Rebuilt to become Victoria, B.C.’s first full-service luxury hotel with private residences, the Oak Bay Beach has earned an Excellence Award and Judges Choice Award at the annual awards that honour developers, architects, designers, builders, owners and financers for enhancing the city’s commercial real estate. “The Oak Bay Beach Hotel showed exemplary creativity in design and architecture for best use of a challenging property footprint. This project [provides] a stunning improvement over the old hotel, while maintaining its former charm and serving the community,” Mike Lagadyn, chairman of the commercial division of the Victoria Real Estate Board was quoted as saying by Victoria, B.C.’s Times Colonist.
The hotel, which was originally built in 1927, was “deconstructed” in 2007 and underwent a multi-million dollar remake. Today, it has 100 guestrooms, 20 private residences and 22,000 sq. ft. of public commercial space and administrative offices as well as a spa. The old hotel’s original Snug Pub, grand lobby, entrance and porch door were re-created as “legacy” elements of the property.
The Victoria Real Estate Board presented 16 awards this year, honouring everyone from the B.C. Ambulance – Dispatch/Communications Centre (Merit Award for Community) to the Uptown Shopping Centre (Excellence Award for Shopping Centre). [cba.vreb.org]
