Student-only residence set to break ground on Tuesday

Touted as a key piece in the revitalization of Prince George’s downtown scene, the student-only residence is set to get construction underway.

Kelowna-based Faction Projects will be at the helm of the project after city council recently approved a site-specific zoning amendment for the property at 1404 Patricia Blvd.

The target date for completion of the project is summer of 2021 with units expected to get filled up in September of that year as well.

Once completed, the residence will have 205 micro-units. each unit will be approximately 312-square feet in size, along with plenty of study rooms, lounges, as well as exercise rooms. Also, because it is a private project, the residence will not be exclusive to either of the city’s post-secondary institutions.

Tim McLennan, Director of Design and Operations at Factions Projects, told MyPGNow that the Prince George project provides a slight change of scenery for his company.

“We’ve done 565 student housing units in BC to date. What’s different about it to those (other student housing projects) is it’s our first urban site. Most of the student housing that we’ve done is adjacent to the campuses. A lot fo the campuses we work with are suburban or detached from downtown, so having something right downtown is something we think is very exciting.”

According to McLennan, building code changed for projects involving wood. The company was able to go two storeys higher with the downtown structure because the building code changed in 2018.

“The code has adopted different height promotions for wood frame over time. Our building at six storeys fits within the code of the day, and the new code allows you to go up to 12, definitely pushing the envelope on wood,” he said. “The six-storey cutoff had to do with a number of factors with the site and a transition between low-rise and high-rise building code. To us, it is pushing the boundary going six-storeys. It’s a large building in the sense of its footprint. It’s not designed as a tower so it’s pushing it to its limits to a degree, but it could definitely go higher with the latest code changes.”

And when it comes to utilizing one of the province’s most abundant resources, Faction prides themselves in it.

“Building and designing with wood are extremely important as an organization, specifically because of the socio-economic impact,” said McLennan. “We work in the interior, in the north, and on the island a fair amount. We consider ourselves a pioneer with cross-laminated timber. We build structures with cross-laminated timber similar to the Design and Innovation Centre is constructed.”

The groundbreaking event this Tuesday will get underway at 1:30 p.m.