A developer who wants to tear down a row of aging rental properties for new commercial-residential project in Cook Street Village is getting mixed reaction to the plan.

Some residents favour Leonard Cole’s project while others think the 54,000-square-foot, five-storey building is too tall and big for the village.

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Cook Street Village is lively commercial hub for the Fairfield Gonzales area that includes a variety of commercial and residential enterprises, including a pub, grocery stores, restaurants, condominiums, seniors facilities and several retail stores.

Cole’s Urban Core Ventures has submitted a rezoning proposal to Victoria city hall for the project, which would have 9,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space to house five businesses, topped with four floors of residential use in 62 units. It would go up in place of two small apartment buildings that have nine units in total, a duplex and a single-family house.

Cole took possession of the properties, running south from the corner of Cook Street and Oliphant Avenue, two weeks ago. They were assembled in the 1980s by a previous owner.

The proposal is a “unique opportunity” to extend the village, Cole said.

The buildings he wants to tear down were built in the 1930s and 1940s and have received only basic maintenance over the years, Cole said.

Housing units in the new project would bring in residents who “will use the services and all the amenities of the village,” Cole said.

Nine units would be rental, to replace the number that would be lost in the apartment buildings. Remaining units would be mid-range condominiums between 500 and 800 square feet, with an average of 650 square feet. Plans call for 56 underground parking spaces and 20 surface stalls, to serve businesses during the day and available to residents at night, Cole said.

The plan is being refined as comments come in from the community, said Michael Dillistone, a planning consultant on the project. Open houses will be held and a website will be developed to receive input. The developer attended a Fairfield Gonzales Community Association land use committee meeting late last year.

If all goes smoothly, Cole would like to start construction next spring, with the project complete by summer 2017.

Victoria Coun. Chris Coleman, responsible for the Fairfield Gonzales area, said many residents at a recent community association meeting supported the plan. But it’s not for everyone in the neighbourhood.

He is recommending further community consultation, saying the more time a developer puts in at the start of a process, the easier it will be when it comes to council for a vote.

Four residents met with Coleman and Mayor Lisa Helps this week to express concerns. They want Cook Street Village designated as “small” rather than the current “large.”

This would limit building height to four storeys, instead of six, which would be more appropriate, said resident Wayne Hollohan, who is calling for another meeting with the developer.

Cole’s proposal “just would not fit into the village,” Hollohan said. “It would definitely overpower and dwarf everything in there right now.”

He fears it would block out light and said its height is closer to six storeys.

Resident Sid Tafler, who also attended the city hall meeting, said the project would be the tallest in the village and out of character with the area. “We take the word ‘village’ seriously,” said Tafler.