Work has begun on Esquimalt’s mixed-use residential and commercial Town Square development in the municipality’s town centre.

 

Crews have closed several parking lots south of Esquimalt’s town hall in the 1200-block of Esquimalt Road in preparation for ground work and the relocation of underground infrastructure.

 

The project, dubbed Esquimalt Town Square, will include of a five-storey office building with four levels of class-A office space above a ground floor commercial component. The building’s first floor will house an expanded Greater Victoria Public Library branch along with retail uses.

 

A mixed-use residential building with ground floor retail space will rise to six-storeys along Park Place at Esquimalt Road. Five levels of residences will overlook the project’s central square, Park Place and Esquimalt Road.

 

Two additional residential buildings, which may ultimately include a mixture of condominiums and rental apartments, will be situated along the southern perimeter of the site at Park Place and Carlisle Avenue.

 

Esquimalt Town Square's Vancouver-based developer, Aragon Properties, anticipates a total residential density of some 130-units upon project completion, and approximately 49,000 square feet of office and retail space.

 

The Town Square project joins a growing list of new developments in the municipality. A Red Barn Markets grocery store opened on Esquimalt Road at Admirals Road in late February, and work continues on a uniquely-designed liquor store at the site of the former Tudor House Pub kitty corner from the newly-opened market. Further east along Esquimalt Road Vanguard Projects plans to start construction on a six-storey condominium residence this spring, and Aragon Properties is also working towards final approvals for a multi-building residential community at Lampson Street’s English Inn site. C