A concept drawing of the condo building proposed for Nanaimo. Photograph By HOOG AND KIERULF ARCHITECTS
A 麻豆传媒映画development company is making its first investments in Nanaimo, joining other Lower Mainland firms that have been building on the Island as land values and demand rise in B.C.鈥檚 housing market.
Wertman Development Corp. has bought two Nanaimo sites 鈥� one for a downtown condo tower of 20-plus storeys and another for a two-building rental project.
鈥淎s far as acquiring land to develop in Vancouver, [it] is next to impossible to have anything that is affordable,鈥� said Jason Wertman, vice-president of Vancouver鈥檚 Wertman Development Corp. 鈥淲e鈥檙e running out of room in this city for people to acquire and to move to.鈥�
That is why the 55-year-old firm started looking at 麻豆传媒映画Island, buying two neighbouring Nanaimo parking lots at 66 and 77 Chapel St., close to the water, and another site on Third Street near 麻豆传媒映画Island University.
鈥淲e鈥檙e quite confident that the city is in a growth period,鈥� Wertman said,
The family company isn鈥檛 alone. 麻豆传媒映画developers discovered 麻豆传媒映画Island many years ago as land prices climbed on the Lower Mainland and residential demand heated up in the capital region. Reliance Properties, Chard Development, Bosa Development, Concert Properties and Townline are among Vancouver-based developers working here.
Wertman Development has produced a range of projects including condos, residential rental, offices and seniors developments on the mainland.
Its Chapel Street properties would house a 90-unit condominium tower, to be called the Maracielo. 鈥淥ur idea is to do a boutique condo there to take advantage of some of the views,鈥� he said.
Concept drawings are in the works, with the height possibly between 22 and 25 storeys, Wertman said. Plans call for about four to six suites per floor, mainly two-bedroom units.
An adjacent building would stand two storeys tall on the Chapel Street side of the site, rising to four storeys on the Skinner Street side behind it. This building would house about six townhouses, a retail space, and a gym and pool, Wertman said.
For the commercial space, 鈥渨e are thinking maybe a restaurant or a grocery store to serve the neighbourhood.鈥�
The project would require a rezoning and development permit, he said. Applications will likely be submitted to the city in January.
Wertman is using de Hoog and Kierulf Architects, of Victoria, the same architect used by the Maracielo鈥檚 next door neighbour on Chapel Street. Island Creek Developments received City of Nanaimo approval this year for a 61-unit condo project at 91 Chapel St. with a west coast contemporary style.
This will mean that these two projects 鈥渨on鈥檛 clash,鈥� Wertman said. 鈥淭hey will blend in with each other.鈥�
Also in the planning stage is a rental project that would be built in two buildings in the 500-block of Third Street in Nanaimo.
鈥淲e are still playing with drawings, but the idea is to service the family neighbourhood there and the university.鈥�
Most of the suites would be one bedroom, he said. Each building would have between 70 and 80 suites, and would be lower than six storeys.
There鈥檚 no date yet to go to city hall with the rental project, Wertman said.
More than 300 new units would be added to Nanaimo鈥檚 housing stock when the Island Creek and Wertman鈥檚 three projects are finished. New housing is welcome in Nanaimo, where the vacancy rate is a tight 1.5 per cent and the city is embarking on writing an affordable-housing strategy.
The downtown projects join two new hotels in the city鈥檚 core 鈥� one on Gordon Street and another on Front Street.
Developers are looking forward to the prospect of a passenger ferry service between Nanaimo and Vancouver. Island Ferry Service is planning to introduce a 68-minute Nanaimo-麻豆传媒映画passenger service, permitting daily ferry commutes.
鈥淲e are really hoping that the commuter ferry is going to go through next year,鈥� Wertman said.
