New hotel proposed at Diver Lake in Nanaimo

Plans are in the works for a hotel overlooking Diver Lake.

Nanaimo city council were presented with concept plans for Diver Lake Inn and Suites, a 72-room hotel proposed for 3679 Shenton Rd., and unanimously passed first and second readings of an official community plan amendment application and a re-zoning application.

“We think it’s a project that’s going to work really well on this piece of property,” said consultant Bill McKay, speaking to council on behalf of property owner Western LL Holding Ltd.

The hotel would be four storeys facing the lake, but would appear three storeys tall at Shenton Road, and would have both a parkade and surface parking.

The OCP amendment application seeks to change the property’s designation from light industrial to corridor, and city staff support the application, noting in a staff report that commercial uses “offer a more suitable transition to surrounding residential neighbourhoods and environmentally sensitive areas around Diver Lake.”

The property owner’s community contribution would be approximately $136,000 toward parks and trails improvements in the Diver Lake area.

McKay cited a CBRE Group study from 2016 that counted “about 700 clean hotel rooms in nine properties” in Nanaimo and said the opening of the 45-room Quality Inn, the construction of the 172-room Courtyard by Marriott and the closure of the 100-room Howard Johnson Harbourside has resulted in a net gain of fewer than 120 rooms. Another 72 rooms will help support long-term development of the tourism industry, he said, including conference business and sports tourism.

The application will go to a public hearing Sept. 23.