It’s been a long time coming, but the soon-to-begin onsite work on the upscale Westbay Quay project will herald the creation of a truly unique property for this waterfront Esquimalt neighbourhood.
Tenfold Projects Inc., which combines the creative talents of nearby Swallow’s Landing developer David Price, and Max Tomaczewski– who has built other notable projects in the region– aims to transform the triangle of land bordered by Head, Gore and Lyall streets into a residential, commercial and retail village hub.
The team acquired the property and took over the project from the previous developers in July of last year, taking the first phase, 73 units in two buildings, through the development permit stage.
Price says the project will provide further improvements to the area, which has seen the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations upgrade the RV park across Head Street. It is also the western terminus of the Westsong Walkway waterfront trail and is home to the colourful Westbay Marine Village float home park.
“Esquimalt’s kind of the next area to take off,” he says. “When we did Swallows it was on the cutting edge of it, but the trend is definitely moving out towards Esquimalt, because there’s not much development property left in Victoria.”
The first phase of Westbay Quay calls for 65 suites in the six-storey Topaz section and eight live-work units in the two-storey Lapis building. Topaz will feature one- and two-bedroom condos and 11 live-work spaces, as well as six penthouses with ocean views and oversized outdoor spaces. Units in the two buildings range in size between 700 and 1,200 square feet, which Price says make them ideal for people looking to downsize or perhaps be close to the water for access to launch kayaks or a coastal walk into downtown Victoria.
The phase two plan calls for up to 12 larger, owned units in a five-storey building, with flexibility to allow full floor purchases.
In keeping with Tenfold’s philosophy of including health and wellness elements in their buildings, the suites in Westbay Quay will be outfitted with gas-fired, high efficiency variable flow heating/cooling units, which work well with the proximity of the ocean and fresh air. An alkaline water filtration system and the installation of Lauzon’s “smart-floor” air purifying system will provide other healthy benefits to residents.
“We’ll have LED lighting throughout the complex, timers on all the fans, dimmers on the lights; we’re conscious of the energy efficiencies,” Price says, noting also that the suites will have state-of-the-art Whirlpool dryers with an internal evaporation system.
The hope is to attract a restaurant for the complex, he adds, to help create a vibrancy in the area.
The company is hoping to receive a demolition permit soon to clear the site, with excavation likely to start late this year or early in 2018. The goal is to see completion of both phases by December 2020, Price says.
For more details, visit westbayquay.com.
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