MAPPING VICTORIA - September 2026

'Elegant' Broughton Street Building Approved - September 10, 2026

By a 7-2 vote Victoria City Council today approved a 12-storey, 242 unit rental apartment building on the site of the current Broughton Square Parkade. The proposal for 617 Broughton Street by developer GWL Realty Advisors, designed by MCM Partnership Architects sits to the east of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and will feature ground level retail, a new plaza and green rootop terraces atop the two seven-storey wings.

The proposal drew universal praise for the quality of the design, including from Marg Gardiner and Stephen Hammond although they ultimately voted against the project citing concerns about height, fit with Old Town and parking concerns. Gardiner stated "My real concern is the trend to consider broader city goals as rationale to disregard or set aside Old Town guidelines and expectations for respect of Old Town and how important it is."

Councillor Matt Dell commented "The height is really interesting and I want to point out the Belmont Building is just down on the corner of Wharf and Government I believe. It was built in 1912 and is three metres shorter. Over a hundred years ago we built a building that was only three meters shorter and here we a hundred years later, you know, concerned about the height of this building. The Belmont Building is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, it's always talked about how iconic it is in the inner harbour, so I think we need to remember that three metres over a hundred years is not that much of a difference."

Other councillors noted the parkade is privately owned, is nearing it's end of life and at some point will be demolished making any neighbouring business or city desire to retain parking irrelevant. The proposal also received praise for the plaza that will be created facing St. Andrew's, whereas the current 1960 built parkade comes as close as 1.5 metres to the west side of the church. While the Heritage Advisory Panel did not support the proposal City Planners did, noting that the loss of parking will likely be mitigated by the proximity of other parkades nearby which are not at capacity following the Province's work from home policy and reduction of their overall downtown office space. Developer GWL Realty Advisors previously wrote in a May 13, 2026 letter to the mayor and council:

A parking study was prepared to assess the impacts on parking access resulting from the replacement of the existing parkade with new residential density (see Appendix A). The study found that parking demand can be accommodated within the surrounding downtown parking network despite the removal of the existing Broughton Square parkade via capacity available at six nearby facilities located within approximately two blocks of the site. The study did acknowledge that demand could exceed this additional supply during a portion of the weekday peak period (approximately 12:40 PM to 1:40 PM). However, this supply constraint could be managed through nearby on-street parking, additional facilities beyond the immediate study area (2-block radius), and continued shifts toward transit and active transportation

Several councillors also praised the proposal for exceeding city guidelines for ratio of family size units - with 37% being family-sized units (65 two bedroom and 24 three bedroom apartments). In response to a councillor's question city staff indicated they expect the building will be home to approximately 500 residents.

Mayor Marianne Alto speaking in favour of the development: "I actually think this is remarkably elegant, it's a very confined space...what is being proposed here I think brings a degree of elegance that is entirely suitable for that location, particularly as it is compared to some of the immediately surrounded buildings - The Magnolia Hotel - The Sovereign, the Belmont, a variety of others including the Union Club just down the hill. So I actually think this is a remarkable adaptation of a new 21st century version of all of that elegance and that design."

As always, please check out our 617 Broughton Street project page for detailed information plus an extensive and fascinating photographic history of the site since the 1800's.

May 2026 Revised Plans - © MCM Partnership Architects

View from Broughton and Courtney - June 10, 2026 - © John Johnson

Below - March 23, 2026 photos showing the current proximity to the church - © John Johnson

The nearby Belmont Building - built in 1912 - © John Johnson

Rockland Avenue Boutique Hotel Earns City Endorsement - September 10, 2026

City Council voted 6-3 today to endorse a six-storey boutique hotel with 30 rooms at 1114 Rockland Ave. Voting in favour was Mayor Marianne Alto, councillors Jeremey Cardonna, Matt Dell, Susan Kim, Krista Loughton and Dave Thompson with Marg Gardner, Stephen Hammond and Chris Coleman opposed.

