[St. John's] Fortis | 49m | 12 floors | U/C
 

Fortis Place - Completed

http://i45.tinypic.com/2v0k2zs.jpg

http://www.fortisproperties.com/en/h...pril42011.aspx

Land Use Assessment Report: http://www.stjohns.ca/pdfs/Horwood%2...ic%20Study.pdf

View Plane Analysis: http://www.stjohns.ca/pdfs/Fortis%20...%20%202011.pdf

Official Website:
http://www.fortisplace.com

Height: 49m
Location: 5 Springdale Street, West Downtown
Fact: Fortis proposed this 12-storey office tower in west downtown after withdrawing a former proposal to develop a 15-storey office tower adjacent to their current office tower on Water Street. The development would have been the tallest building downtown, and would have required the demolition of several heritage properties. Fortis withdrew this proposal after much public outcry.

So far, so good! Hopefully this thread will be populated with progress pics very soon :tup:

Just saw an article posted on Happy city's facebook page which includes info about the fortis building

http://dcnonl.com/article/id49317/--...n-newfoundland

and a cool more detailed rendition of the building
http://dcnonl.com/images/archivesid/49317/101.jpg

I was just getting ready to post that.

I just read the article that was posted on jeddy1989's thread. It's great to see that developers in this province are focusing on LEED and other environmentally sound standards for their projects. I hope this trend continues for future developments. :tup:

BTW - looking at the picture above, I'm really liking the look of this building more and more!

I noticed the article mentions that the building is being called "Fortis Place".

http://dcnonl.com/article/id49317/--...n-newfoundland

Nice new image. I'll edit the image in the main post as soon as I get my laptop back from the shop. Fortis Place may be that iconic building downtown, much like Purdy's Wharf is in Halifax.

Drove by Fortis today and it was looking good, there is a huge hole onside of where the structure is being built.

How deep is the pit supposed to be?

Probably not as iconic as Purdys, since those are twins and tallest, and prominently right on the water, but Fortis will be unique. It has a number of things that make it different, like having two cores for elevators instead of one, also the prominent use of wood on the cores, etc., which will give it a rather unique appearance.

Here's a picture of the construction site I took today from the other side of the street, there is also a HUGE hole next to the foundation

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...45978196_n.jpg

See the hole to the left with the tops of the tractor and crane sticking up

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...42419659_n.jpg

I was just going to mention the HUGE hole, I don't know what the deal with it is. I was down that way earlier the week and they were digging into rock. It's away from the construction but I guess it could be part of the parking garage?

I think a photo taken from Water or Springdale is incredibly called for at this point. :tup:

The parking garage will cover a much larger area of the site than the actual office building. I think they are using geothermal as well; that, or services could account for the hole unless it is part of the parking or foundation?


^ Nice to see some progress, and great pics.

Two skyline changers UC at the same time! Great work St. John's!!

With a third (Deacon Investments building) hopefully to be started sometime this spring/summer! :tup:

It's really too bad that this building wasn't a few stories higher. Fortis Place, 351 Water, the Fortis Building, the Delta, John Cabot I and II, and the Scotia Building are all almost the same height. It'd be nice if we had a little differentiation in the height of our buildings. It would create a lot more interest in the skyline.

Agreed, the illusion of a level ceiling isn't very appealing. Deacon investments is a nice, shorter building that'll help with that, however a few taller buildings wouldn't hurt as well. Nothing huge that would be out of line compared to the others, but maybe something between 60-70m in the area around the convention center (Ultramar location anyone?) would help that problem significantly

I guess the one saving grace downtown is John Cabot II which is only marginally taller than the other buildings but, because of its placement on a hill, gives the illusion of being significantly taller (by Newfoundland standards).

I agree as well, I think a building around the 65m range would compliment the skyline of that area. That height would be tall enough to create an aesthetically pleasing contrast, but yet not so tall as to stick out like a sore thumb.

I wonder what the demand for class A office space will be once Fortis, along with Deacon and 351 Water, are built? These projects may cool down the demand.... I guess that remains to be seen. However, I too am interested in what will be connected to the new convention centre where Ultramar is currently located????

Has it been stated that something will be attached?

It would be great to get some progress pics of the Fortis building from a different angle. Most (if not all) shots have been taken from Pitts Memorial side. I was downtown yesterday and took a few snaps of 351 Water, but in all honesty I didn't think about heading over to the Fortis site. I find it outside of the walking quarter of downtown; maybe that's why there are so few pictures :haha:. I guess more will emerge when we see the structure going up.

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0580.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0578.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0577.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0576.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0574.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0573.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0572.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0571.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0570.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0569.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0568.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0567.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0566.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/IMG_0565.jpg

Great pics PoscStudent... thanks!!!!!

