[raggedy13]

I found this future skyline rendering on the City of Nanaimo's website: http://www.nanaimo.ca/printer_friendly.asp?id=395

http://www.nanaimo.ca/uploadedImages/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/New_Nanaimo_Centre/PhotoInterpretationoftheNanaimoDowntownSkyline.jpg

I knew there was that convention centre tower proposal but I didn't know there were other towers going up too.

Anybody know the status of these?

Makes for a nice little skyline for Nanaimo.

[mr.x]

nice find, and would be great for Nanaimo.....and poorly rendered. It almost looks as if those towers were set on fire.

[westcoast604]

Tall towers in Nanaimo look rather silly. Its completely out of context with the size and scale of the city. City hall should encourage more mid-rise developments to densify first, instead of having sparse tall towers spread about.

[excel]

Yea does look a little out of place for sure.

[mr.x]

well it's not like there aren't going to be more towers after these.

[djp]

South Nanaimo is actually very dense already. Downtown Nanaimo is far more densely populated than, for instance, downtown Victoria. Many of the people living there happen to be drug addicts and homeless people, but what can you do?

[The Great Scaper]

Victoria's density is much higher than Nanaimo. That being said I think it would be better for Nanaimo to build more mid rises too. I also saw this photo on Nan.'s website.

I am going to be going up island soon, I'll take some photo's of Nanaimo when I'm up there!!! :D

[aastra]

Downtown Nanaimo is far more densely populated than, for instance, downtown Victoria

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/217/524483360_c77331877c.jpg

Actually, there are probably almost as many people living in the largest building in downtown Victoria (View Towers) as there are in all of downtown Nanaimo. There are 18 residential highrises in downtown Victoria (10 stories or taller) and about the same number of lowrise/midrise residential buildings. This area doesn't include James Bay or Vic West.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/415/victorianumberedfd2.jpg

Here's downtown Nanaimo:
http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/nanaimo/2005/nah2005_107.jpg

[aastra]

South Nanaimo is actually very dense already.

No, it isn't. Here's south Nanaimo:

http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/nanaimo/2005/nah2005_109.jpg

[Coldrsx]

id love to see nanaimo be more like jasper to banff (victoria) where there are amenities, but the purpose of visiting is much different.

[someone123]

I'm actually near Nanaimo right now. It is an interesting little town but it's also pretty rough and a little drug-addled. There's no way that it is as densely populated as Victoria. The downtown is mostly small scale commercial development surrounded by houses, plus some waterfront development and a mall. The South end of town has some very rough spots and a lot of little houses presumably built for miners that look like they haven't seen any maintenance since about 1962. As far as I know the only three highrises are that newer condo building, the narrow green and white apartment building and the hotel.

Some of the industrial waterfront could definitely be turned into highrise condos like the ones in the rendering. Land values are lower than in Victoria and Vancouver is not far away.

[ilford]

Nanaimo city's population density is 881 per square km. Victoria city's population density is 3,966 per square km. Granted, Victoria city is only 19.68 km. But even if you add Oak Bay, Esquimalt, and View Royal (!), you still get a density of about 2,336 per square km over 52 square km.

Downtown Victoria's current residential highrise construction projects (the Falls, Aria, and the Juliet, which aren't pipe dreams but actual construction sites) probably account for more people than the current population of downtown Nanaimo.

[aastra]

Victoria proper also has dense lowrise and highrise areas just outside of downtown:

Cook Street Village:
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/9396/beaconhillparkte9.jpg

James Bay:
http://www.therealvictoria.ca/images/james_bay_gallery.jpg

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/5160/jamesbaybd0.jpg

Vic West & Songhees:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1212/529440241_83e159527a.jpg?v=0

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r277/gumgum123/IMG_5071.jpg

[aastra]

So does anyone know what the status of Nanaimo's convention centre project is? I thought it was basically toast because they couldn't get a hotel chain to commit?

[The Great Scaper]

Here is a few more photos I have taken of Downtown Victoria,

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1088/1070297628_f96d0ec85a_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1228/1025717395_e22b2be37f_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1034/597709573_a5e14327ba_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1256/1070293682_49ed7ee264_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1391/1025810154_d01e2e9d02_b.jpg

I am going to go up island next weekend. I am going to be taking some photos of Nanaimo when I am up there and I will post them on here! :D

[officedweller]

http://www.nanaimo.ca/uploadedImages/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/New_Nanaimo_Centre/PhotoInterpretationoftheNanaimoDowntownSkyline.jpg

Anybody know the status of these?

