Neighbours of a Victoria industrial building that was recently torn down are lamenting that its future use won’t be “much-needed” housing.
The old Paynes Marine Group building at 2120 Quadra St. has been demolished, with equipment hauling away the remnants this week.
The property will now be turned into a self-storage business, but neighbours said it was a prime location for housing – something that had previously been under consideration by the City of Victoria in the area.
Doug Grant lives near the site and tweeted a photo of the demolished building with a short history of city plans for the neighbourhood.
Grant said it’s perfect for adding density as it’s on a transit route and across the street from both a park and a public swimming pool.
Grant said he and other neighbours had previously been polled on a future plan for the neighborhood that was heavy on adding density. Grant tweeted a graphic that even showed the Paynes site being reimagined as a multi-storey apartment building in the year 2040.
“The city even foretold this development when they convinced us to participate in a poll about how our neighbourhood will look,” Grant tweeted. “They then rejected a proposal to put an apartment building here in favour of this. Yes, according to the (City of Victoria), the official community plan really wants a storage facility and all the extra traffic it will bring. It’s what we all really, really wanted.”
In the graphic for this public participation exercise, they even showed the Marine Supply building restored as a multi-story apartment. pic.twitter.com/B4CXugdumc
— Doug Grant (@DouglasFGrant) March 28, 2023
Other area residents tweeted about the demolition, lamenting a “wasted” opportunity.
“Located across the street from Crystal Pool, a block from the arena and less than a 10-minute walk to downtown,” tweeted Thomas Guerrero. “I am truly looking forward to this much-needed … Um self-storage building? … Just seems to me that you couldn’t have a better location for homes in the city … Sigh.”
That tweet brought a swift response from other local residents.
“What a waste,” tweeted @marrkstep.
“What a disappointing outcome,” tweeted Marilyn Kay. “The city needs more housing and community spaces – not more self-storage.”
READ MORE: Opinion: Victoria needs affordable rentals, not Harris Green and ‘rampant demolitions’
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