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A proposal to redevelop the Victoria Plaza Hotel in downtown Victoria is envisioned a six-storey new-build wing fronting onto Pandora Avenue and the addition of two-storeys above the historic four-storey hotel fronting onto Government Street. A total of 100 residences were planned along with ground floor retail spaces.
Following a May 6, 2019 fire that destroyed the entire building, the development proposal was rescinded.
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Now, CHEK News has learned that Ocean Gate instead opted to sell the property, saying it did not believe it could build an economically viable hotel with the constraints.
The site has been purchased by Redbrick and Aryze Development, who are partnering to build a hotel.
“This hotel project reflects continued investment in the future of downtown and responds to a well-defined need for additional hotel capacity in the city,” the companies said in a joint statement to CHEK News.
“Redbrick, a Victoria-founded and headquartered group of companies, is partnering with Aryze, both certified B-Corp organizations, with a strong track record of thoughtful, high-quality work. Together, it is their intent to bring forward a hotel that honours Victoria’s past, contributes thoughtfully to its future, and adds lasting value to the downtown core.”
Isn't Redbrick a tech company?
Now that Aryze is involved, I would pay some money out of my own pocket if they could take some strong inspiration from their defunct proposal for Parry Street at Toronto Street in James Bay. That project had much more of an "old town" vibe than a James Bay vibe, anyway.
Seriously, if you give me 6-8 stories of the good stuff shown below on the Plaza Hotel site but with a proper Government St. commercial ground floor then I might have to concede that Victorians aren't incapable of learning from their past successes and failures.
Consider everything that the new Customs House is and does at Wharf and Government, and that's 100% what the goal should be for the Plaza Hotel site at Pandora and Government. Same impressively positive vibe and energy re: a new development in a touristy older area. A bit showy but not over the top, and absolutely nailing all of the "old town" fundamentals.
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- pictures above were taken from Aryze's Aug 2023 document re: their James Bay project
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