The team at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel has numerous reasons to celebrate. With their first anniversary of operation approaching, the hotel took the Judges’ Choice Award for overall excellence at the 22nd Annual Commercial Building Awards, presented today at a special awards luncheon.
“The Oak Bay Beach Hotel showed exemplary creativity in design and architecture for best use of a challenging property footprint,” says Mike Lagadyn, Chair of the Commercial Division. “This project is a stunning improvement over the old hotel, while maintaining its former charm and serving the community.”
Reopened in the fall of 2012, the new Oak Bay Beach Hotel has been completely rebuilt on the same oceanfront lot where the previous hotel sat for more than 80 years. Along with 100 hotel rooms, there are 20 luxury residences. The property includes seaside mineral pools, a fitness studio, The Snug pub, the David Foster Foundation Theatre, Kate’s Café and a fine-dining restaurant.
The Judges’Choice was just one of the 16 awards presented at the 22nd Annual Commercial Building Awards, honouring excellence in new and renovated commercial developments completed in the past year.
The Times Colonist Community Award was presented to CFB Esquimalt Base Fire Hall & Emergency Response Centre at CFB Esquimalt, while the Victoria Real Estate Board’s Green Award was awarded to Uptown Shopping Centre, 3531 Uptown Boulevard.
To be eligible, all commercial new or renovation projects must have been completed between June 1, 2012 and May 31, 2013. Competition judges, who are selected from Victoria’s business community, look at the overall exterior of each building or development project and how it fits into the surrounding area. They base their final decisions on projects that are sensitive to the environment, are aesthetically pleasing and answer a specific developmental need within the community.
This year’s judges were: Dan Parker, President of Parker Johnston Industries Ltd.; Bob Pearce, Vice President of Development with Townline Group; JohnPeebles, designated appraiser with D.R. Coell & Associates; and commercial REALTORS® Ken Featherby, NAI Commercial (Victoria) Inc. and Mike Lagadyn, DFH Real Estate Ltd.
The Commercial Building Awards competition, now in its 22nd year, continues to promote advancement of excellence in commercial construction and design within Greater Victoria. For more information on the awards competition, visit cba.vreb.org.
