Mixed-use development proposed for Sassy’s property includes 32 residential units

Major changes could be on the way for the property that houses a now-shuttered family restaurant in Central Saanich, as developers eye the land for commercial and housing use.

Developers proposed a mixed-use development featuring commercial space and short-term and long-term residences for 6719 West Saanich Rd. in mid-July, about a month before Sassy’s Restaurant closed its doors.

The development application, currently “in process” at the district, was submitted more than two years after an initial application for a tourist-oriented mixed-use development at the site.

The new design plans by Brentwood Bay-based Finlayson Bonet Architecture show three individual buildings, all similarly styled and wrapped in galvanized corrugated metal siding and fibre cement.

The first building, a mixed-use building standing three storeys tall, would feature commercial space on the first floor and 12 short-term rentals, including four one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units, sprawled amongst the second and third floors facing Keating Cross Road.

An adjacent building, also three storeys tall, is entered via West Saanich Road and encompasses 20 long-term residential units, a mix of studio, one and two-bedroom suites, including one accessible suite on the first floor.

Finlayson Bonet’s plans show the smallest units in this building measure about 440 square feet, while the largest unit, the accessible suite, would be nearly 950 square feet. The units in the mixed-use building, however, are larger with the smallest at 608 square feet and the largest at 1,095 square feet.

(Finlayson Bonet Architecture)

Meanwhile, the third building with two storeys would include a 1,400-square-foot cafe on the first floor and a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,108-square-foot caretaker’s quarters above.

According to Finlayson Bonet, the development would also include 109 vehicle parking stalls, the majority underground, plus 12 surface and 60 secure biking stalls.

Central Saanich council has not yet set a date to hear the proposal.

READ ALSO: ‘End of an era’: No buyer means beloved Central Saanich restaurant closing after 43 years

In business for 43 years, Sassy’s owner Cory Porter told CHEK News in August that it was finally time to hang up the apron for good.

“My wife has Alzheimer’s, so it’s time for me to be home. Family man before businessman, that’s me,” Porter said, just days before hosting a closing celebration at the restaurant on Aug. 21.

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