Letter from Denfor Investments regarding 1950 Watkiss Way
A letter from the developer detailing the vision, community benefits, and environmental features of the proposed rental building.
May 6th, 2016
Town of View Royal 45 View Royal Avenue, Victoria, BC V9B 1A6
Dear Mayor and Council,
Re: 1950 Watkiss Way – Development permit application
We are a Victoria based family business applying for a Development Permit for a multi-family building on this property as per the currently permitted zoning.
The building being proposed is a purpose built rental apartment. Our family already owns and manages apartment buildings in Victoria, Saanich, Langford, Esquimalt, Nanaimo, Parksville and Duncan.
With more than 30 years of expertise in renting and managing apartment buildings on Vancouver Island, we believe we have the local knowledge and see an opportunity to provide new housing options for residents of View Royal.
Why here?
Our family lives in rural Saanich, just over the municipal limits and not far from this site and have seen this neighbourhood change over the past 15 years, from one with few services and few housing options to one with many services, jobs and more diverse housing options. There is now an elementary school (Eagle View), new condos, townhouses and a new large shopping centre in the immediate vicinity of our property.
This is a developing area and this proposed 44 unit rental building will offer new housing options, improve the local community and make the neighbourhood greener and less dependent on cars.
- A varied choice of housing units is being proposed, including bachelor units, 1 bedrooms, 1 bedroom plus den, 2 bedroom and 2 bedroom + den as well. In our experience, this offers housing options to a variety of residents: single working people, families and retirees.
- New rental apartments where there were none before, enable residents of the area to downsize or move and remain in their immediate and familiar neighbourhood, or rent and live near their family and friends in the neighbourhood – This is one of the goals of the OCP in HS1A
- Offer a greener choice for residents as it will enable areas workers to live near their work instead of commuting by motor vehicle. Whether they are employed at the hospital, Eagle Creek Village, or in nearby Esquimalt, Saanich or Colwood our location offers the opportunity to :
- Commute on the Galloping Goose Trail
- Walk to hospital or Eagle Creek Village,
- Commute to work on BC Transit
- Reduce commuting times due to its central location: Residents would be central to both Saanich, Colwood and Langford.
- Walk their kids to Eagle View elementary school
Architecture:
On two separate occasions the Town of View Royal staff was consulted and their feedback and input were taken into account. As well, the neighbouring developments and the general area both influenced the design.
The rocky slopped site presents some challenges which were worked into the layout of the building. This proposal, in our opinion, is an attractive building with nods to the more traditional buildings in the area.
The proposed building fits in scope and appearance with the area:
- As allowed under the zoning, it is a mixed use building, with offices on the ground floor fronting onto Watkiss Way and residences above like the existing mixed use development at the corner of Watkiss Way and residences above.
- Building is a total of 4 storeys from the street side but only 3 storeys when viewed from park on the north and west sides – providing a transition to the 2 storey townhouses on the north side of park on Burnside road and in keeping with the scope and scale of the new condo and townhouse development at 1900 Watkiss Way, to the east of our property.
- In terms of style, a more contemporary look is being proposed with shed rooflines for added articulation and visual interest. These shed roofs offer a nod to the more traditional gable roof lines observed in the area while also offering a contemporary look.
- The vast majority of vehicle parking is underground or hidden behind the offices or behind the building. This will reduce the visual impact of the resident parking.
- Building will have more bicycle storage than required by zoning, as this location next door to the Galloping Goose is a great opportunity for cyclists.
- Offices will have access to a shower for cycling staff of the offices.
Site servicing:
The proposed development will not impact area services. The property has all the required services, sewer, water, natural gas, phone and power, already on Watkiss Way. There is sufficient capacity in these services for our development.
Community benefits:
- Part of the requirements of our development is to upgrade the 4 way stop at the corner of Watkiss Way and Burnside road to a lighted intersection with lights and pedestrian signals. This will greatly improve the traffic flow and safety of this intersection for the area.
- This proposed development follows the objectives of the Official Community Plan of View Royal by addressing some of the housing objectives outlined on pages 80 to 82 of the OCP.
- Office space: The office space component of the development will be in part used for our own management offices and part of it will be rented out to other businesses looking for offices in the area. This will provide additional options for businesses to locate in the area, create employment in the area and offer residents more services. For our office, this location will reduce the commute times and distance for 9 to 10 people.
- Additional residents for local businesses: Local businesses such The Nest Café at Burnside and Watkiss and ones at Eagle Creek Village will benefit from added residents who shop, eat, work out and use area services. This can increase the local employment base
- Enable View Royal residents to downsize and remain within their community to new rental housing. Demand is strong in our other new rental building from people wishing to rent when downsizing.
Environmental features:
- As part of the development's landscape improvements, we propose to restore the north and west sides of the property fronting the park to a more natural Garry Oak meadow plantings to create a softer transition to the park sides of the property.
- All common area lighting will be low consumption LED or fluorescent fixtures with motion activated activation in common areas where allowed to reduce consumption.
- All plumbing fixtures will be low consumption
- All exterior lighting fixtures will be oriented downwards or be recessed pot lights to respect dark sky policies.
- All apartment appliances will be Energy Star rated.
- Bike storage for all residents will enable residents to commute to work, school, shopping and recreation.
- Visitor parking to be provided at building entrances.
- Construction will be mostly with wood framing, which is a renewal resource.
- Long lasting low maintenance cement fibre exterior siding reduces landfill waste.
In closing, we seek your approval of our Development Permit as it fits within the zoning, addresses objectives of the OCP and provides new alternative housing options for residents of View Royal.
Thank you for considering our Development Permit application for 1950 Watkiss Way.
Sincerely,
Groupe Denux & Denfor Investments Inc.
Nicolas Denux Vice-President
Sophie Denux Director
Document Images
(12)
