It's been almost a decade since Bambu, a 7-storey two-building condo with groundfloor retail space was cancelled in Chinatown -- likely the first major cancelled project since The Stafford (13-storey condo at 860 View) was rezoned then immediately flipped circa 2002/2003. Since Bambu's demise a dozen other projects met the same fate just within the immediate downtown Victoria area. Dozens of other projects were cancelled or placed on (permanent) on-hold status throughout the south Island.
Downtown Victoria’s sidelined development proposals
By Mike Kozakowski, VibrantVictoria.ca
Downtown Victoria’s sidelined development proposals | VibrantVictoria.ca
Victoria’s building boom of the new millennium has often been referred to as a “proposal boom” in light of the many large-scale real-estate development proposals that ultimately failed. The west shore of the Capital region was notorious in this regard where literally dozens of residential towers upwards of 45-floors were vetted by municipal offices and never built.
Despite the hurried pace of development on the west shore, many real-estate insiders remained doubtful that enough demand existed to successfully market even a small fraction of proposals, let alone the many dozens of towers that were making their way through the municipal process. However, in downtown Victoria where market conditions traditionally trump ego, multiple major development proposals that had all the makings of successful projects were sidelined due to changing economic conditions or struggles at the municipal level. And it’s those projects, projects that not only could have been built and many would agree should have been built, that have a story of demise few have ever heard. [Read more]