The City of Nanaimo has received plans for “workforce housing” at the corner of Bowen and Meredith roads.
The city’s design advisory panel, at a meeting last week, recommended that an application for a 41-unit apartment building at 2103 Bowen Rd. move forward.
The applicant, Camargue Properties Inc., is looking to construct a three-storey building with 36 studio apartments, five two-bedroom apartments, an underground parkade and a rooftop patio.
“If you look at the floor plans, you’ll notice that the units are conceptually organized around being much smaller than your typical,” said Joyce Troost, architect. “We’re trying to service that sort of workforce housing here in Nanaimo, being located close to the hospital and along the transit line.”
The studio suites would be approximately 515-610 square feet and the two-bedroom apartments would be 1,000-1030 square feet.
The applicant is asking for five variances including a height variance from 14 metres to 14.95m to accommodate rooftop access. The design advisory panel supported all variances and suggested only that the applicant consider expanding the roof deck and adding green components. Coun. Tyler Brown, city council’s representative on the panel, said he supported all the variances and called the proposal “a great project.”
The City of Nanaimo had previously reviewed a development permit application for an affordable rental housing building with 39 units on the property in 2020, but that application was cancelled in 2021 and the property was sold, noted a staff report.
READ ALSO: 16 micro-unit apartments in the works on Nanaimo’s Prideaux Street
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
