[Vic West] BMW / Mini dealership | Built - completed in 2012

The one upside is that this means one less car dealer on Yates, one assumes some higher and better use will be made of the existing car lot at Yates and Cook

I concur, though we are still waiting for the redevelopment of the Volvo lot.

Vic West warehouse site to be reborn as BMW dealership

By Robert Randall • Published on Thursday, July 22, 2010

In a meeting this morning of the Planning and Land Use Committee at City Hall the go-ahead was given to send a proposed Victoria West BMW/Mini dealership to a Public Hearing before Council.

The proposal would see a sales lot and sleek, low-rise glass and aluminum service centre atop the foundation of the current old warehouse at 95 Esquimalt Road.

more...

...the eastern portion of the lot will be left as green space and will support future plans for the realignment of Esquimalt Road.

This would seem to be a reference to the planned 4-way intersection that would connect Harbour Road across Esquimalt Road and right through to the Songhees, yes? Is that intersection official or isn't it?

You are correct. That's the plan for the intersection. There will be a bit of complexity with regard to the sidewalk:

The frontage works undertaken along Esquimalt Road by the Applicant will provide the final section of the 1.9 m wide bike land along the south side of Esquimalt. Through a design process coordinated with City Transportation and Parks staff, the alignment of the relocated sidewalk manages to retain most of the existing mature street trees, and create a boulevard strip between the sidewalk and Esquimalt Road. This will result in the City sidewalk being partially on the Applicant's property, and an easement will be put in place to address this.

As a Vic West resident, this development is somewhat underwhelming....but better than an abandoned warehouse.

Does anyone know if this lot was actually sold? Or is this all a lease/build to suit?

What about timeline? Is this happening soon, or are they waiting for the market at the Roundhouse or the pub at Dockside before they break ground...

As a Vic West resident, this development is somewhat underwhelming....but better than an abandoned warehouse.

Does anyone know if this lot was actually sold? Or is this all a lease/build to suit?

What about timeline? Is this happening soon, or are they waiting for the market at the Roundhouse or the pub at Dockside before they break ground...

Somehow I had it in my mind that the sale will be subject to the successful rezoning.

Frank Stanford's comment

Jul 23, 2010

IT IS IRONIC THAT RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM DOCKSIDE GREEN...AMONG THE MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WORLD...A SHOWPIECE IN COMMUNITY DESIGN FOR THE 21ST CENTURY; WINNER OF MULTIPLE AWARDS...THE HIGHEST AND BEST USE OF ONE OF THE MOST VISIBLE PIECES OF REAL ESTATE IN VICTORIA IS: A CAR LOT.

IT'S DOUBLY IRONIC THAT THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION LIES JUST OVER THE JOHNSON STREET BRIDGE FROM DOWNTOWN VICTORIA...RIGHT ABOUT THE PLACE WHERE THE PASSENGER TRAIN SERVICE WOULD HAVE TO END, UNLESS TAXPAYERS ARE WILLING TO COUGH UP 15 OR 20 MILLION DOLLARS TO BUILD A RAIL BRIDGE. ALL THE FORWARD THINKING; ALL THE SUPPOSED FUTURE OF COMMUTER RAIL...GRINDING TO A HALT AT A CAR DEALERSHIP.

[...]

http://cfax1070.com/...hp?newsId=14481

Somehow I had it in my mind that the sale will be subject to the successful rezoning.

It is already zoned Light Industrial so a car lot is already permitted.

The applicant is seeking a Development Permit in which the City is only able to ensure the appropriateness of the use and the look of the development (ie: colours, materials, landscaping, CPTED etc.)

I guess we should be grateful it's a BMW dealership and not Howie's Car Corral. No offense, Howie.

It is already zoned Light Industrial so a car lot is already permitted.

The applicant is seeking a Development Permit in which the City is only able to ensure the appropriateness of the use and the look of the development (ie: colours, materials, landscaping, CPTED etc.)

I guess we should be grateful it's a BMW dealership and not Howie's Car Corral. No offense, Howie.

If the city gets it's way with a new bridge, the traffic will be moving so fast through the approach that there won't be time for people to looky-lou at shiney new cars.

[...]

http://cfax1070.com/...hp?newsId=14481

Go ahead and pelt me with granola, but I think Frank Stanford nailed it.

This will forever galvanize Vic West as a suburban part of Victoria.

Go ahead and pelt me with granola, but I think Frank Stanford nailed it.

Let the pelting begin!

At least something will be done with that corner. With a BMW dealership it will be kept clean, tidy and looking good.

It's great that Dockside Green does what it does to be as green as possible, but it is smack dab in the middle of most of Victoria's industrial activities. If anything, Dockside Green is out of place.

I'm surprised they want to move after recently completing upgrades to the Cook Street location, but I guess it was getting a bit cramped there?

I do think that there will be a lot of vandalism to the cars there.

Maybe it should have been turned into a tent city instead?

A car dealership is a sad use of land this close to the very heart of downtown. The defining characteristic of a car dealership is lots and lots of ...well, lots, as in surface parking lots to display the cars.

Yes, for the record I think a warehouse would have been a better use of land here, with minimized above-ground automotive storage (freight docks).

Heck, a park might have been better land use than surface lots for on-sale cars.

This would have been a good location for the re-located E&N station and a BC Transit exchange, but with funding for the E&N not forthcoming from the province, the train station will likely get pushed back to the National Historic Roundhouse site.

^ I agree I have always thought that a great location for a train station if it had to move.

I should clarify that this has not been finally approved, it was moved forward to Public Hearing for it's development permit. That means the public does have a say, although the DP only covers the look of a development, not the overall land use like a rezoning would.

Yes, it would be ideal as a train station as you can see in the above diagram and the article photo showing the tracks right near the property line. There is a significant slope to the property but nothing that can't be overcome. It is close enough to the bridge to make walking into town easy.

I am optimistic about development at Yates and Cook but note that Johnson and Cook has been vacant (both sites) for several years).

Although Yates St. is identified in the new draft Downtown Plan as the "height spine" for density and taller buildings, the current dealership is across Cook St. which is the border. However, the lot is huge and would hold a lot of residential density. Maybe even a park, too.

I have no problems with this development. The deserted warehouse and its accompanying semi trailer parking lot is a blight.

^ Yeah I think I agree. Car lots are pretty easy to tear down if needs change, and I'd rather this bleak area get a car lot than keep the one on Cook where some housing or offices could go in.

How come in the TC article on Friday they said that the dealership had not been named as of yet?