Colwood Corners plan ‘good start’: mayor
A “thoughtful” scaled-down development that currently depicts six new residential and retail/commercial buildings at Colwood Corners would take 15 to 18 months to build once all permits are in place, Colwood Mayor Carol Hamilton said Tuesday.
That was the take-away from a presentation to city council by Vancouver-based Onni Corp., which indicated its priority would be tackling the giant hole on the site, just west of Goldstream Avenue at the Island Highway juncture.
“It’s a really good start,” Hamilton said. “The feeling that I got was that all of council was very supportive and keen to see something get [going] again.”
Onni took over control of the League Assets subsidiary behind the Capital City Centre development, where construction was halted in spring 2013 after it ran out of money.
The previous $1.2-billion project slated for the site called for 16 high-rises and several other buildings over 20 years, but none were built.
Still, even if Onni’s paperwork is ready by year’s end, it would be mid- 2017 before the project was finished, Hamilton estimated.
Onni would likely first tackle the largest of the six buildings over the parkade, with an anchor store and six floors of housing, Hamilton said. It would also upgrade the plaza that contains London Drugs to fit in with the rest of the development.
The developer did not reveal what kind of housing it plans to target for the 131,000 square feet above the retail level of the largest building.
“I would love to see rental,” Hamilton said.
Downsizing seniors don’t necessarily want a condo with extra fees, but would appreciate turnkey homes when they travel, she said, adding that a waiting list quickly developed at the last rental complex in Colwood.
The project is still at the presentation stage, with no formal proposal sent to Colwood, but there has been considerable back and forth between Onni and Colwood staff to realign Onni’s approach and see what can be salvaged from League.
“When developments fail like that, what people don’t realize is that there’s a huge amount of behind-thescenes work that needs to be done,” Hamilton said.
“It’s not just that quick to turn it over to somebody else. And then the new folks have to do an assessment and start some conversations again.”
There are no highrises depicted on the drawings, but Onni has reserved the back section for a potential highrise, given it owns all the property on the other side of Jerome Road behind the site.
Council also indicated it would like to see green space replace some of the 260 aboveground parking spaces on the drawings.
Hamilton said she does not consider what was presented as too small, even when compared to Capital City Centre, and could see council proceeding on the presentation.
“It’s a modest step,” she said, but it’s a statement intersection that has always been designated as a hub for density and community gathering. “We’re looking to find meaningful stops for people going through Colwood.”
The site takes in about 380,000 square feet. The six-building project would cover about 39 per cent of the site.