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CANCELLED
2300 Douglas Street
Uses: rental, commercial
Address: 2300-2312 Douglas Street
Municipality: Victoria
Region: Urban core
Storeys: 6
2300 Douglas Street was a proposal to build a six-storey, mixed-use commercial and purpose-built rental develo... (view full profile)
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[Burnside-Gorge] 2300 Douglas Street (Silver Arrow Cars) | Rentals, office, auto dealership | 6-storeys | Cancelled


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81 replies to this topic

#1 Kapten Kapsell

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Posted 04 April 2018 - 11:16 AM

Silver City Cars is proposing to redevelop the U-Haul Property at 2300 Douglas Street.  The first floor would be dedicated to an exotic automobile dealership and the second floor would comprise offices for the firm.  Floors 3-6 would comprise a 4-storey 'tower' portion dedicated to residential use and set back from the lower levels; I presume this would be rental (rather than condo).

 

This proposal isn't yet on Dev Tracker, but there will be a neighbourhood meeting to examine the proposal on Monday April 30 at Burnside Gorge Community Centre (starting at 6:30).



#2 Mike K.

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Posted 04 April 2018 - 11:17 AM

Oh wow, I can't wait to see the visuals for that one.


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#3 Kapten Kapsell

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Posted 04 April 2018 - 11:20 AM

I agree Mike; there are a few mixed-use car dealerships in Vancouver now, including one under construction on Burrard (new home of Jim Pattison's Downtown Toyota).

 

Given the property size the residential component could be substantial...


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#4 aastra

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Posted 04 April 2018 - 11:28 AM

Speaking of height restrictions, when does the city step in and require more height? Methinks 6 stories should be the absolute minimum for these underdeveloped properties along Douglas heading up toward Hillside. I liked hearing this news but I was expecting more like 10-12 stories.


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#5 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 04 April 2018 - 11:31 AM

Silver City Cars is proposing to redevelop the U-Haul Property at 2300 Douglas Street.  The first floor would be dedicated to an exotic automobile dealership and the second floor would comprise offices for the firm.  Floors 3-6 would comprise a 4-storey 'tower' portion dedicated to residential use and set back from the lower levels; I presume this would be rental (rather than condo).

 

This proposal isn't yet on Dev Tracker, but there will be a neighbourhood meeting to examine the proposal on Monday April 30 at Burnside Gorge Community Centre (starting at 6:30).

 

Somebody moved very fast on my ideas!

 

post-5-0-59425700-1519664856.png

 

Hey, Glen Oak Ford etc., we'll make you a deal.  You lease off this part of your parking lot for 75 years and let us build a 12-floor tower.  You get to keep the parking on surface level, and you even get a more secure compound there now.  Our housing starts above.

 

We build a 96-unit apartment on each square.  12 floors, 8 small 1-bed units each, no parking.

 

I just housed 600-900 people on one random, hidden city block.  No taxpayer involvement, best developer bid gets to build.

 


Edited by VicHockeyFan, 04 April 2018 - 11:33 AM.

<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#6 Mike K.

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Posted 04 April 2018 - 11:35 AM

My brain hurts just looking at that image, lol.


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#7 Citified.ca

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 07:21 AM

Luxury-auto-dealership,-offices-and-rental-apartments-pitched-for-downtown-fringe.jpg

An artist's rendering of 2300 Douglas Street, a six-storey, mixed-use purpose-built rental building with a ground floor Silver Arrow Cars luxury automobile dealership with a single floor of offices above. The project may also include a 10% affordable housing component through a partnership with Pacifica Housing.

 

Luxury auto dealership, offices and rental apartments pitched for Douglas Street south of Bay Street

https://victoria.cit...-of-bay-street/

 

Victoria-based Laing Properties and luxury auto dealer Silver Arrow Cars have unveiled plans to build a six-storey mixed-use commercial and residential building on the northern fringe of downtown Victoria, Citified has learned.

 
Developer Ian Laing’s concept – situated along the 2300-block of Douglas Street between Queens Avenue and a Dairy Queen restaurant – would include Silver Arrow Cars’ showroom at grade level, offices on the second level and four floors of rental housing.
 
Located just a stone’s throw from downtown Victoria’s highrise residences and office towers, the development site is in the City’s Burnside-Gorge neighbourhood with planning guidelines that prioritize industrial uses along the west side of the Douglas Street corridor. However, the possibility of a landmark project materializing in an otherwise industrial, nondescript precinct of the city centre has the local community association nodding in approval.
 
“Based on the feedback we’ve received following our initial consultation meetings, the community association is actually quite excited,” Laing says. “They like it, and given that the building would be in an area that they feel could use revitalization and help build the community by having more pedestrians on the street, they would like to see it proceed.” [Full article]
 
 
 

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#8 Coreyburger

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 07:24 AM

This is an interesting (and welcome) return to car dealerships of yore - they were smaller storefronts that looked like nearly any other store. No giant city-destroying parking lots and massive setback buildings.


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#9 Nparker

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 07:40 AM

I like this proposal, but I am concerned at the lack of height and the "dangerous" precedent it could set for Douglas Street. Surely the strip between Fisgard and Finlayson could support greater height and density.