The leftmost rendered building (not the Beacon) is the hotel/condo for the conference centre. Millennium couldn't couldn't secure financing for the Marriott hotel component last year, so it isn't proceeding right now. There's an amending agreement on the site below that provides that they must proceed by Sept 30 this year.

The stepped building in the middle is Pacifica - well under construction (old Malaspina Hotel site). http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/index.php

Note sure about the next one - on the old Chez Michel restaurant site. Major Projects Inventory search showed that it is still on the books - 24 storey designed by Rafii.


The next two are on the old Civic Arena site - they will probably go ahead. The land was rezoned in connection with the rezoning for the conference centre. New ice rinks were built near Malaspina College.

Conference centre webcam:
http://www.viconference.com/latest_news.php

News releases and updates here:
http://www.nanaimo.ca/cityhall/index_inside.asp?id=395&collection=57

I suspect that a number of these projects may have lost some appeal after the HarbourLynx shut down operations.

[The Great Scaper]

The problem with Nanaimo is that their is a smaller work pool, so the cost of construction tends to be a bit higher than in Victoria and Vancouver. On that note property values are lower too, but so are unit prices. Even with the lower real estate values, the price of a top floor condo on Nanaimo's harbor compared to a top floor Condo like the Fall's looking over Victoria's harbor is massive. It's going to be hard for a lot of these proposals to fly.

I really hope they can make the conference center come together. Nanaimo needs some big help the downtown is really run down.

[shovelsauce]

So does anyone know what the status of Nanaimo's convention centre project is? I thought it was basically toast because they couldn't get a hotel chain to commit?

The hotel chain committing to the project wasn't the problem. Marriot was and still is intent on going ahead as planned if the development proceeds. The problem was a financing issue with the developer that resulted in the agreement with the city of nanaimo expiring. Since then the city and developer have resumed talks and the reliable rumour is the city is allowing the developer another opportunity to arrange financing for this project.

This hotel/residential tower is located next to and will be integrated into the new nanaimo convention centre although both projects are seperate entities.
The nanaimo convention centre construction is well underway with a forecasted completion of spring 2008.

[SpongeG]

nice to see - i always liked nanaimo - i used to live really close to the waterfront just to the right of that pic

i wonder what it would take to run downtown around - i remember when Sears closed that mall really suffered

[Dylan Leblanc]

here's a condo going up downtown, beside the bowling alley I think

http://www.thestudios.ca/
http://www.thestudios.ca/graphics/renderingsna/front.jpg

[twoNeurons]

There appears to be some Island rivalry going on.

[ilford]

No, Langford is tops. Hands down. It's got Nanaimo-style sprawl but with great views of the city of Victoria in the distance.

[The Great Scaper]

Hey great things are built and achieved in rivalries and competitions. :D

[officedweller]

That's the Fiesta Theatres site? That site should be able to support something bigger than what is pictured. It should really be retail/commercial office space, not a lowrise condo.

[Dylan Leblanc]

The ground floor units are live-work.

[ilford]

Hey great things are built and achieved in rivalries and competitions. :D

Or, in this case, Nanaimo and Langford were built.

[The Great Scaper]

Now that was funny! :)

I took some cool photos from a property I am going to be landscaping in Vic West today. I won't start the job till October, however as I was talking to the strata president a friend came by who lives on the top floor of that big white princess building in Vic West, next door to the property that I will be installing irrigation and a new lawn. I started talking to this guy and he said I could take some photos from the top floor of the building over looking the harbor!

I think this will make for some cool photos! It will be interesting to see how they turn out!

[GUB]

The pics of Victoria remind me a bit of Halifax.
I've heard they're similar port/touristy cities--would love to get out west someday.
As far as the pics of development proposals go for the city of Nanaimo---they look a bit foolish. Just being honest.

[aastra]

http://www.nanaimo.ca/uploadedImages/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/New_Nanaimo_Centre/PhotoInterpretationoftheNanaimoDowntownSkyline.jpg

For an official vision of things to come, the rendering is pretty weak. But the basic idea of significantly upping the density in downtown Nanaimo is a good one, I think. It's got a great little harbourfront and two or three striking (or even decent) tall buildings packed into the core there could really make for a dramatic visual impression. Nanaimo needs to develop an identity and some atmosphere because it's not really on the map re: tourist destinations in BC. Actually, it doesn't have much of an identity at all even for British Columbians. It's known mostly for its malls.

