Shovels hit the dirt at July 20 at the ground-breaking for The Commons, the commercial centre of a billion-dollar development at Royal Bay in Colwood, a bedroom community in B.C.’s Greater Victoria capital region.
The Commons is to be anchored by Quality Foods and Cascadia Liquor, with retail and offices space. It’s being developed by PCRE Group, which is partnering with GableCraft, the developer of the larger Royal Bay site.
Bounded by Metchosin and Latoria roads, it’s on the site of a former gravel pit across marine waters from Victoria.
Matt Davis, PCRE’s vice-president of development, said the aim is to have construction on the commercial buildings finished for tenants by the end of 2022.
The Commons will be about 75,000 square feet. Of that, Quality Foods will lease 37,000 square feet and Cascadia Liquor will occupy about 6,000 square feet.
Davis said he hopes to announce a pharmacy within the next couple of weeks.
Medical offices, dentists, a restaurant or pub, a daycare and other services are all in the plans. PCRE is working with Colliers commercial real estate to line up tenants, Davis said.
Plans call to start installing servicing on the site in August, Davis said.
Royal Bay and the nearby Royal Beach development site between the water and Metchosin Road are being built on a total of 500 acres.
Along with The Commons, this portion of Royal Bay, called Latoria South, will feature a mix of housing types, a new Royal B.C. Museum collections and research building, a 500-student elementary school, a 300-bed-plus assisted living facility for seniors, and land for a daycare.
The idea is to create a community linked by networks for walking, cycling and public transit for easy access to services, stores and parks, said Ben Mycroft, director of development for GableCraft.
About 5,000 homes are being built in north and south developments at Royal Bay.
Mycroft said the total development cost would be more than $1 billion and closer to $2 billion. Build-out is anticipated to take 10 years or more.
