A total of 93 residential rental units are planned for a property on Mountain Vista Dr., adjacent to the newly-created Powder Works Rd. in Nanaimo. (Checkwitch Poiron Architects/City of Nanaimo)

By Alex Rawnsley

rental properties

Proposed Nanaimo housing complex advancing, despite ‘significant’ height & parking variances

Jan 11, 2025 | 5:56 AM

NANAIMO — Amid concerns regarding proposed building heights and parking, a proposed central Nanaimo rental apartment building cleared another hurdle.

Developers are proposing a 93-unit rental apartment complex at 1960 Mountain Vista Dr., adjacent to the newly formed Powder Works Rd. created during the ongoing Midtown Gateway project initiative.

Presenting to the City’s Design Advisory Panel on Thursday, Jan. 9, architect David Poiron said three multi-storey buildings would encircle a central common area.

“It’s kind of a connection between the centre of the site and the peripheral. The one-storey amenity building is essentially the campfire, a central building that allows the community that’s going around them to connect and be part of one another.”

Apartments would be mixed with natural features, trees and more. (Checkwitch Poiron Architects/City of Nanaimo)

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Studio apartments would make up 32 of the available suites, while 37 one-bedroom, 18 two-bedroom homes and six three-bedrooms units round out the proposal at this stage.

Roughly 15 per cent of the suites would be fully accessible, the meeting heard.

A considerable amount of protected bike storage, 125 spaces, would be available to tenants, while 94 parking spaces are planed.

Just one visitor spot is envisioned, however the panel suggested developers consider finding ways to add more.

“The site itself, the area we’re building on, has limitations on what we can do in terms of building depths,” Poiron added. “We can’t go any deeper, we can’t have an underground of any kind. There’s still a mine shaft on the site…it’s not within the [building] footprints.”

A big feature of the property is incorporating the buildings into a re-developed natural area.

“Really our goal here is in 20 years to have a site that’s sitting inside this reestablished forest that’s being taken care of on the site, so the plant palette is really high on native species especially a native plant restoration area along the north property line,” Danica Proven, the project’s landscape architect, said.

The property sits up against a newly constructed road, Powder Works Rd., which was developed as part of the Midtown Gateway Project. (Google Maps)

Two variances were approved by the panel, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

Developers want the principal buildings to reach upwards of 10.8 metres, eclipsing the seven metres permitted under current zoning.

They also are well under the 136 parking spaces typically required for a development of this size.

Darren Moss, who represented the property owners at the Panel meeting, said it was a challenging balance to find.

“It’s trying to crystal ball who’s going to rent this space. There are a fair number of studio apartments as well as one bedrooms and we believe there will be a lot of renters who don’t have cars. We’ve done other developments in the past…we think there will be quite a few renters that don’t want to have a car.”

Panel member Hector Alcala said it was less than ideal.

“Right now, I live in a townhome complex that basically we have one parking space per unit and we have a lot of street parking and it’s a problem. There’s always people trying to park illegally outside, people fighting for parking so that’s a big concern for me.”

Fellow member Angie Boileau said the variances were fairly significant.

“I think the rationale in the documentation…it really helps to understand where they are coming from and why they’re justifiable and also the additional bike parking and the variation in bike options I think is really important here. It’s a great site for bike connection and for accessibility to the city.”

The currently undeveloped lot was partially unlocked as a result of the advancing City of Nanaimo-led Midtown Gateway project. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Seven recommendations were presented to developers for their consideration ahead of applying for a development permit.

They included addressing visitor parking, changing a planned gravel pathway into a harder surface, and creating additional privacy between one of the buildings and existing properties on the north side.

The project is due to be presented to Nanaimo City Councillors at a later date when City staff review a development permit application.

Should a development permit be awarded a building permit is still required.

According to the City of Nanaimo, the Midtown Gateway project envisions residential development and a commercial core, along with active transportation paths among numerous other features.

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