Press conference announcing TELUS Ocean Innovation Centre in downtown Victoria.
Today we announced that TELUS Communications Inc. intends to bring the TELUS Ocean project to Victoria, as part of an acquisition of the “Apex” site, a parcel of City-owned land at 749‑767 Douglas Street, on the corner of Douglas and Humboldt Streets.
This marks the end of a long road and the beginning of a new journey. In early 2017, the City launched a competitive process for the Apex site. Of the six submissions received, the TELUS Ocean proposal scored highest. And now, as we turn our minds and efforts towards recovery and coming out of the quiet shutdown period, I am so thrilled to know that we can look forward to seeing a vibrant downtown well into the future.
The City’s main goal for this site was a major commercial development that would anchor the southern end of Douglas Street and advance one or more of the City’s key economic engines, such as technology and innovation, creating high-value jobs and diversifying the economy.
In addition to enhancing and animating the adjoining public plaza by Crystal Garden, the development is anticipated to create new opportunities for the Victoria Conference Centre and surrounding downtown businesses.
The fact that TELUS – B.C.’s largest private sector employer – is making such a big investment in downtown Victoria is a strong sign of our recovery and is terrific news. It will help ensure that downtown will remain the economic and commercial heart of the region.
TELUS Ocean helps immediately deliver on Victoria 3.0, recently adopted by Council. This is our City’s recovery, reinvention and resilience plan that will bring high value jobs, a future focus, and a highlight on Victoria’s ocean economy to our downtown core.
TELUS has agreed to purchase the property from the City of Victoria for a price of $8.1 million, plus up to an additional $1.1 million purchase price adjustment depending on the final proposal submitted and approved as part of the rezoning process. TELUS and the City of Victoria will share in the environmental and geotechnical costs to remediate the site, with the City contributing $2.37 million towards its portion of these costs. In exchange for the City’s contribution, TELUS will assume all liability and responsibility for the environmental remediation of the site.
The proceeds from the sale will go into a reserve fund that can be used to advance some of the City’s other priorities including acquiring land for affordable housing, like the site we recently purchased on Pandora. The significant and ongoing annual property tax revenue from the new development can be used to fund amenities and public space improvements in the downtown, which downtown residents have been requesting for some time.
So in addition to the obvious economic benefits in terms of job creation and new space for innovation, the ongoing property tax revenue is a key part of the value proposition that Council considered when deciding to sell this piece of land.
The proposed commercial office and retail building will become TELUS’s regional headquarters for approximately 250 employees and home to an innovation hub that will showcase advanced communications and information technology. As a leading international employer, the ability to secure TELUS’s regional headquarters and innovation centre in the downtown core will also help support the growth of family sustaining jobs in Victoria.
TELUS’s operations will occupy a significant portion of the building, with the remainder of the space proposed for commercial office, retail and restaurants, as well as programmed events and gatherings.
TELUS is working with Victoria-based Aryze Developments as a community development partner. The Aryze project team will lead the project architect and consultant teams, and ensure the initiative progresses in alignment with the shared goals of the community and TELUS, as well as the City of Victoria’s goals reflected in its competitive proposal process.
Together, TELUS and Aryze are seeking to bring forward an architecturally-significant project; one that will create an opportunity for Victoria to be at the forefront of new technology and contribute to the social and entrepreneurial fabric of the city. To ensure this, the TELUS/Aryze project team is proposing to employ a multi-channel consultation approach to communications and engagement to reach a broad range of participants, including surrounding businesses, residents, potential future occupants and other key stakeholders. It is anticipated that this community engagement process will begin in late June 2020.
We’re happy to be working with TELUS and thrilled that they believe so strongly – as I do – in the future of downtown Victoria.
The media release with further details can be found here.
