Revamped plans for a self-storage facility are a step closer to being turned into bricks and mortar, after Victoria council unanimously endorsed a scaled-down project that will straddle Pembroke Street and Princess Avenue.
On Thursday, the smaller project from Smartstop Self-Storage, which now encompasses three lots on the 600-block of Princess Avenue and two on Pembroke Street, moved ahead after council approved the new design.
The project includes consolidating the five currently empty lots and constructing a four-storey self-storage building that will also offer commercial and light-industrial space along Princess Avenue.
Last year, the city prohibited self-storage as a permitted use except for applications that were already in the queue as of June 15, 2023, including the Pembroke project.
Since then, council has approved a storage facility with retail space at grade to replace a parking lot on three city lots at the northwest corner of Douglas Street and Queens Avenue.
Coun. Dave Thompson said the policy against storage facilities in the neighbourhood stems from the fact that it’s the kind of business that doesn’t generate many jobs, or “many people generally activating the streets.”
“But this one’s a bit different,” he said. “It’s an area that is really desperate for new life and the amendments really do improve it quite a bit.”
The 150,000-square-foot building will include 140,000 square feet of self-storage space and more than 5,550 square feet of commercial space.
The project also includes a plan to modernize the streetscapes of both Pembroke Street and Princess Avenue with widened sidewalks and new trees.
“I think it’s just a little bit closer to getting it right for the future of the city, particularly the commercial units on the front with their higher ceilings,” said Coun. Matt Dell. “I think it gets us closer to what most of us want to see in this part of the city.”
Coun. Marg Gardiner added the development will make a difference in the area.
“This area is right on the edge of the industrial and also residential downtown, so I think it’ll be very useful,” she said. “Princess itself is really problematic for many of the businesses there now. This development being such a large development will actually calm things down on Princess Avenue.”
A staff report noted the new design provides more flexibility in the commercial space on the ground level and no longer includes the empty lot at 2121 Douglas St., which had made it inconsistent with principles of logical land assembly in the official community plan.
The Douglas Street lot is now vacant and can be redeveloped in the future.
