A four-stage master plan that reimagines a Victoria neighbourhood straddling the boundary between downtown and Burnside Gorge has been referred by council to a public hearing. Reliance Properties wants to build the “capital culture district” transforming two blocks around Store, Chatham, Government and Discovery streets – and needs public support for a rezoning application and official community plan amendment to add density, residential uses and height. “It’s always good to be successful and move things ahead,” says Reliance Properties president and CEO Jon Stovell. “We’ve been doing this for a long time, so we don’t get overly emotional about it. We just stay focused and try to meet the objectives that are being put in front of us.” The developer had been asked to revise its submission a year ago, bringing down the height of some of the buildings from 20 storeys to as high as 14. In doing so, city staff told Victoria’s committee of the whole that other revisions were made in the process – including a smaller waterfront pathway, fewer proposed rental units and less of a commitment to green roof space and stormwater management aspects. Councillors asked more than 20 questions of staff before unanimously approving the motion with an amendment. It’s asking staff to consult with the developer about adding more greenspace to the project, along with other environmental considerations. “We’ll find a balance there and we’ll quickly get back to council,” says Stovell. Some councillors raised concern with a 70 per cent reduction in green rooftop space that changed between initial renderings in May 2024 and the latest submission. Stovell says the initial green roofs were meant to indicate areas where the rooftops could be occupied. “So maybe you’ve got a patio, maybe you’ve got some landscaping. It wasn’t meant to indicate an extensive green roof system on all those buildings,” he says. “That’s not done as much as it was a few years ago and it’s also problematic for insurance and risk to the building. But point taken. We will explore expanding the amount of occupied roof space and greening those spaces with landscaping.” The next step is to bring forward readings of the rezoning bylaw. Then the public can have its say at a hearing, which Reliance hopes will happen in the next two months. If approved, the 900,000 square foot master plan would be developed over four phases. The first would include rental and condo space, a public plaza, and art gallery. “We’ve been looking at this for many years and our donors and funders are very supportive,” says Art Gallery of Greater Victoria director and CEO Nancy Noble. “So we just want to do our due diligence and make sure that we can have enough funding to do it.” The gallery figures it will need to fundraise millions to move its space from the Rockland neighbourhood to downtown. The CEO has hired a consultant to work on a plan that considers the amount of space needed and how to raise the capital. “It’s a really critical component to knowing whether or not we can go forward, because we want to do two things. We want to make sure we can raise the money to build the building, but we also want to make sure that we have the operational funding to operate it once it’s built,” adds Noble. She says two studies on the matter should come back to the gallery by summer.