Here's a hypothetical skyline containing some duplicates of Nanaimo's few existing highrises:

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/4302/nanaimofakehighrisesey6.jpg

It gives off a bit of a New Westminster vibe, for better or for worse:
http://www.newwestbia.com/sites/newwestbia/uploads/Quayside-PortRoyal.jpg
image from www.newwestbia.com

[djp]

The pictures posted of "south Nanaimo" are very misleading. First of all, they don't even show "downtown." And the neighbourhoods surrounding downtown are very dense, because a lot of the housing is rental and there are many people living in illegal suites.

[Jarrod]

You've gotta love it when the Victoria people have to go "my dick is bigger than yours" type thing... HAHA... *lame* <_<

[The Great Scaper]

I had coffee/lunch/shopping with Dylan yesterday. It was funny cause we talked about city sizes and I mentioned how weird it is when you look at cities in terms of sizes in comparison to each other.

I mentioned that

Victoria is 3x the size of Nanaimo,
Calgary is 3x the size of Victoria,
Vancouver is 2x the size of Calgary,
and Toronto is 2x the size of Vancouver!

I just find it really intriguing for some reason....

Oh but I guess that makes me lame! Well I guess that's why I'm on a development and city building website. Oh Well...... :rolleyes:


I didn't make it upisland this weekend as I was working everyday straight through....maybe next weekend. I really want to get some good photos from different places up island. :D

[ilford]

And the neighbourhoods surrounding downtown are very dense, because a lot of the housing is rental and there are many people living in illegal suites.

But there are surely many more illegal suites in Victoria than there are in Nanaimo, not just because Victoria is bigger/more densely populated but also because it's so much more expensive.

If you have pictures of Nanaimo's density, we'd love to see them. I'm not being sarcastic. Here's a decent picture of downtown Nanaimo by tnano of flickr.com:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/319150081_44ef22b8f5.jpg

Large version is available here: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/319150081_44ef22b8f5_o.jpg

Here's another aerial from Waite Air (www.globalairphotos.com). I'm just not seeing the density:
http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/nanaimo/2005/nah2005_101.jpg

Here's Kelowna. Densification is much more evident in this picture than it is in any pictures I've seen of Nanaimo. There are plenty of lowrise apartment blocks and also some highrises:
http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/kelowna/2007/kwh2007_105.jpg

[Holden West]

"New Westminster vibe" is a good Googlenope. (Or it was, before aastra coined it.)

[Dylan Leblanc]

wow that picture really shows that downtown Nanaimo is a toxic waste dump!

[ilford]

Yeah, it's unfortunate that there's an oil spill of some sort in the picture.

[The Great Scaper]

I'm still kinda disappointed to not see a main city center that's really visible in that Kelowna photo. At least in the Nanaimo photo there's a dense city center. Kelowna looks more like a sprawl. Though it's obvious in the photos that Kelowna has more density spread out.

Also what's the population differences between Nanaimo and Kelowna? They must be pretty close. Last time I checked the Greater Nanaimo area was around 125,000 people.

plus that oil spill is gross.

[aastra]

Here's a pic of Nanaimo's waterfront by alumroot at flickr.com:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1389/627089590_70dcacd725_b.jpg

[aastra]

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/995/departurebayjz5.jpg
pic from www.ise.sd68.bc.ca

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8391/terrypattersondsc1673fiky4.jpg
pic from www.ise.sd68.bc.ca

[The Great Scaper]

That last one's cool!!!

[ilford]

It looks a bit like Sidney, BC but with highrises.

[aastra]

...the neighbourhoods surrounding downtown (Nanaimo) are very dense, because a lot of the housing is rental and there are many people living in illegal suites.

As far as I can tell by looking at the census tract data, the densest census tract in Nanaimo contains 2,307 people per square km. The map below shows the numbers for the various census tracts in Victoria proper and Oak Bay (population = red, density per square km = blue). The densest census tract in Victoria contains 7,258 people per square km.

http://www.therealvictoria.ca/images/victoria-census_tracts2006.gif

Source:
http://geodepot.statcan.ca/GeoSearch2006/

[The Great Scaper]

What year is this?

