Early planning for UVic development site that could bring thousands of housing units

The mayor of Oak Bay confirms the university is interested in turning vacant lands into a development site.

Mike Kozakowski is the founder of Citified.ca, a website dedicated to all things development-related in B.C.’s Capital Region. He was recently contacted by a neighbour of a 40 acre parcel of land owned by the University of Victoria in Oak Bay.

“UVic has apparently spoken with the district about accommodating its housing capacity targets through the next 20 years,” said Kozakowski.

The mayor of Oak Bay, Kevin Murdoch, confirms the rumours are true and that the university is very interested in turning the vacant land that was once used as a dog park into a development site. If the project was to move forward there could potentially be thousands of units of housing built on the parcel of land.

“What they’re talking about is a mixed-use development,” said Murdoch. “This is very early in the process.”

It would encompass both commercial and residential real estate.

For Oak Bay, which has consistently found itself on the province’s housing target naughty list, the district has 20 years to approve and build out 3,761 units of housing. The development would have the potential of meeting that requirement on its own.

“Any significant development would make a big dent in that target,” said Oak Bay’s mayor.

Municipalities across B.C. have had a hard time meeting those provincial targets while also being able to afford the building-out of the expensive infrastructure like sewers, roads and storm drains.

Kozakowski says this potential development makes sense for that reason.

“If you can centralize the new housing it just makes it far more feasible,” said Kozakowski.

The University of Victoria says it is exploring the site’s capacity to support a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood with predominantly mid-rise buildings up to six stories with support for high-rise buildings as well.

“It’s similar to what has been done in pockets at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia,” said Murdoch.

The project is along way from becoming a reality. Next the University will have to work with Oak Bay to develop a master plan for the site, then rezoning would need to be granted all before shovels were to hit the ground.

The founder of Citified.ca believes the development will go ahead.

“How many units, that remains to be seen—the make-up of the community whether it’s offices, retail and shopping, that also remains to be seen,” said Kozakowski. “Something will happen.”