The Cowichan Valley will have a new retail and office centre just steps from the Cowichan District Hospital replacement project, Citified has learned, ahead of significant redevelopment in-store for an expansive community of residential acreages north of Duncan.

 

 

Known as Parhar Centre, the 150,000 square foot plaza from Island-based developer Parhar Group is coming to the junction of the Trans Canada Highway and Highway 18 at Herd Road, roughly five kilometres from Duncan’s town centre. The project will deliver approximately two dozen retail units at full build-out, with commercial spaces ranging from 1,200 square feet to 15,000 square feet across an eight-acre site. Work is currently underway on phase one.

 

Parhar Group says their buildings will utilize modern technologies and pursue multiple environmental standards to “meet or exceed Energy Step Code 3,” a set of incremental regulations for ‘green building’ within the BC Building Code.

 

Many residential acreages in the immediate area of Parhar Centre and the upcoming hospital (on Bell McKinnon Road just south of Herd Road) have changed hands in recent years, with mixed-use residential and commercial redevelopment anticipated over the medium and long terms, and the potential for masterplanned residential subdivisions. The new hospital, named Quw’utsun Valley Hospital and Quw'utsun Hulitun-ew’t-hw in the Hul’q'umi'num' language, is set to open in 2027, and is considered a catalyst for the area’s transition from semi-rural residential to higher densities and mixed uses.

 

Elsewhere on the south Island, a proposal in Sooke of similar size to Parhar Centre has been making its way through the municipal planning process for five years since its unveiling in 2021. Calgary-based developer Royop has proposed a mixed-use retail and residential project following several years of planning under the auspices of another firm that focused entirely on commercial units before their vision was superseded once Royop stepped in. The site, on West Coast Road/Highway 14 just west of Otter Point Road in Sooke’s town centre, has been described by the proponent as featuring a coastal Nordic style of architecture. No construction timelines are currently available.

 

In Langford, an approximately 28,000 square foot strip mall is readying for occupancy by mid-2026 on Happy Valley Road at Latoria Road in Langford, that will serve what was once a predominantly semi-rural residential area of the municipality undergoing a transition to subdivisions and townhomes.

 

 

Further east on Latoria Road at the Royal Bay community of Colwood, a commercial project is underway called Arbutus Landing, where approximately 40,000 square feet of new retail spaces will add to the retail make-up at the larger nearby Royal Bay Commons that opened earlier this decade. Arbutus Landing is expected to be completed this year. C

 

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