Edited by Nparker, 11 April 2018 - 07:41 AM.


#10 Kapten Kapsell

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 07:52 AM

Mods:  can we amalgamate this thread with the new thread for 2300 Douglas?



#11 Mike K.

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 08:02 AM

Actually, the OCP on that site earmarks industrial uses for that site. The Burnside-Gorge community cannot officially support this project because it does not conform to the OCP, but they are standing behind the developer and are encouraging a height increase from five to six storeys if affordable housing can be added to the mix.

In short the community association can’t support the project but they ...support it, if you catch my drift.
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#12 Mike K.

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 08:03 AM

Oh geez! I totally forgot we had this one. Absolutely we can.

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#13 Bob Fugger

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 08:03 AM

It's proposals like this why Victoria will always flirt with the reputation of being a Podunk backwater.  Imagine if the OCP had any kind of vision at all for this strip of Douglas between Hillside and Tolmie as a dense, Harris Green-type neighbourhood.  All it would have taken is the vision to create an auto-mall somewhere out in the Westshore where many of the dealerships could have flocked.  What a waste.


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#14 Jackerbie

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 08:07 AM

Actually, the OCP on that site earmarks industrial uses for that site. The Burnside-Gorge community cannot officially support this project because it does not conform to the OCP, but they are standing behind the developer and are encouraging a height increase from five to six storeys if affordable housing can be added to the mix.

In short the community association can’t support the project but they ...support it, if you catch my drift.

 

Simple fix, the City just has to include an OCP Text Amendment Bylaw in the application to change the designation. OCPs are much more fluid than zoning bylaws, they change frequently.



#15 Mike K.

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 08:16 AM

Nice.

I’m excited to see a high profile, landmark development like this move forward. And the decision to utilize underground parking with an urban automobile showroom in lieu of a massive parking lot is amazing. I’m right with Corey on that one.

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#16 Jackerbie

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 09:09 AM

 And the decision to utilize underground parking with an urban automobile showroom in lieu of a massive parking lot is amazing. I’m right with Corey on that one.

 

It certainly helps that Silver Arrow is more of a "boutique" dealer. The automall in Richmond has been redeveloping over the last few years, and the current trend is huge covered parkades. The dealers say that their customers prefer browsing vehicles in person rather than looking at a couple floor models and a catalog. so they want to keep as many vehicles on site as possible, rather than in an offsite storage location. Of course, they're trying to justify design decisions to the planners, so take that customer preference with a couple grains of salt :)



#17 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 09:39 AM

It certainly helps that Silver Arrow is more of a "boutique" dealer. The automall in Richmond has been redeveloping over the last few years, and the current trend is huge covered parkades. The dealers say that their customers prefer browsing vehicles in person rather than looking at a couple floor models and a catalog. so they want to keep as many vehicles on site as possible, rather than in an offsite storage location. Of course, they're trying to justify design decisions to the planners, so take that customer preference with a couple grains of salt :)


I used to manage a furniture store. One particular couch, or love seat or bar stool might each have 125 options, mostly for cushion fabric.

But you know what? For about every model that was ordered, with a three week delivery estimate, we sold one model right off the floor.

So I understand consumers in that respect.
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#18 TallGuy

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 11:14 AM

I like this proposal, but I am concerned at the lack of height and the "dangerous" precedent it could set for Douglas Street. Surely the strip between Fisgard and Finlayson could support greater height and density.

 

 

It's proposals like this why Victoria will always flirt with the reputation of being a Podunk backwater.  Imagine if the OCP had any kind of vision at all for this strip of Douglas between Hillside and Tolmie as a dense, Harris Green-type neighbourhood.  All it would have taken is the vision to create an auto-mall somewhere out in the Westshore where many of the dealerships could have flocked.  What a waste.

I'd like to see the urban planning credentials of posters who make statements like this. What in this neighborhood makes the case for high rise housing? Why is the narrow gap between two highways the best place for a mass of people to live?

 

This proposal is 1,000,000x better than what's there currently and is a huge improvement to the neighborhoods character.



#19 Nparker

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 11:24 AM

...What in this neighborhood makes the case for high rise housing?

Because there's no new land being created in the CoV. If we don't start going up higher in areas like the Douglas Street corridor, then the SFHs's in Fairfield will have their days numbered.


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#20 Jackerbie

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Posted 11 April 2018 - 11:28 AM

I like this proposal, but I am concerned at the lack of height and the "dangerous" precedent it could set for Douglas Street. Surely the strip between Fisgard and Finlayson could support greater height and density.

 

I'd like to see the urban planning credentials of posters who make statements like this. What in this neighborhood makes the case for high rise housing? Why is the narrow gap between two highways the best place for a mass of people to live?

 

The proposal is taller than the OCP designation, which is "Core Employment, up to 5 storeys." Between Douglas and Blanshard, the OCP suggests 8-15 storeys, with residential uses permitted in mixed-use buildings. Residential uses are not supported west of Douglas, hence Mike's comment re: inconsistency with the OCP.

 

The Burnside LAP supports up to 3.0 FSR at this site, and does not support residential use.



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