Cranes have taken over the city’s skyline while pylons and reroutes have taken over the streets below. This ongoing development boom has seen a rapid increase in real estate, retail and rental spaces unparalleled in recent history.
According to a new report put forward by the Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA), in the past three years alone the number of condominium units has increased ten-fold.
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In 2016, the report reads, the number of downtown condo units sat at 122. By the end of 2019, this will sit at 1,218 thanks to 598 condo units completed by 2019, with an additional 620 condo units still under construction in 2019.
Comparatively, the number of rental units in the downtown area has only tripled, sitting at 176 in 2016 and estimated to be at 529 by the end of 2019.
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Retail space has increased by more than 7.5 times, with 18,690 sq. ft. available in 2016, and an estimated 145,230 available by the end of 2019.
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Office space, however has seen a slowdown this year, following a significant jump in 2017 and 2018 with the completion of the sites at 1515 Douglas St. and 750 Pandora Ave. which combined saw an additional 280,000 sq. ft. Despite the new space, office vacancy has seen a dip, dropping from 7.2 per cent in 2017 to 6.4 per cent in 2018. No new office space is currently slated for construction in 2019.
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