City Planners Versus Victoria's Tallest Building - Posted March 7, 2026

The City of Victoria Planning Department is recommending City Council reject Reliance Properties' proposed 35-storey tower at 1520 Blanshard Street in downtown Victoria.  In a report for the March 12, 2026 Committee of the Whole meeting, Karen Hoese, Director of Planning and Development recommended declining the rezoning application: 

The proposal for a 35-storey, primarily strata residential building at a density of 7.85:1 FSR conflicts with OCP and DCAP policies for land use, density and building heights which aim to preserve employment lands by limiting residential uses in this area. The proposed tower detracts from and introduces a competing vision to the city’s urban form, is in close proximity to Transport Canada’s Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) requirements for aircraft, shadows the future public park at Blanshard and Fisgard Street and exacerbates land speculation concerns, all which necessitate an OCP amendment. Therefore, the recommendation is to decline the application. 

The Director of Planning and Development also notes in her report the developer (Reliance Properties) has not been willing to make changes to their proposal:

Staff have worked with the applicant to try to bring the proposal into better alignment with City policy and have offered support in identifying potential paths forward. The applicant has indicated that they do not wish to make the changes necessary to avoid significant conflicts with City policy, resulting in this issues report and the recommendation to decline the application. 

 It was just a couple of months ago in January that City Council approved another Reliance Properties development - the massive Capital Culture District.