Perhaps just a coincidence, we updated the 3950 Cedar Hill Road project page on May 31st with our our photo of the Nellie McClung construction site - one day later the Times Colonist has a story about the project. And it doesn't stop there - we also updated our Camosun College student housing project page on May 31st with a new photo and the TC published a story today on the project. Hey, we're in debt to the TC and their reporters for excellent coverage of the local development scene, so if we did inspire/remind them to write a couple of stories we'll take it as a compliment.

As for Nelly, a couple new renderings have been added to Saanich's project page for the new library and two affordable rental towers of 9 and 18 storeys. Whoa is right as while the Nelly McClung library entrance looks good the towers have been beaten hard with a big ol' ugly stick. Enough said. Check out the TC story and our project page for all the details.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse