14 replies to this topic

[Citified.ca]

 

Downtown Victoria's 367-stall Broughton Square Parkade pitched for redev into rental tower

https://victoria.cit...o-rental-tower/

 

Citified profile: https://victoria.cit...oughton-street/

[Brighton]

Prime location. Just shows you how weak the condo market is that the project is rentals

[Mike K.]

Looks like Citified is having some server issues today.

And yes indeed, the condo market is as dead as it can possibly get, from a pre-sale perspective. Zero, and I do mean zero, interest from the development community. The problem is, condos require immediate outlay of investment, with an immediate impact on that investment. Rentals are generational pay-back, so the market is banking on Victoria fixing what ails it by 2060, hopefully well before then. So the money is flowing into rentals.

Ultimately, long term, this is not good.

From the article:

Downtown Victoria's recent phase of residential construction has delivered rental homes almost exclusively. The condominium sector has no pre-sale opportunities currently on the market, a first in about two decades, as developers hone in on investment-safe strong demand for rental housing as the city centre ownership market (both re-sale and pre-sale) struggles to find its footing.

The industry cites challenges with social problems in the downtown area, a ban on short-term rentals, provincial changes to secondary home and investment property regulations and taxes, and foreign buyer taxes, as contributing impediments to a thriving condominium market. In turn, no new supply is on the horizon for Victoria's city centre. Elsewhere in the Capital, condominium pre-sales are launching and continue to see buyer uptake.

[Barrister]

Rentals are essentially 100% (and likely more after a bit of creative accounting) financed by the government which is why they are getting built. 

[Victoria Watcher]

Couple spaces for lease in the existing parkade:

 

 

https://www.realtor....ctoria-downtown

 

https://www.realtor....ctoria-downtown

[aastra]

There's a January update for this one in the city's project tracker.

[Mike K.]

The unit count has dropped here from over 260 to 251, and the parking supply has skyrocketed from 64 stalls to 167 stalls.

[Victoria Watcher]

More parking!

[aastra]

I had a huge argument with Zoomer about all of the buildings that have come and gone on this particular block. I thought we were going to get into fisticuffs about it. Suffice it to say, that block is like a textbook example of how nothing ever changes in Victoria as long as you ignore all of the dramatic changes that happen over a very short time.

 

FYI: multi-level parking has been a thing on a portion of that block for a very long time:

 

 

Victoria Daily Times
November 5, 1907

IMPROVING PREMISES

Victoria Transfer Company Will Equip a Livery on Elaborate Plan

Elaborate improvements are about to be undertaken by the Victoria Transfer Co.

The premises at present occupied by the concern are to be replaced by a larger and more modern establishment, which promises to be one of the finest liveries on the Coast. The plans are being prepared by F.M. Rattenbury, and work is to be begun at once.

Silica brick will be used on the Broughton Street front of the new building, which will be three stories high with a frontage of 130 feet or thereabouts. The ground floor will be used for a carriage room, the first floor, which will be reached by runways at both ends sloping from the street, being used for the accommodation of the horses... The storage accommodation will be on the top floor. The building will be supplied with a very large electric elevator capable of lifting horses and carriages to the top floor...

Edited by aastra, 24 February 2026 - 01:13 PM.

[Mike K.]

There are indeed several parkades on that street. Two in the 500 block, and one each in the 600 and 700s.

[Mike K.]

What ever happened to zoomer? He likes a good argument that retiree, but there’s no reason to flee! Tell him we love him and want him to come back.

[m3m]

I think there’s 3 on the 700 block no ?

Edited by m3m, 24 February 2026 - 05:21 PM.

[Mike K.]

Oh you might be right!

[lanforod]

Probably 3 boomers there. Not so sure about 3 zoomers.

[aastra]

The latest version of this one is looking pretty darn good, I gotta say. Who says successive revisions must always take Victoria projects in the wrong direction? 

Edited by aastra, 05 June 2026 - 10:07 AM.