The developer wouldn't likely be seeking a land lift or density bonus if the heart of downtown Victoria wasn't so haphazard and under-zoned.
The developer is seeking added density in order to make more money. Same with any developer. That is fine and there is nothing wrong with making money, but the rules are that some of that extra money is shared with the taxpayer to pay for affordable housing and other public amenities. Since most of these developments are commercial to residential / commercial conversions there isn't often a huge windfall in extra taxes. If there was then we wouldn't be paying tax increases of 4% and 5% every year. The problem has been in recent years that either at the staff or council level the vast majority of these amenities have been waived and the taxpayer has received little to nothing in return.