Originally approved in 2021 as a 22 unit condo building; developer Cube Project Management later stated rising construction costs meant the plans were no longer economically viable, resulting in a change of course to a boutique hotel. Designed by architects Studio PA, it will consist of ten studios, fifteen 1-bedrooms and five 2-bedrooms, all with kitchenettes. The hotel will also feature a rooftop patio and a small lobby; however city staff indicated today there is no obligation to have hotel staff physically on site 24 hours a day.

While endorsed, city staff indicated the six-storey project will likely be discussed again at an upcoming Community Association Land Use Committee (CALUC) meeting because it was originally presented as a five-storey building.

MappingVictoria project page

May 2026 revised plans - © Studio PA

Site context video by MappingVictoria

Roundhouse Affordable Housing Tower Update - September 3, 2026

As we reported on February 19, 2026 the fate of the 22-storey affordable housing tower at 251 Esquimalt Rd appeared to be in doubt when the Province pulled funding following the release of the budget. While questions around the funding remain, the development process is still underway with dHK Architects submitting revised plans received by the City on June 24, 2026. They were reviewed by City planners who responded to the developer on July 31, 2026 requesting further information/action.

210 Kimta Rd and 251 Esquimalt Rd are the first two of the nine towers of the approved Roundhouse master plan development to be officially submitted for approval of the individual building plans. 210 Kimta, a 25-storey likely to be condo building was submitted to City of Victoria on August 18, 2025, and subsequently returned to developer with feedback on September 22, 2025 with no further publicly available action to date by the developer.

The June 2026 revised plans for 251 Esquimalt Rd addressed previous City feedback and for the first time we're getting a more detailed photo-realistic view of the 22-storey, 209 unit apartment building and partial glimpses of some other buildings on the site. It's important to remember that only two of the Roundhouse building plans have been submitted, thus the remainder seen in the new renderings are placeholders. That's the optimistic view otherwise the Songhees neighbourhood may follow similar missteps as the original waterfront development, but on a much larger scale.

As always for the deepest dive this side of the Mariana Trench, our MappingVictoria 251 Esquimalt Rd project page has all you need to know.

Renderings © dHK Architects

'Premier Hotel' for Chandler Building - September 2, 2026

MappingVictoria first reported in May 2026 on potential new plans being floated for 1244 Wharf Street.

Designed by Victoria architect John Teague (and former Victoria mayor) this 1882 built heritage building has been known by various names through the years - the Yates Block, Turner Beeton and Co, McQuade's; recently and more informally as the Chandler's restaurant building or the one with the Wyland Whaling Wall.

Turns out the floating was the initial testing of the public waters for The Salient Group's redesign of the originally planned two-storey modest addition to a five-storey addition and a major rebuild/investment in the property.

In a letter to the mayor and council dated June 4, 2026 The Salient Group state they now plan to proceed with a "comprehensive restoration and adaptive re-use of the important historic “Yates Block” building into a premier hotel. We are requesting an extension on the file to allow us to move a revised application forward." The letter continues "We are therefore revising our proposal to include a 5-storey addition and a small annex on the west side of the property." - bold text emphasis by MappingVictoria

Our MappingVictoria 1244 Wharf St project page has all the details of the original proposal as well as the details and rationale for the revised five-storey addition.

The project will face opposition from heritage advocates and the City of Victoria Heritage Advisory Panel as it contravenes a main tenant in the City's heritage planning as spelled out in numerous documents including the 2025 Residential Heritage Guidelines: "New additions should be distinguishable from the original building and should be discretely and compatibly designed so that the heritage building is the primary experience from the adjacent sidewalk." There have been significant deviations from this guideline, most relevant is another heritage to modern hotel transformation - the 1892 Duck Building at 1324 Broad street where an eight-storey Hyatt Centric hotel is rising between the retained east and west heritage facade.

As for next steps, The Salient Group plans to host a CALUC (Community Association Land Use Committee) open house and present design/rationale to community stakeholders in September, followed by submission of plans to the Heritage Advisory Panel and the City in October 2026. As per usual in Victoria don't be surprised if this timelines slips - but stay tuned to MappingVictoria for more updates.

Rendering shared by Cascadia Architects in May 2026

BC Archives - 1883

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse