Link to the article on the Times Colonist website
On the eve of a public hearing, Mike Geric Construction announced it will redesign plans for a project on the lands of a former United Church.
The developer behind a 50-unit mixed-use project in Cadboro Bay has decided to pull the application from Saanich and head back to the drawing board.
On the eve of a public hearing, Ed Geric, principal of Mike Geric Construction, announced it will tear up plans for a project on the lands of a former United Church.
Geric cited local neighbourhood concerns, as he was hearing from locals that the project was out of scope and too much for the area.
“I’ve listened to the neighbourhood and their concerns and decided that for the benefit of my business and the project to pull the application,” Geric said. “We will pull it and resubmit to Saanich something more consistent with the expectations of the neighbourhood.”
Geric said he’s not sure yet what that will look like and he has promised nothing to the neighbours he has spoken with, but it is likely to be a townhouse development.
The public hearing that had been scheduled for Sept. 16 has now been cancelled.
Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock acknowledged the district had received a lot of feedback from residents about the proposed project.
“I appreciate the applicant’s willingness to consider a redesign that responds to those concerns,” he said.
The plans for 2625 Arbutus Rd., the former Cadboro Bay United Church, included a four-storey apartment complex with what the developer calls institutional use on the ground level. It has been suggested the space could be used as a school.
There were also three, three-storey townhome complexes included in the project.
In total there would have been 50 units of housing, 24 of them in the apartment building and the rest in the townhomes. The residential units would have had underground parking.
The project would have provided community amenity contributions worth $195,688, more than $30,000 in excess of what is recommended.
That money was to have been split—$65,000 for the Saanich affordable housing reserve fund, $90,000 in in-kind contributions and improvements to a public pathway, $20,000 for a crosswalk, $5,000 for a bus shelter and $15,000 in road improvements.
Local residents had complained the proposal was too much for the area and an online petition suggested a 25-unit, two-storey townhouse project might be more appropriate.
“I’ve always been a developer that has listened to neighbours, this is not the first time I have pulled an application,” Geric said. “This just doesn’t have the support of the neighbourhood.”
Geric said he is hoping the next version of this project will not take another two years to get to the stage of a public hearing.
But the delay may also play into his hands, given the current cost of development, the tighter credit market and continued economic uncertainty.
Geric was already forced to convert a 179-unit 12-storey condominium project near Mayfair shopping centre to a rental project while it was under construction.
Geric’s Tresah West project informed those who bought units in the building they would not be taking possession as it was being converted to rental due to rising construction costs.
A combination of rising labour and material costs, delays, supply chain issues and high interest rates driving up carrying costs contributed to the need to re-evaluate the project.
When he sent out termination of sales agreements last fall, Geric said rising costs “irreparably damaged Tresah West’s viability as a market condominium project.”
Geric said the loss of nearly 30 per cent of Tresah Westpre‑sale buyers in the spring of 2024, due to the radicallydifferent housing and mortgage environment, had a massive impact on their construction financing.
The project was left unlikely to recoup its costs in a market where costs had increased and sales prices had dropped significantly, he said.
Several local developers have echoed Geric’s concerns about the marketplace, noting they are holding back or pausing some projects in the face of continued economic uncertainty and what seems to be a cooling real estate market.