Downtown Victoria Tour

Blanshard Street – 1300 Block

1320-1324 Blanshard Street

1320-1324 Blanshard Street was built in 1912 by architect Thomas Hooper for Max Leiser, who used it as the Kaiserhof Hotel. This building was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Although this building was originally designed as a hotel, it has been configured since the early 1940’s as apartments on the upper three floors with a restaurant on the main, or street, level. The restaurant currently occupied the main floor of this historic building is the Shine Cafe.

1320-1324 Blanshard Street, originally built in 1912 by architect Thomas Hooper for Max Leiser, who used it for his Kaiserhof Hotel.

1320-1324 Blanshard Street, originally built in 1912 by architect Thomas Hooper for Max Leiser, who used it for his Kaiserhof Hotel.

Here is a map showing the location of 1320-1324 Blanshard Street.

Here is a Google Street View image of 1320-1324 Blanshard Street:

Additional Information On 1320-1324 Blanshard Street

  • Assessed Value (July 2019): $3,449,000; Land $633,000 Buildings $2.816,000
  • Assessed Value (July 2018): $2,671,000; Land $634,000 Buildings $2.037,000
  • Assessed Value (July 2017): $2,178,000; Land $539,000 Buildings $1.639,000
  • Assessed Value (July 2016): $1,973,000; Land $513,000 Buildings $1.460,000
  • Assessed Value (July 2015): $1,803,000; Land $442,000 Buildings $1.361,000
  • Assessed Value (July 2014): $1,814,000; Land $418,000 Buildings $1.396,000
  • Canadian Register of Historic Places – listed in 1995

A Brief History of 1320-1324 Blanshard Street

1320-1324 Blanshard Street was built in 1912 by architect Thomas Hooper for Max Leiser, who used it as the Hotel Kaiserhof.

From an architectural view, this building is noted for Thomas Hooper‘s use of terra cotta along with alternating bands of cream glazed block cladding and tan brick used to give a strong horizontal emphasis on the base, and then used again on the upper three floors to create a contrasting vertical emphasis. Alternating brick and terra cotta are also used on the arches which outline the main floor entrances.

Max Leiser was a German immigrant and the Hotel Kaiserhof had a distinctly German theme, complete with a fenced in beer garden.

The First World War brought an end to that. In May 1915, following the sinking of the R.M.S. Lusitania by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland, an anti-German mob rampaged through downtown Victoria attacking anything, and anyone, considered German. The Hotel Kaiserhof, with its unquestionably German name and fittings, was attacked and looted. So were other Leiser family business properties, including the Simon Leiser warehouse at 524 Yates Street.

Given the prevailing anti-German mood of the time, the Hotel Kaiserhof was renamed the Blanshard Hotel. By 1918 the name had been changed again, to the Cecil Hotel.

It remained the Cecil Hotel until the early 1940’s, when the building was converted into the Kent Apartments, with apartments on the upper three floors and a restaurant – at the time of the building’s conversion to apartments in the 1940’s, the restaurant was called the Kent Restaurant – on the main, or street, level.

The building is still maintained in this configuration today. Over the years, there have been several restaurants on the main level. One long running and popular establishment was the Demitasse Cafe, which opened here in the 1980’s and operated in this building for over two decades.

The current restaurant in this building is the Shine Cafe.

This building was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Here are links to some historical photographs of 1320-1324 Blanshard Street

Here are some Historic Advertisements from businesses which have been located in 1320-1324 Blanshard Street over the years:

1913 advertisement for The Kaiserhof, 1320-1322 Blanshard Street. Notice the "bachelors' refuge", indicating the market The Kaiserhof was trying to attract. (Victoria Online Sightseeing Tours collection)

1913 advertisement for The Kaiserhof, 1320-1322 Blanshard Street. Notice the “bachelors’ refuge”, indicating the market The Kaiserhof was trying to attract. (Victoria Online Sightseeing Tours collection)

1913 Advertisements For The Kaiserhof

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