$2B Vic West housing development moving forward

Eight hectares of unused industrial land in Victoria’s Vic West neighbourhood is ready to be transformed into 1,900 units of housing.

The $2 billion project, being dubbed the Roundhouse at Bayview Place, is being touted as one of the biggest development projects in Victoria’s history.

The development has been stalled for years – but late last week, on May 4 – Victoria city council pushed the project on to the next phase.

The massive build will include purpose-built rentals, hotels and condo towers. It will also have commercial retail space and public amenities, like a market, in the historic railway buildings.

One of the towers will be for supportive housing, and $15-million worth of land will be given to a not-for-profit.

"That housing provider will work with BC Housing and the CMHC [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation] to build a tower of affordable units operated by a not-for-profit," explained Victoria councillor Matt Dell.

Dell is in full support of moving the project forward.

"This is a massive opportunity for the City of Victoria," he said. "It’s basically a 20-acre site, with one of the most important industrial lands."

The sheer scope of the project is garnering attention.

"In terms of scale from 1 to 10, it's a full on 10," said Mike Kozakowski, founder of real estate website Citified.

"It’s hard to argue that it can get any bigger than this on the island."

The project has been stalled for years amid delays in land use approvals from successive city councils.

Council is expected to vote again on the project in a couple of months to send it to public hearing.

The Bayview Place developers hope shovels will be in the ground in a year.