[Lyle]

For a "rivalry" you guys are far too civilized. Try reading some Edmonton vs. Calgary, or Toronto vs Everyone Else, flame wars to get into the groove. At this rate, none of you are getting suspended and the mods won't even think about locking this thread. This is SSP, people! Where's your pride, your unthinking chauvinism?!?

[aastra]

Those are the 2006 census numbers, Scaper. It just goes to show you how all of those old 4-story apartment blocks packed together along Cook Street have produced a reasonable amount of density. Just think, if they had been 8-story apartment blocks instead, the density there would be about 15,000 per square km! At some point I hope to do a similar map for Kelowna and also for certain areas of Vancouver.

I was born and raised in Victoria and lived there until I was almost 30 years old and I can't say I was ever aware of any rivalry between Victoria and Nanaimo. If I recall correctly, Nanaimo had a Costco before Victoria did. I remember people would talk about that a lot. I've never been in a Costco in my life even now, so I can't say it meant much to me. But obviously some people liked Nanaimo's suburban retail vibe enough to want to build it all over again in Langford.

It would be a very unusual rivalry, considering the difference in size of the two cities. Does Quebec City have a rivalry with Montreal?? Maybe so, I have no idea. Nanaimo and Victoria are just so different. Nanaimo has embraced the suburban model, with lots of low density sprawl. Victoria is really only getting on the suburban sprawl bandwagon in a serious way as we speak, and even then it's going to be a much denser sort of sprawl than we're seeing in Nanaimo. There are ~60-70 highrises in the city of Victoria right now, but the way people are talking in Langford & Colwood, there might be half that many highrises again in the suburbs before too long.

Here's a good angle on Nanaimo:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/137959207_5522322d5f.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alannavanisle/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/alannavanisle/137959207/)

[SpongeG]

there was a fairly positive article about nanaimo in the previous issue of the Georgia Strait

the place gets so much bad press its unfair really

[Lyle]

It would be a very unusual rivalry, considering the difference in size of the two cities. Does Quebec City have a rivalry with Montreal?? Maybe so, I have no idea.

Actually, yes, there is a rivalry between Quebec City and Montreal. More accurately, it's a rivalry between the rest of the province and Montreal. The Metropolis is represented for its power, money, media, progressive attitudes, cosmopolitanism and, above all, its multilingualism and multiculturalism.

Most Montrealers wouldn't really consider it a rivalry, but the city is increasingly resented in what is called the "regions." In fact, the La Presse newspaper did a four-page special on the cleavage between Montreal and the ROQ just today.

[Baro]

are those freight trains in the picture of the port?? I had no idea we actually had a working railroad other than the struggling on-again off-again E&N passenger service. Where can I find out more about this choo?

[Mike K.]

Those are probably trains from the line that runs between Port Alberni's pulp mills and Nanaimo's docks.

[giallo]

''I'm still kinda disappointed to not see a main city center that's really visible in that Kelowna photo. At least in the Nanaimo photo there's a dense city center. Kelowna looks more like a sprawl. Though it's obvious in the photos that Kelowna has more density spread out.

Also what's the population differences between Nanaimo and Kelowna? They must be pretty close. Last time I checked the Greater Nanaimo area was around 125,000 people.''


I believe Kelowna is close to 160,000 metro.


As for Kelowna's downtown/ business district, it has two...sort of.

This is one of them

http://www.globalairphotos.com/gallery/BC/Kelowna/All/2007/6



This the other (above 'waite').

http://www.globalairphotos.com/gallery/BC/Kelowna/All/2007/7



Kelowna has a long way to go before everything comes together. Not sure how it's going to happen, but I'll remain optimistic* for now.



* hopeless rooting for the underdog-hometown optimistic. Not the realistic kind.

[ilford]

Last time I checked the Greater Nanaimo area was around 125,000 people.

When did you check? The year 2025? According to the 2006 Census, Nanaimo (CA) had a population of 92,361. I don't know what Greater Nanaimo entails but the CA is enormous, so I have to think it would suffice. It's not quite twice as large as the entire Victoria CMA.

there was a fairly positive article about nanaimo in the previous issue of the Georgia Strait...the place gets so much bad press its unfair really

People need to see more pictures like this one:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/8391/terrypattersondsc1673fiky4.jpg

[aastra]

NOTE: the various maps in this post are NOT to scale with one another.

***

Here's a map showing the 2006 census tract densities (per square KM) for Kelowna:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/2842/kelownapopdensitypersqkvw6.gif

Here's a map showing the 2006 census tract densities (per square KM) for Nanaimo:
NOTE: Protection Island is included in the downtown tract, which makes the density of Nanaimo's core look a bit lower than it actually is. I've included an adjustment, assuming Protection Island is .56 square kilometres in size and has a population of 328.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6350/nanaimopopdensitypersqkig1.gif

Here's a map showing the 2006 census tract densities (per square KM) for Victoria proper, Oak Bay, and part of Saanich:
NOTE: the neighbourhood in Beacon Hill Park's tract probably has a density of about 5,000 per square KM, but the park's presence lowers the density of the entire tract by about half.

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9204/victoriapopdensitypersqkf5.gif

[The Great Scaper]

Thanks for the graphs and info Aastra.

IF you look at Naniamo's population as a city it's around 80,000 people. However the Regional District of Naniamo is over 138,000 people.

This is like The City of Victoria is only about 85,000 people yet the CRD is 365,000 people.

"The population of the region is projected to increase to 207,087 by 2031 (BC Statistics, www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca)."

This is a quote from the Naniamo City website.....

"The Regional District of Nanaimo, The Regional District of Nanaimo is one of the fastest growing regions in British Columbia, Canada with a population of more than 131,000 people and some of Vancouver Island's most livable communities."

http://www.rdn.bc.ca/cms.asp?wpID=440

Population

The Regional District of Nanaimo had a population of 138,631 in 2006. In 2006, twenty-six percent (35,948) of the residents in the region lived in electoral areas and seventy-three percent (101,848) of the residents in the region lived in municipalities, allocated as follows:

Area Population
Electoral Area 2001 2006
A 6,423 6,751
B 3,522 4,050
C 1,167 2,508
D (* See Note below) 4,656 0
E 4,820 5,462
F 5,546 6,680
G 7,041 7,023
H 3,108 3,474
Sub-Total 36,283 35,948

Area Population
Municipality 2001 2006
City of Nanaimo 73,000 78,692
City of Parksville 10,323 10,993
District of Lantzville (* See Note below) 3,661
Town of Qualicum Beach 6,921 8,502
Sub-Total 90,244 101,848

*The population of Area D was incorporated into Area C and Lantzville

Area Population
Indian Reserves 2001 2006
Nanaimo 1 238 279
Nanaimo 2 20 21
Nanaimo 3 33 50
Nanaimo 4 158 208
Nanoose 207 191
Qualicum 71 86
Sub-Total 727 835

Total Population (RDN) 127,016 138,631
Source: Statistics Canada, www.statscan.ca (2001 Census)

Past Population Growth

The population of the region increased from 77,624 residents in 1981 to 138,631 residents in 2006. This means the population in the region increased 79% during that time, at a rate of approximately 3% per year, on average.

Year Population
1981 77,624
1986 82,714
1991 102,411
1996 121,783
2001 127,016
2006 138,631
Source: Statistics Canada

Growth rates have varied over the last 25 years. The economic 'bust' of the early 1980s had a dramatic effect on the region, with the growth rate dropping from 25% to 7%. Economic recovery coincided with a more than doubling of the growth rate in the region in the late 1980s. Another economic downturn in the late 1990s saw growth rates fall significantly to 4%. From 2001 to 2006, the rate of population growth more than doubled to 9%.

Census Period Census Period Growth Rate (%)
1976-1981 25
1981-1986 7
1986-1991 24
1991-1996 19
1996-2001 4
2001-2006 9
Source: Statistics Canada
Future Population Growth

The population of the region is projected to increase to 207,087 by 2031 (BC Statistics, www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca). This represents a 49% increase in population in the region between 2006 and 2031, at a rate of approximately 2% per year, on average.

Additional Information About the Population of the Regional District of Nanaimo

* View BC Statistics' profile for the RDN (2001)
* Demographic and Socioeconomic Trends in the Regional District of Nanaimo (2001)



Phone: 250-390-6510 | Toll Free: 1-877-607-4111
Fax: 250-390-7511 | E-mail: growthmanagement@rdn.bc.ca

[The Great Scaper]

This is why I always say that the South Island can and should have much larger venues. Such an Arena, Outdoor stadium, etc. Between Nanaimo and Victoria there is over 600,000 people yet the largest Arena is only 7,000 people and the largest outdoor Stadium is Royal Athletic Park. It's a bit of a joke! :(


Hey if you want to watch the Nanaimo conference center's construction August time elapsed video it's here,

http://www.nanaimo.ca/uploadedfiles/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/New_Nanaimo_Centre/TimeLapse0708.wmv

[MolsonExport]

"Jingle Pot, Jingle Pot, Jingle Pot Road."

[aastra]

If anybody cares, here are the latest versions of the census tract density maps:

http://www.therealvictoria.ca/images/NanaimoDensity-2006Census.gif

http://www.therealvictoria.ca/images/KelownaDensity-2006Census.gif

http://www.therealvictoria.ca/images/VictoriaDensity-2006Census.gif

http://www.therealvictoria.ca/images/VancouverDensity-2006Census.gif

http://www.therealvictoria.ca/images/CalgaryDensity-2006Census.gif

(These maps were not meant to be in scale with one another, although Kelowna, Victoria, Vancouver and Calgary ended up being reasonably close anyway.)

[renthefinn]

Wow, looks like I'm living in the densest census tract on any of those maps!

[The Great Scaper]

RENN U R SO DENSE! ;) :rolleyes:


http://www.xoospace.com/myspace/graphics/19557.gif

[renthefinn]

I wonder how much of that density is mine?

[The Great Scaper]

:D :D :D

Just teasing you RENE ;)

[Lyle]

If anybody cares, here are the latest versions of the census tract density maps:

Where do you find these, aastra?

[aastra]

I assembled them myself from the census tract data. Check out this link:

http://geodepot.statcan.ca/GeoSearch2006/

[Canadian Mind]

You made those things? Nice work!

[Phil McAvity]

http://www.nanaimo.ca/uploadedImages/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/New_Nanaimo_Centre/PhotoInterpretationoftheNanaimoDowntownSkyline.jpg

The only proposal of these five i can see actually happening is the shortest one in the middle (The old Malaspina hotel) and even that project has been stalled countless times over the years, so the likelihood of those other taller projects happening is remote at best.

Would sure be nice though.

[Dylan Leblanc]

Last time I was in Nanaimo, about a month at, the project at the old Malaspina hotel site was up to about 10 floors, and the project to the right of it in that rendering has the site fenced off but the existing buildings were not yet removed.

[aastra]

This picture is from January (from http://www.nanaimoinformation.com):

http://www.nanaimoinformation.com/images/forum/plane-condos.jpg

[Phil McAvity]

^ And how many years have they been working on it? I believe Cape Development was the last company that planned a 17 or 18 story tower there, and it is still unfinished. All that is done are the little townhouses down by the water. What Nanaimo needs is to get Bosa Development into this project. If they could build the Beacon, they could probably get this thing off the ground. Nobody else seems capable.

[Phil McAvity]

I finally found what i was looking for at Pacifica's own website. This was posted in October:


Why does the work seem to be taking quite some time/ the project so long to complete?

Until now, Pacifica has been a massive, one-of-a-kind of renovation project. In addition to encountering the unexpected, the complexity of demolition of attempted add-ons by two previous developers and a structural re-design of the building core due to the addition of three floors ~ all involving concrete ~ are part of the reason for the delay. Materials for which there was unpredicted lack of availability and delayed delivery have also contributed to the challenges which have affected the timetable, causing a ripple effect in associated trades. As well, the demand for workers exceeds the supply, as is the case across British Columbia and Alberta.

Why do the estimated completion dates keep changing?

The developer has always attempted to provide to homeowners an estimated completion date based on the information that was available at the time. Encountering unexpected situations that usually arise during a renovation project has affected many aspects of the construction process and resulted in the constant alteration of the construction schedule.

When is the current estimated completion date?

At the present time, there is no fixed completion date. Revised completion dates will be made known in the near future, when the developer can make a better assessment of the finishing construction schedule. This should be possible once the work on the eighth floor is finished and the brand new floor construction begins to progress at a predictable rate.

These pictures were taken earlier this month:

http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/assets/images/news/thumb_december_01_1.jpg

http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/assets/images/news/thumb_december_03_1.jpg

http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/assets/images/news/thumb_december_04_1.jpg

http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/assets/images/news/thumb_december_05_1.jpg


So there you have it folks. 11 years after the Malaspina hotel was torn down, this project finally seems to be moving forward with clear progress on the upper (tower) portion of the building. The only thing i am still confused about is their comment about this thing being a "renovation" project, unless they are adding to the work the previous developers had started.

[Dylan Leblanc]

hey thanks for posting that phil. so this would be the tallest building going up on the island outside of Victoria

[Phil McAvity]

Yeah, i'm not aware of anything even close to this height outside of greater Victoria on the island. Emporis has the height listed as 208 feet which could make it the second tallest on the island, depending on how tall Orchard House is. I've seen Orchard House listed as 203 feet and as 220 feet. The latter seems more likely given it's 22 stories. Regardless, this will be one of the tallest buildings on the island and a great addition to Nanaimo's skyline.

[giallo]

It's a nice looking building.

[shovelsauce]

This 8 story mid-rise is located about 1 km north of downtown on the slope overlooking newcastle channel. Because of it's location on the hillside it will be more visually prominent in the city skyline than it's modest height may suggest.
This photo was taken about 6 months ago so I am sure the building is occupied by now.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2148/2188163098_ca95f639f9_o.jpg

[Phil McAvity]

Yeah, there are a couple of mid-rises there now. It's too bad the developers didn't build them downtown where they belong.


I'd love to see an update on Pacifica. Their website hasn't posted anything in a while.

[aastra]

Here's a pic by "M" Pearl at Flickr.com:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2045/2241151336_37201f9dbe.jpg

http://flickr.com/photos/thepearl/2241151336/in/set-72157603845481700/

[aastra]

Check out the incentive the city of Nanaimo has given the conference centre developer to try to make the hotel portion happen:

The land is being transferred at a nominal value ($10.00). It is being provided basically for free as an incentive for Millennium/Suro to make the necessary investment. Without this incentive the economics of the hotel would not be strong enough to justify this investment by the private sector.

http://www.nanaimo.ca/uploadedfiles/Site_Structure/Corporate_Services/Corporate_Administration/New_Nanaimo_Centre/080226HotelUpdate.pdf

[aastra]

Has anybody seen a rendering of this one?

http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/nanaimonewsbulletin/news/17827684.html

[Phil McAvity]

Not only have I not seen a rendering, this is the first i've heard of this. I wasn't able to find any information anywhere about it either.

82 units in a 24 story tower? Unless they are huge units, that does sound thin.

[Mike K.]

This is the Insight Development Inc. condo that we have listed in the database (now called SeaWalk). When the photo gallery was up a rendering was included, too, so you must have seen it but can't remember.

[jacob.maclean]

I just read about this. They have been demolishing the current site for quite a while. There looks to be a ton of activity going on there now. I've been driving by this site for the last couple of days now to see new progress. Not too much, but it's still quite exciting to see these rather big developments in Nanaimo over the past while!! This tower is going to seem huge since it's situated on top of the hill, if anyone has any renderings of this building, please post! Thanks.

[Mike K.]

Nice to have you here, John. We need more folks from Nanaimo to keep us updated on going-ons and to snap the odd photo :)

[jacob.maclean]

Absolutely. I'll be taking some photos for sure. :)

[jacob.maclean]

As promised. Early this morning! Updated Pacifica construction photos...
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm2/jacobmaclean/img257.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm2/jacobmaclean/img258.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm2/jacobmaclean/img259.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm2/jacobmaclean/img260.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm2/jacobmaclean/img261.jpg

[Mike K.]

Much appreciated.

And, man, that's a big building!

[jacob.maclean]

You're welcome.

[Phil McAvity]

Much appreciated.

And, man, that's a big building!

Nah, the Beacon would put that puppy in it's place in a flash.

What a difference this sucker will make to the Nanaimo skyline though. It will really help fill in that huge gap between Seacrest and the Coast hotel. It's almost topped out too. The weird thing is, I count 19 floors even though it's listed as 18. That's one better! The more the merrier! From the city side it's only 15 stories though.

Anyway, here's the latest from the Pacifica website, dated June 4:

http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/assets/images/news/thumb_100_1483.jpg

http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/assets/images/news/thumb_100_1506.jpg

http://www.pacificananaimo.ca/assets/images/news/thumb_100_1508.jpg

[Mike K.]

It's just so incredibly wide at the base. It's huge!

But that's obviously because it used the shell of a previous building, but you catch my drift.

[Flea]

I just got back from Canada for the first time.

Stayed at Bear mountain few days and 2 and half days in Vancouver.

Bear Mt is right near Langsford and then right into Victoria was fast.

To Vancouver we went 3 times by plane 25 Min's each way not bad time over the boat rides I love plane to see the island going into town the Vancouver's islands and Vancouver city.

in Victoria I just happen to bump into Mike K, I think that was his name was I saw his truck with the back poster on it real nice person much like most I met in Canada.

Victoria and surrounding area I loved hiking biking kayaking and city great for nice harbor nites and food and nice hang out.

I liked Vancouver city for look of city and its got its own feel to it ith its own music secne music ,mmp clubs too,nice party city and great food and very nice persons as well.
To visit BC again 863 miles from SF easy to do.

SF BTW is taking the blue glass cue from Vancouver the south of market side is all going up all blue glass newest part of city. 20+ 350+-1200FT as of now SF is 3rd with 200FT and has more 300FT than LA. Yet they do look nice but if too many looks funkysome say.
blue looks great but the quakes worry me about glass but I think BC has them to.

I can see my self living in either play both parts and all around BC was nice I like the west part better than the colder east and dont like long flying takes 1hr 38 of real flying time from sf to Victoria

[The Great Scaper]

Hey I forgot all about this thread... :D

I posted these photos somewhere else...They are some photos I took of Nanaimo a few Sunday afternoons and evenings ago.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/3054691629_09abb38445_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/3054691623_ef3d3cff28.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3185/3054691613_c85624ac72_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/3054691609_702d85c9a9_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/3054687783_0f22e16f7e_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3149/3054687781_d17af72ae4_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3152/3054687777_4fc636c2af_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/3054687775_90209973e4_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/3054687771_0ae18c0b01_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/3054687763_6d5b1757a9_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/3055518254_9beba1bbed_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3176/3055518248_2e5904d62a_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/3055518242_0e12f6494c_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/3055518238_3f4e3fe74b_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/3055518234_9cb725ab32_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3028/3055518230_43451df358_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3284/3054676247_dc9a938248_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/3054676241_b5aedcaee7_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3283/3054676233_52f8c0d2aa_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/3054676217_8f3f1174a4_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/3054676209_609ec016fc_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/3054676199_6971d31780_b.jpg

[Phil McAvity]

Wow, nice pictures scaper!

You got the city and skyline from so many great angles. I particulary like to see the difference that pacifica is making on the skyline.

[The Great Scaper]

Thanks Phil... :D

I found it interesting when reading back through this thread, you said that out of all those proposals this was the only one that saw being built in the near future. Pretty cool intuition! :D

Cheers.

I'm posting a few more photos of Victoria I took tonight in the Vic forum. Some cool angles.

[newflyer]

Nanaimo is looking very good.

[vicbc250]

South Nanaimo is actually very dense already. Downtown Nanaimo is far more densely populated than, for instance, downtown Victoria. Many of the people living there happen to be drug addicts and homeless people, but what can you do?

hahahaha not even close
vic(excluding langford,north saanich, sidney,brentwood.
http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/victoria/2009/vih2009_065.jpg http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/victoria/2009/vih2009_063.jpg http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/victoria/2009/vih2009_074.jpg
nan
http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/nanaimo/2008/nah2008_031.jpg
http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/nanaimo/2008/nah2008_002.jpg
http://www.globalairphotos.com/images/bc/nanaimo/2008/nah2008_066.jpg

[Ayreonaut]

Holy thread resurrection Batman! ;)

[aastra]

These maps show the population densities per square KM in the core census tracts of Victoria, Vancouver, Kelowna and Nanaimo. Note: the scales of the Victoria, Vancouver, and Kelowna maps are comparable but the Nanaimo map has been sized up (as you can tell by the size of the city blocks):

http://71.18.9.173/images/VictoriaDensity-2006Census.gif

http://71.18.9.173/images/VancouverDensity-2006Census.gif

http://71.18.9.173/images/KelownaDensity-2006Census.gif

http://71.18.9.173/images/NanaimoDensity-2006Census.gif

More info: There are 78,057 people living in 19.68 square KM in Victoria's city proper - 2006 census data). If you total up the core census tracts on Vancouver's downtown peninsula, downtown east side, and on the south side of False Creek and into Kitsilano, you get 142,001 people in 19.53 square KM (2006 census data). Nanaimo's core census tracts contain 25,676 people in 19.00 square KM (2006 census data).

[Chadillaccc]

Any updated skyline pics of Nanaimo anyone?

[whiteford]

i think that as long as the developments are good ones, a mini skyline would look good there if the towers are up to it.