A concept design for a proposed multi-family rental building at contiguous City-owned parcels at 350 and 398 Franklyn St. City Council recently approved the sale of the lots to Camargue Properties Inc. for future development. (City of Nanaimo)

By Jordan Davidson

downtown housing

City sells downtown Nanaimo parking lot in favour of multi-unit rental building

Jan 19, 2024 | 1:34 PM

NANAIMO — Plans are in the works to turn a downtown City staff parking lot into a residential rental building.

The connected lots, located at 350 and 398 Franklyn St. near City Hall, currently owned by the City, was approved by City Council to be sold to Camargue Properties Inc. for $1.6 million.

The sale price is closely aligned with the property’s most recent assessed value.

The City sent out an Expression of Interest (EOI) last year to develop the property, with Camargue meeting most of their criteria.

The developer wants to build a four or five-storey building with 56 units in total, 20 of which are one-bedroom units, 28 two-bedroom units, as well as eight micro units.

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They will also incorporate a “significant percentage of non-market, adaptable and accessible units”, the number of which depends on the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation program criteria and negotiations with the City.

Coun. Sheryl Armstrong asked the presenter from Camargue Robin Kelley about what efforts they’ll make to include accessible and adaptable units for people with mobility challenges.

Kelley said it’s something they certainly take into consideration.

“Especially for some of the micros and the one-bedrooms, and even the two-bedrooms are easier, we’ll often just make the door entrances a lot larger because you do have the circulation, but it’s planned for, for sure. Whether we make it 100 per cent accessible or adaptable, we found a lot of our existing ones we always put in a few that are adaptable with larger entrances and that seems to fill the demand.”

Kelley said they also make sure to have a level ground walk-in shower for the two-bedroom and some of the one-bedroom units.

At least 10 per cent of the homes will be classified as ‘”affordable” units, but could increase to 20 per cent depending on acceptance into federal financing programs.

Other proposed features include ground floor retail options on Wesley St., solar panels, and parking spaces with EV charging, along with charging stations for electric scooters/bicycles.

While the developers still need to secure a development permit and housing agreement by August, the property will be transferred to Camargue by Dec. 19, 2024.

Under the purchase and sale agreement, council also has the option to buy the property back if no substantial development, defined as $1.5 million, does not occur on the site within two years.

If the project comes to fruition, it would add to the significant rise in new residential buildings added to downtown Nanaimo’s housing stock in recent years.

Currently, the connected lots at 350 and 398 Franklyn St. is being used a City of Nanaimo parking lot. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow