Langford is among the fastest-growing municipalities in the province, adding new residents every day.
When mayor Stew Young ran for office in 1992, the population topped 12,000.
Now it’s close to 50,000.
And Young said the municipality is running out of room.
“The future of Langford over the next 25 years is to densify the core. So this is a good start for that.”
Earlier this month, Langford council approved changing the current zoning in the neighbourhoods of single-family homes to allow towers up to 24-storeys to be built.
Young said the goal is to densify over the next 25 years.
“We’re in a housing crisis. There’s not enough land available for building single-family homes and it’s expensive now and people can’t get it. So what we’re listening to is people of Langford say we want to buy a condo or a townhouse.”
Langford Central is first out of the gate with two towers, one 18-storeys, the other 24.
Work is expected to begin in the spring. It’ll have 270-condo units in development between Peatt Road and Scafe Road.
Some affordable units will be available under the city’s attainable housing program. There will also be a daycare with 3-to-400 spaces.
And that’s not all.
Langford is looking to add a 1,500 theatre for live performances as well downtown.
Kam Brar is the owner of Auxilium Mortgage Corporation.
He said affordable housing is a key issue on the West Shore.
“There is such a shortage in the market. Any development or project is good news.”
The City of Langford is also working with the University of Victoria, Royal Roads University and Camosun College to locate a satellite campus in the downtown core for the estimated 4,000 students currently commuting to post-secondary institutions.
“If you’re going to have kids go to university, there’s parents who would want to have a place for their kids to live while they’re going to university,” Brar said. “But time will tell we’ll see how the absorption goes.”
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Mary Griffin
