The Belonging Project

Address:
813 Darwin Avenue

Location:
Saanich, BC

Client:
Garth Homer Society

Building Type:
Mixed-use Building, six-storeys concrete and wood frame over two levels of underground parking

Building Size:

63,000+ sq.ft. of multi-use space
90 units of adaptable mixed-income housing

Stage:
Predevelopment

Project Overview

Garth Homer Society’s current location is in the Nigel Valley neighbourhood in the District of Saanich’s Uptown Core area. The neighborhood and project site have long-been identified for redevelopment as part of the Nigel Valley Master Plan and Master Development Agreement. The Society was an early partner and champion of the redevelopment effort, working for over a decade alongside BC Housing, Saanich, the local community, and other not-for profit partners towards the vision of creating ‘a thriving and inclusive community where everyone feels at home and connected’.

The subdivision and redevelopment of the site will support a new Garth Homer Centre for Belonging to house the Society’s programs with mixed-income housing above and neighbourhood-serving uses at street-level.

The project has dynamic funding, planning, infrastructure, and operations considerations generated by the mixed-use nature of the building and intricacies of the publicly-driven, phased redevelopment approach. CitySpaces has been supporting Garth Homer Society in this effort for nearly a decade, providing strategic advice during the master planning and project generation stages, and acting as the Development Manager through predevelopment. The project is entering advanced design with a construction start targeted for 2027.

Key Highlights

Planned as the central mixed-use hub of the multi-phase, master planned neighbourhood. In addition to the core Centre for Belonging and residential uses, the redevelopment will provide indoor and outdoor community gathering spaces, street-level commercial and social enterprise space, and leasable meeting and program space available to other non-profit and community organizations.
Designed to be inclusive for people of all abilities including people with individualized sensory, developmental, and mobility needs.
20% of the units will be fully accessible for individuals with mobility challenges, while the remaining 80% will be adaptable to support a range of accessibility needs.