At a January 29th meeting of the Victoria Downtown Residents Association, a development company pitched the idea of a 20-storey building in Victoria’s downtown core.
Merchant House Capital, a Victoria-based real estate and investment company, is planning to build a 20-storey hotel / office / commercial use building on Blanshard Street between Fort and View Streets.
Merchant bought the property in December 2018, and it currently houses some residential units — in the Montrose Building, on the corner of Blanshard and View Street — and businesses including Monk’s Office, the Italian Food Imports, and Guitars Plus.
In an email to Victoria Buzz, Merchant’s Chief Operating Officer Paul Silk said the project is being designed with multiple demographics in mind.
“The intent of the hotel component of the project is to attract tourists and business travellers to the convenience that staying downtown offers,” Silk wrote.
“The location lends itself to the vibrant Fort Street corridor, coffee shops, downtown entertainment, etc., and generally the ability to live in the city as local residents do.”
See more: This stunning waterfront glass house in Saanich is on sale for $6.6 million
The first four storeys of the building are slated for commercial or office use. The remaining 16 storeys will be used as a hotel to be managed by an as-yet unnamed hotel platform.
“The hotel is one component of a work-live-play atmosphere, with other amenities planned to meet the needs of the office users both in the building and throughout the downtown area,” explained Silk.
In a phone call with Victoria Buzz, Silk said there was no exact timeline for the project but that Merchant was in no rush to break ground. Instead, he said, they were happy to keep meeting with city planning officials in preparation for the project.
