Victoria International Marina

Acting on further feedback from the Victoria paddling community and Transport Canada through the recent public consultation process regarding non-powered vessel access in and around the marina, Community Marine Concepts has now created a dedicated paddling lane to accommodate kayaks and larger paddling craft.

Unveiled at the last public meeting on September 22nd, 2009, the route has been designed using Transport Canada criteria to facilitate the passage of paddling craft up to the size of dragon boats or 6-man outrigger canoes. The new paddling lane eliminates the potential conflict for paddlers with larger vessels in the marina, or with aircraft and other vessels around the southern side of the marina, as they will not have to paddle through the marina or around its southern perimeter. Paddlers will now be able to travel along the shoreline, protected from wind and waves by the marina itself.

With a minimum of 8 meters clear span width for the entire paddling route, as well as a minimum of 1.5 meters headroom at high tide beneath marina ramps and buildings (more headroom at all other times), the new dedicated paddling lane provides unfettered access for all paddlers on the north shore of Victoria Harbour.

Illustrations of the new paddling lane can be found at www.victoriainternationalmarina.ca , on the Plans & Renderings page.

Community Marine Concepts has previously announced plans to include a public kayak launch and landing dock, which remains part of the marina development. Paddlers can drop in for refreshments at the marina coffee house, visit friends in the surrounding neighbourhood, or use the marina as a safe refuge in bad weather. Public storage racks will also be made available for a limited number of kayaks and canoes.

Victoria International Marina is the Pacific Northwest’s most exciting marina development, providing much needed moorage for recreational vessels between 65’ – 135’. Its 52 slips, located on the north shore of Victoria Harbour just minutes from Victoria icons such as the Empress Hotel and the BC Legislature, will answer demand for both home port and transient moorage in British Columbia’s world class cruising grounds. For further information on the Victoria International Marina visit www.victoriainternationalmarina.ca.

Community Marine Concepts, the developer of the Victoria International Marina, is a partnership between WAM Development Group and Robert Evans. Western Asset Management was established in 1987. Over the past 20 years, the company has been active in Western Canada and the United States, to date having developed or acquired over nine million square feet of real estate space including retail, office, and residential and industrial projects. WAM Development Group’s offices are located in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Robert Evans has been involved with the development of the Songhees area since the mid-1980's, when as President of Pacific National Investments he acquired 16 acres of derelict industrial land and created the infrastructure and many of the buildings there now, including the Royal Quays condominiums. Now, as Vice-President of Community Marine Concepts, he is working to deliver the final phase of the original Songhees Master Plan, a world-class luxury yacht marina – the Victoria International Marina.

For further information, please contact:

Lachlan MacLean
General Manager - Marina Operations
WAM Development Group
Tel: (604) 737-7380
Cell: (778) 960-6224
Email: lmaclean@wamdevelopment.com

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Adding their signatures to the Oceans BC pledge proclamation to assist in improving and protecting world ocean environments are... Doug Houghton, President of international marine electronics manufacturer, Current Corporation, Port Moody, BC, a SeaKeepers Charter Member; Robert Evans, partner in the Victoria International Marina project, and board member with the Victoria - Esquimalt Harbour Society; Alexander Dreyfoos Jr., American electronics inventor and philanthropist, an original founder of the International SeaKeepers Society, Fort Lauderdale and Monaco; Lachlan MacLean, General Manager of the Victoria International Marina Project, the future Canadian home office for SeaKeepers.

Having listened to community comment at recent public information forums, Community Marine Concepts is pleased to announce enhancements to the marina's design which will improve public access.

Responding to concerns from the paddling fraternity over the two turns required to navigate beneath the arched bridge, which allows paddling access through the marina along the north shore of the harbour, the marina proponents have adjusted the alignment of the bridge to create a straighter paddling route beneath the bridge. This has the added benefit of almost doubling the amount of space available to paddlers between the floating docks and the shore.

In conjunction with this paddling enhancement, Community Marine Concepts has included a public kayak launch and landing dock. Paddlers can drop in for refreshments at the marina coffee house, visit friends in the Songhees, or use the marina as a safe refuge in bad weather. Public storage racks will also be made available for a limited number of kayaks and canoes, as the public raised concerns that there are few places on Victoria's Harbour were paddlers can store their vessel.

These paddling enhancements come on top of the public access to some of the marina's floating docks already incorporated into the Development Permit application lodged with the City of Victoria.

Victoria International Marina is the Pacific Northwest’s most exciting marina development, providing much needed moorage for recreational vessels between 65’ – 135’. Its 52 slips, located on the north shore of Victoria Harbour just minutes from Victoria icons such as the Empress Hotel and the Legislature, will answer demand for both home port and transient moorage in British Columbia’s world class cruising grounds.

For further information on the Victoria International Marina visit www.victoriainternationalmarina.ca.

Community Marine Concepts, the developer of the Victoria International Marina, is a partnership between WAM Development Group and Robert Evans. Western Asset Management was established in 1987. Over the past 20 years, the company has been active in Western Canada and the United States, to date having developed or acquired over nine million square feet of real estate space including retail, office, and residential and industrial projects. WAM Development Group’s offices are located in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Robert Evans has been involved with the development of the Songhees area since the mid-1980's, when as President of Pacific National Investments he acquired 16 acres of derelict industrial land and created the infrastructure and many of the buildings there now, including the Royal Quays condominiums. Now, as Vice-President of Community Marine Concepts, he is working to deliver the final phase of the original Songhees Master Plan, a world-class luxury yacht marina – the Victoria International Marina.

For further information, please contact:

Lachlan MacLean
General Manager - Marina Operations
WAM Development Group
Tel: (604) 737-7380
Cell: (778) 960-6224
Email: lmaclean@wamdevelopment.com