Soaring costs and minimal space shifting Nanaimo to higher-density living

While the B.C. government is pushing higher density, the City of Nanaimo has as well with its City Plan: Nanaimo Reimagined document in 2012, which includes encouraging housing and commercial density around urban centes near transit nodes.

While new, higher-density developments are being built across the city, Holm said parts of Nanaimo are seeing more builds than others, notably around the downtown, Old City Quarter, and south end neighbourhoods.

The TELUS Living building at the corner of Wallace St. and Wentworth St., began welcoming residents at the end of April. (Image Credit: Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The Telus Living buildings, a pair of six-storey towers at 235 Wallace St. with 195 units, recently held a grand opening with tenants moving in.

A few blocks away at 340 Campbell St., a singular six-storey housing complex replaced the old Caledonia Clinic, bringing 163 market rental apartments of various sizes, with construction still ongoing as tenants begin to move in to the completed sections.

The projects represent 358 housing units, which had previously housed nobody.

Both projects within two blocks from each other benefit from a 10-year property tax exemption to spur developments in the downtown core.

The six-storey, 163 market rental apartments at 340 Campbell St. also included expanded sidewalks and active transportation routes, eventually connecting it to the TELUS Living building a block to the south. (Image Credit: Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Nanaimo also has had “historically low” rental vacancy levels for years, currently at 2.2 per cent, with three per cent considered a “healthier” rate, Holm said.

He said outside agencies such as BC Housing can help with rental affordability, with the provincial Crown corporation already assisting numerous local initiatives, including a 35-unit, six-storey supportive housing development on Nicol St. which recently began construction.

Known as the Harbourview District, multiple large condo buildings have been built on Haliburton St. off Nicol St. in the past five years, with almost 200 living units added. (Image Credit: Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Haliburton St. has seen three new condo buildings replacing single-family homes in the last five years in a more densified area known as The Harbourview District, with more additions already in the works.

A four-storey, 79-unit apartment building with a coffee shop on the ground floor is being planned at the corner of Haliburton St. and Finlayson St., with a development permit currently being processed.

Those big developments often add more to the community beyond housing.

Improvements to nearby infrastructure can be included in a project through avenues such as development cost charges, with the standards set through the City’s engineering department.

“On the surface, you’ll see the improvements to the roads and the pedestrian and cycling infrastructure,” said Holm. “And then underground, there can be a requirement for upgrades to the utilities to sewer, water, and storm drainage infrastructure that come with the development.”

He said the City is constantly planning for the future and looking at areas of anticipated or encouraged growth, along with upgrading associated infrastructure to keep up with the growing population.

Locally known as “bike lanes to nowhere”, seemingly fragmented bike lanes around newly completed buildings, like this one along Milton St. near Haliburton St., are part of a larger City plan for connected active transportation routes, constructed with the financial assistance from developers, when possible. (Image Credit: File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Several projects currently ongoing will further change the make-up of the Harbour City, including a massive, 2,200-home mixed-use south Nanaimo development, known as Sandstone.

Construction on the first homes in the Cinnabar Valley is expected to start this year, part of a buildout which could take up to 20 years to complete.

The City is also working on the Woodgrove Area Plan to transform the commercial-driven north Nanaimo area into a complete community over the next 25 years.

For more information on development applications and projects within the city, go to the ‘What’s Building in my Neighbourhood?’ page on the City’s website.

Aerial view of the Sandstone project, which is expected to serve as the new gateway into south Nanaimo. (Image Credit: City of Nanaimo)

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by Jordan Davidson

Soaring costs and minimal space shifting Nanaimo to higher-density living

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