A four-storey rental housing complex is proposed for a property near Rock City Rd., featuring 102 units. (dHKarchitects)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

new units

New rental complex proposed in Nanaimo’s Rock City neighbourhood

Mar 16, 2025 | 6:49 AM

NANAIMO — Over 100 new rental units are being envisioned for a currently forested lot in central Nanaimo.

The property at 3400 Barrington Rd., off Rock City Rd. would feature 102 rental units spread across four storeys and ranging in size from studio apartments to three bedroom units.

Paul Koopman with dHKarchitects told the City’s Design Advisory Panel on Thursday, March 13, their goal with the project is to embed it as much as possible into the surrounding landscape.

“Our site approach and building design approach has been to design a building that will fit in with the existing landscape and one that is positioned in a way to minimze excavation and site disturbance.”

Using the natural grade of the property, developers plan to hide the parkade into the ground, making the property appear four storeys tall from the front. (dHKarchitects)

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Six of the rental units would be wheelchair accessible, while three interior amenity rooms and a shared outdoor space would also be included.

Design considerations take into account a small wetland, along the west property line.

A two-storey parkade will sit beneath the four-storey structure and feature the required number of parking spaces for a development of this size.

Multiple bike parking areas will be installed throughout the property.

Inclusion of an on-site parkade was done with thought and care to the topography of the property, according to Koopman.

“It was a really good area for us to locate our building so that we could position the parkade areas below grade and have the first floor level…be roughly parallel and level with the existing grade. From the approach to the building and from Barrington Rd., the building will appear to be a four storey building, not a six storey building.”

A proposed height variance of 2.5 metres was supported by the Panel, allowing a total building height of 16.5 metres.

The panel also offered four recommendations, mainly around minor design-related elements on the building itself.

The project must still be presented to Council for development permit approval.

A two-storey parkade would provide enough space for vehicles to support a development of over 100 units, and be built into the natural slope of the property. (dHKarchitects)

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