Two, six-storey buildings, along with seven town homes are proposed for a newly opened lot at the corner of Boxwood Rd. and Northfield Rd. in Nanaimo. (WA Architects)

By Alex Rawnsley

211 homes

Major housing project eyed for newly opened land along Nanaimo’s Boxwood Connector

Jun 27, 2025 | 4:11 PM

NANAIMO — Over 200 housing units and townhomes are envisioned for one of the busiest areas of the city.

A development permit application is before the City of Nanaimo, proposing 204 apartment-style units across two, six-storey buildings, in addition to seven townhouse units, for the newly created space at the Northfield Rd. and Boxwood Rd. intersection.

Project architect Neil Banich, from WA Architects, told the City’s Design Advisory Panel on Thursday, June 26, the location is ideally suited for additional density, with recreation, transit and groceries stories close by.

“Our objective, particularly in today’s uncertain market that we’re building in, is we really want to deliver [an] efficient and economically viable project. We still want to maintain some architectural character, but we want to ensure that this product is attainable for everybody trying to get into the market.”

Frontages along Northfield Rd. and Boxwood Rd. would be tree-lined and feature sidewalks. (WA Architects)

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The units, which would be operated under a strata, would be a mixture of studio (two units), one (109) and two-bedroom (93) configurations, with some also having dens.

All seven townhouses would be three-bedroom properties.

Banich said the townhouses were somewhat of an afterthought, but space was created by land surveys identifying poor construction-quality soil on the property’s northwestern sector.

“When we had laid this out, we weren’t even contemplating townhomes, but given the shape of the property and trying to stay out of the bad soils, it just presented itself as a great opportunity. Typically, their frontages are onto our new connector road, and their back patios, etc, are more into our courtyard.”

The Midtown Gateway project, completed in 2024, opened up a number of new lots in a key Nanaimo corridor. (NanaimoNewsNOW illustration)

The overall site plan calls for open areas for residents featuring a variety of trees and plants, as well as a public art piece created by Snuneymuxw First Nation artist Eliot White-Hill.

Developers are also proposing an access road linking Northfield Rd. to Boxwood Connector Rd. to the immediate east of the development.

Parking would be a mixture of surface and underground, with 215 units planned, below the requirement of 264.

“We’re proposing some shared EV vehicles, such as Evo, and even with the variance, the project still maintains a one per unit ratio. This really seems to align with ongoing trends we’re seeing in many municipalities, both in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island, so we’re pretty confident that this project will be well served with the ratio proposed.”

The Design Advisory Panel, which looks at the form and character of major developments in Nanaimo, gave their support to the parking variance, while providing 13 recommendations for developers to consider as part of their application.

Those included having more three-bedroom apartments in the two main buildings, the addition of a commercial space on site, more bike parking and coverings, and adding rooftop amenities for the townhouse units.

Council will consider the development approval application at a future meeting.

Construction, after all permits are received, would be done in two main phases.

A new connector road linking Northfield Rd. and Boxwood Connector Rd. would be established on the eastern side of this development. (WA Architects)

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