Wow, there's actually more progress done on the site than I had expected. I guess it'll soon be time to ship a crane in to start working upwards.

Is there any talk about a crane anytime soon? they soon need one.

Any updates on this project?

Drove by the other day and while it's going up there's nothing photo worthy, doesn't look much different then it did several weeks ago.

Yeah, slow progress down there. They may be at that stage now where a crane is needed to continue onward.

There is a lot of excavation in the north side of this site with no development shown (as can be seen in the pictures above). Does anyone know why there was so much excavation and no foundation put in yet? It is on the opposite side of the site from the entrance, so I would have thought would have been some of the first constructed.

Looks like regular cranes on site at the Fortis building so they may not be installing a tower crane. They did not use a tower crane on the Delta extension and that was twelve floors as well.

The Delta was an extension, so it might have been considered less than desirable to have it looming over the building while it was still occupied.

Tower cranes are often put through a central elevator core, but Fortis Place will have two cores, each at opposite ends, so that would not be as practical. Alternatively, cranes are often located centrally adjacent to the building. They would normally have one for a building of this size or even smaller.

Just drove past the site this afternoon, things are starting to look up at Fortis!

^^^ Enough to warrant some more progress pictures? If so, it'd be great to get some posted. If anyone is down around the site and has a camera (or more realistically - a smartphone) snap some pics, it'd be greatly appreciated!

What level are they working on now?

it was a little difficult to see but it may have been the 2nd or 3rd. There appeared to be more done to the site on the building than the last time I went by, so within a few more weeks it would be worth while to get a few pictures of the area.

http://i50.tinypic.com/28wiazq.jpg

Here is one photo taken by me on June 23, 2012. Not the best picture but still shows some of the progress. I was standing at the end of George Street West at the intersection with Springdale.

^ Thanks for the update. It has been two months since the last photos showed it at ground level, but as construction progresses I expect they will be able to do more than one floor per month considering the ground parking levels are much more extensive. It looks like they will have to use mobile cranes to reach the full 12 storey 49 m height which probably makes the progress a bit slower.

Took these last week and forgot to upload them.

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-59.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-58.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-57.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-56.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-55.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-54.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-53.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-52.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-51.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-50.jpg

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...t/photo-49.jpg

^ Good pictures, thanks for posting.
The building's siting and shape make it a bit hard to figure out,
but I guess it will make more sense as it progresses.

July 31, 2012

This is the view of the construction site from George Street West:

http://i.imgur.com/kmN7Ih.jpg

And this is the view along Springdale Street:

http://i.imgur.com/SXsOPh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/wLCP4h.jpg

This will be the view of Springdale Street from the building. Hopefully these buildings will be freshened up as a result:

http://i.imgur.com/MTgOWh.jpg

This is the view from New Gower Street, which curves around about 25% of the building:

http://i.imgur.com/OX9IDh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OfC9xh.jpg

And this is the view from Hamilton Avenue, which curves around an additional 25% of the building:

http://i.imgur.com/RPqq9h.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/UJUc5h.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/geZiZh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0YDA3h.jpg

And one interesting thing about this building is that it will rise above some of the oldest heritage buildings on Water Street. This little bundle of buildings has been isolated from the main bulk of Water Street and hasn't received as much attention as a result. Hopefully this building will help bring more people to this part of town:

http://i.imgur.com/CzrBRh.jpg

^^^^^ Great pictures SignalHillHiker! I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished product here. I too would love to see this area developed and densified. This will give St. John's a more modern metropolitan look while preserving the heritage look of downtown east-end.... best of both worlds!

I completely agree! and this type of thing will set us apart from other cities, getting the best of both worlds and giving us an advantage over cities such as Halifax which will start to just blend in to other North American cities as it continues to just have these developments all over their city.

Some of the buildings down on Springdale Street adjacent to Fortis are downright beautiful, some of the forgotten heritage buildings of the city. It's going to be an interesting mix of old and new down that way, that's for sure

Very excited about this development - and everything in the west/new downtown!

I do like this building! I wonder if the large parking lot will also be developed one day. I hate to see asphalt everywhere

I'd like to see a second building on the lot as well, maybe where the parking garage will be.

Not many changes at Fortis. Here is a picture from today, August 16, 2012:

http://i.imgur.com/6SBBWh.jpg

What time do you wake up in the mornings?

Hahaha...

(Honestly, generally between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. Although I work virtually from home, I still work on Toronto time. So I LOVE having HOURS to myself in the mornings before I start work at 10 a.m. or 10:30 a.m.)