A closed regional forestry council building is about to embark on a new future as a lower-cost and lower-space rental housing option. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

Springboard

‘Let’s house people here:’ Nanaimo micro units converted from office building ready for tenants

Aug 15, 2024 | 3:35 PM

NANAIMO — A former downtown office building turned micro-unit housing complex is expected to open shortly following a vision by a pair of developers to fill an increasingly popular market.

Renovations are nearly complete inside the former Don McMillan Memorial Building at 420 Albert St., transforming the office space into 23, 200-300 square foot apartments, known as Springboard.

Developer Adrian Vlasic said they were inspired to create smaller units in order to offer people a place to call home without breaking the bank.

“If you’re trying to find a one-bedroom, you’re probably north of like, $1,500-$1,600. It’s kind of wild. It’s not the prices that I grew up with but now it’s basically what you have to face as a renter…the point was to give people an independent space with the older style budget, and to do that you give up a bit of space, but you get your own place,” Vlasic told NanaimoNewsNOW.

Rents for the single-room units range from $999 to $1,299 and each are outfitted with a bathroom, shower, kitchenette, stove, and fridge.

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Vlasic and his business partner purchased the building last fall and renovations started a few months later.

A look inside one of the largest units available as developers put the final touches on the building. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

In order to make use of materials inside the former longtime regional headquarters of the BC Forest Safety Council, Vlasic advertised in local social media groups about the various items that needed to be removed.

“I kind of started the project off by doing a big demolition here, where a lot of the building was repurposed in the community between who came by from Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, just a lot of free ads in order to get the stuff out of the building and into use in other places instead of just taking it to the dump.”

He said around 40 panes of glass stayed out of the scrap heap and were used to build personal greenhouses.

Vlasic noted 28 office doors and around 6,000 square feet of ceiling tiles were also linked to people who had their own uses in mind.

“They slowly, piece-by-piece, carried this building out one at a time, and all 28 offices disappeared,” Vlasic said.

Several interested potential residents are lined up with the first renters expected to move in on Sept. 1.

The developers received a property tax exemption from the City of Nanaimo in January for the 45-year-old brick structure.

The building underwent seismic upgrades and everything inside is brand new, except for a few pieces of infrastructure like the exterior walls and roof.

Vlasic said while they didn’t have to start the build from scratch, the building itself was well suited for this kind of development.

“It might just be that we lucked out with this building because it had great bones and it has a lot of windows…but a lot of buildings that you look at don’t have windows, so it’s not possible to do it. This one was definitely will be given a second life because of that.”

While not every unit comes with windows, the developers utilized large skylights to brighten up the units. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Developer Fillah Karim said both he and Vlasic are at the stage in life where it’s time to move out of their parent’s homes, but finding affordable accommodations “can be daunting”, especially in B.C.

“Before we even started this project we were looking at the problem as individuals and just trying to say, ‘where are you going to live, where are you going to find that’s an affordable option?’ If you sign up to pay $2,000 a month in rent that can really restrict your ability to move forward in life.”

Karim said demand for office space dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they thought this building was perfect for their vision.

“Everybody has the mindset of housing being what it is, and how challenging it is, and so with that in the back of our minds we just saw this and it just came to us both right away: let’s house people here and find a way to do it affordably.”

The developers are hoping the opening of this building ignites a trend of transforming commercial space into affordable homes.

More information on Springboard can be found here at 420albertstreet.ca.

Historic photos of the BC Forest Safety Council regional headquarters on Nanaimo’s Albert St. (Submitted)

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNow