A new building of micro rental suites ranging from 323 to 366 square feet is coming to downtown Nanaimo after city council approved a development permit for a five-storey, 31-unit building at 337 Robson Street.
The application by Beck Vale Architects and Planners on behalf of a numbered company (1362132 BC Ltd.) shows the building covering the entire property with 11 underground parking spaces, 16 long-term bike spaces and four spaces for visitors’ bikes.
The company is marketing the micro units to tenants that do not have a car as their primary mode of transportation as the building is 100 metres from a bus stop on Fitzwilliam Street, and the same distance to Wallace Street, an active mobility route in the city plan.
Coun. Ben Geselbracht says that developments like this are helping increase density in the downtown.
“There’s a lot of buildings that are coming in that are going to substantially increase housing availability,” he said. “I think we’re starting to see the density come in to make it vibrant downtown.”
