A new retail plaza proposed for Sooke’s town centre remains an application in pursuit of approvals as its fifth year of municipal planning nears.

 

 

Originally submitted as a rezoning application in the spring of 2021, proponent Mid America Venture Capital Corp envisioned a retail centre comprising over 150,000 square feet of commercial space between the 6700-blocks of West Coast Road/Highway 14 and Eustace Road, just west of Sooke’s existing retail plazas.

 

The concept has spent years moving through the approvals process, with Calgary-based Royop Development Corporation now at the helm of the application.

 

Last spring, Royop’s President and CEO Jeremy Thal, and Jacob Weber, Royop’s Senior Vice President - Development, made a presentation to Sooke council describing the company’s history of commercial development in western Canada, and cited retailer interest in the Sooke site.

 

The executives went on to say their proposal includes a roundabout on West Coast Road at the main entrance to the future plaza, similar in design to a roundabout that connects the nearby Evergreen Centre retail node to Sooke Road/Highway 14 (Sooke Road becomes West Coast Road west of Otter Point Road).

 

In their presentation, Thal and Weber said the company’s intent is to deliver an anchor grocery store as part of an infusion of 70,000 square feet of commercial space, and 200 residential units in two buildings. Architecturally, the theme will draw from what was described by the applicants as a “Nordic fishing village.” Additionally, a public walking trail will span the western perimeter of the centre, while a bike lane will run the length of the site.

 

The earlier application via Mid America that had originally gone before Sooke's planners proposed more than twice Royop's anticipated square footage of commercial space, including an office component. Residential uses had not been described at the time of the initial application, at least not in publicly accessible documentation.

 

Following approvals, Royop expects to build the project in one phase along with an initial 100 units of housing. Upon completion of the first residential block, a second would then proceed. The proponents hinted at the housing make-up being rentals or condominiums, or possibly both.

 

Given the planning trajectory thus far, greenlighting of Royop’s application is not expected until 2026 at the earliest. Construction would proceed thereafter, at-best launching in 2027 or 2028.

 

Sooke is currently among the most under-served communities in BC of its size and population density, as far as retail services go, with a regional population of around 20,000 people inclusive of Sooke-proper and unincorporated areas of Otter Point and Shirley, but not including the populations of East Sooke or Jordan River. In a broader sense, Sooke’s ultimate retail draw encompasses approximately 25,000 people, plus significant tourism activities.

 

In the town centre, multiple mixed-use development proposals with ground floor retail spaces have so far failed to proceed to construction, save for one project, currently in its early stage of building at the east end of the town centre. Known as Harbourview One, the building is the first phase of a multi-phased development that will include around 18,000 square feet of street-level commercial units below some 100 rentals.

 

 

Approximately a half-kilometre north of the Sooke Road and Otter Point Road intersection, a two-building market rental project completed in 2024 with approximately 12,000 square feet of retail space currently occupied by a fitness gym, a nail salon and a karate studio. At least one commercial unit remains for lease. Known as Park View, the project is situated adjacent to Sooke’s municipal hall, and replaced a former restaurant building that had earlier been a golf course club house, and in more recent years had been used as a fitness gym and temporarily as a during the early stage of the pandemic shelter.

 

Sooke’s draft official community plan calls for mid-rise residential density in the town centre with at-grade retail. Despite a similar vision guiding development in its core for many years, no modern mixed-use buildings have thus far completed in the town centre. The aforementioned Harbourview One will be the first such complex to reach occupancy in Sooke’s commercial core. C

 

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