Affordable Micro-Suites in Victoria’s Downtown

A local developer transformed an historic building into 60 affordable “micro-suite” apartments with support from CMHC’s Rental Construction Financing initiative. The mixed-use building has added much-needed housing to Victoria’s downtown core.

Project scope and expected outcomes

With an average vacancy rate of 1.3 per cent between 2017 and 2020, Victoria, B.C. has one of the hottest rental markets in the country. This makes it challenging for the many young high-tech and service workers who call the city home to find suitable, centrally located affordable housing.

To help meet this challenge, local developers, The Salient Group, used CMHC’s Rental Construction Financing initiative to transform an historic building. 60 stylish and affordable “micro-suite” apartments have been added in Victoria’s downtown core.

The Sawyer Block is a 6-storey mixed-use affordable rental building that measures 25,735 square feet. Its 60-purpose-built rental suites include 46 micro-loft studios and 14 one-bedroom units that are between 278 and 473 square feet.

Construction costs were $16.3 million. Work started in November 2018 and was completed in March 2020.

Pride in the place they call home

“The Sawyer Block is a purpose-built rental project that provides attainable and secure workforce housing for the growing region,” says Robert Fung, President of The Salient Group. “For us, this wasn’t just about providing housing. We wanted to design a building that invites social interaction between the residents, and fosters a feeling of identity and pride in the place they call home.”

The building where The Sawyer Block is now located was one of the most recognizable structures on an historic stretch of Victoria’s Fort Street. Completed in 1909, the building was used as a commercial space for more than a century, including 35 years as the “Sawyer Sewing Centre.”

With its central location, the property offered easy access to a wide range of services, shops, recreation and places of employment. But the 112-year-old building had also sat vacant since 2005, and was in desperate need of a major overhaul.

The power of partnership

That’s where the Rental Construction Financing initiative came in. The Sawyer Block was one of the first projects funded under the Initiative and the first to use a “micro-suite” model.

With a low-cost loan of $13.25 million from the Rental Construction Financing initiative, Salient was able to secure the property and begin construction of a six-storey residential apartment building on top of the existing structure.

“Without the Rental Construction Financing initiative, this project simply wouldn’t have had the same levels of affordability, accessibility and energy efficiency,” Robert says. “It’s a real example of the private and public sectors working together for the benefit of the community.”

In addition, because of the building’s historic nature, Salient was also able to attract substantial support from other partners in the community. The City of Victoria, for example, offered design relaxations in exchange for Salient’s commitment to retain the distinctive “Sawyer Sewing” façade that inspired the new building’s name. The Victoria Civic Heritage Trust provided further incentives to help restore and preserve the historic façade.

A focus on the needs of tenants

At each stage of the process, Salient made sure the building would be ideally suited to the needs of their future tenants. This included incorporating features such as:

• common rooftop patio, garden and “rec room” to provide shared social areas
• 13-foot ceilings and large windows to allow plenty of natural light
• high-efficiency HRVs for heating and ventilation
• Juliet balconies or private garden patios for each suite
• high R-value building envelope to lower monthly utility bills
• large bike storage facilities and pet washing station

In keeping with the objectives of the program, the project was designed with a focus on affordability:

• All of the units have rents lower than 30 per cent of the median household income for the area.
• 12 units will maintain rents lower than 21 per cent of median household income for the area
• 11 other units will maintain rents lower than 30 per cent of the median household income for the area. Those levels of affordability will be maintained for the next 10 years.

The Sawyer Block will also:

• Reduce energy consumption by 17.3 per cent relative to the 2015 National Energy Code for Buildings.
• Cut greenhouse gas emissions by 19.4 per cent compared to the 2015 National Energy Code for Buildings.
• Offer accessible options for people with a disability, including ensuring 10 per cent of the units are barrier-free and wheelchair-accessible.

Preserving an historic façade on a challenging site

One of the main challenges the team faced was finding a way to create a modern and comfortable living space, while preserving the heritage character of the original property. Robert turned to Number TEN Architectural Group to strike the delicate balance between modernity and tradition, and integrate the historic façade into the new construction. As an added bonus for both residents and the surrounding community, the design for the finished building also features retail space for a traditional neighbourhood general store on the ground floor.

Another key challenge was building a significant number of new units within a relatively dense urban footprint. “This is a small, mid-block site with heritage considerations and an historic façade,” Robert explains. “Given the urgent need for affordable housing in downtown Victoria, we knew we wanted to build as many units as we could. That’s why we decided to go with micro-suites.”

“For many of our tenants, space wasn’t as important as location or modern amenities. By designing the entire building with small, loft-style studios and one-bedrooms, we were able to create more units and give our tenants the location and amenities they wanted without sacrificing affordability.”

According to Robert, the response they’ve received so far has been overwhelmingly positive. “This is exactly the kind of project that can benefit from programs like the Rental Construction Financing initiative,” he says. “Even during COVID, we’ve had a huge demand for these units, which proves the need for more micro-suites in urban centres.”

Looking ahead, Robert says that his company is already considering using the program again to redevelop other properties in the area.

“Every place where we’re thinking of developing rental projects now, the first question we ask ourselves is whether it would be a good fit for the Rental Construction Financing initiative,” Robert says. “It just adds so much value, and lets us create better, greener and more affordable housing for our residents.”