Real Estate Webmasters is building more office elbow room in downtown Nanaimo.
The company has taken out a development permit to renovate a commercial office building at 6, 8 and 10 Church Street.
The revamped structure will add about 1,100 square metres of space for what will become Real Estate Webmasters’ second downtown location. The company has five offices in Nanaimo with its main office at 223 Commercial Street.
“We’ve harmonized the address, so it will be a single address – 10 Church Street, I believe – and we’re basically doing the same size of build as 223 Commercial,” said Morgan Carey, Real Estate Webmasters president and CEO.
Architectural features will include a glass column centred in the the front of the building enclosing a glass elevator and staircases. Passersby will see staff through the glass column going up and down the stairs and elevator.
One side of the interior will be a break room for staff and, to prevent a “dead zone” on the block, the other side will become a retail space.
“We haven’t decided yet whether it’s going to be our own retail or whether it’s going to be somebody else,” Carey said. “Maybe we’ll have an REW barber shop or something like that. Who knows?”
Demolition and remedial work and architectural design has been completed.
“As soon as the city says, yeah, bring in some cranes, then we can get started,” he said.
Estimated cost of the build will be about $4 million and construction should be completed by mid 2017.
“And then we’re just going to fill it up with people like we did last time,” Carey said.
An artist’s rendition of the project can be viewed on the company’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/realestatewebmasters.
Carey is also hiring employees to fill a 560-square metre office in Vancouver at Canada Place. That office will likely be open by May.