Victoria Construction - #7

[Vin]

Saw the little grass patch beside the City Hall building cleared of tents, and felt good about it, but aghast to find out that some dumb councillors will vote them in again. Are they out of their mind, or do they have some hidden agenda?

[Vin]

Just found out Cera at the Janion turned into this fusion eatery called Nubo. Tried it and it's not even half as good as it used to be. Very disappointed.

[The Great Scaper]

Originally Posted by Vin

Saw the little grass patch beside the City Hall building cleared of tents, and felt good about it, but aghast to find out that some dumb councillors will vote them in again. Are they out of their mind, or do they have some hidden agenda?

It's crazy that they did that. I just don't understand it.

I took this photo of Victoria from James Bay a couple of days ago.

A zoomed in shot of Victoria from James Bay by thegreatscaper, on Flickr

[skylinegazer]

Here's a proposal I've been seeing advertised on Facebook. The developer, Jagpal Development from Surrey, is looking for investors.

Langford Central, a 21 story residential tower and 10 story hotel and residential tower. The site is located on Scafe Road with a panhandle to Peatt Road.

Website is https://langfordcentral.com/


View from Peatt Road




View from Scafe Road

[zoomer]

Thanks for sharing, but good grief that's awful, even for Langford. Very unlikely to go anywhere as with virtually all of the previous Western Communities 'investors wanted' proposals.

[The Great Scaper]

I saw that on Facebook too. I tried to figure out where it was to be built but couldn't figure it out. I hope Langford builds taller buildings though.

[skylinegazer]

Here's another one I saw on FB, this one called Langford Gateway, also on Peatt Rd.

https://evestfunds.com/projects/langford-gateway/

This isn't a real building proposal, it's just a rezoning speculation looking for investors at this point. Fun to see though :-)

[The Great Scaper]

I saw this photo on Facebook tonight. Sad how they ruined Douglas Street.

Old Victoria B.C. Canada by thegreatscaper, on Flickr

[aastra]

That's Yates & Government. Long lost Adelphi Building on the left (replaced with the 1950s Federal Building, later reconfigured for ground floor commercial space) and long lost Imperial Bank at the right (replaced with a 1950s bank building, later reconfigured for a Starbucks)

[aastra]

The other Adelphi (the small skinny one... do we call it the "Adelphi Block"?) is still there, and just received a decent restoration, all except the cornice portion:



pic from Times-Colonist...

[araman0]

^^ Stunning! I love highrises, but restorations like this add more to the neighborhood than anything.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by zoomer

Thanks for sharing, but good grief that's awful, even for Langford. Very unlikely to go anywhere as with virtually all of the previous Western Communities 'investors wanted' proposals.

I don't think it's that bad it's just meh, but that little 6 story building on the left, now that thing's fugly

I agree that the likelihood of this thing getting built has about the same odds of the Langford Gateway project that Skylinegazer posted getting built, whioch is somewhere around absolute zero given Langford's history and the fact that the one highrise that has been built there has had serious problems: https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/a...tely-1.4770911

[The Great Scaper]

Aastra.... That's really sad that The Adelphi Building got torn down. It was such a beautiful building, stunning really.

Phil, I agree with you. I kind of like that Langford high rise too. I really hope that Langford will build some taller buildings. I'm not sure why so many of the ones in Colwood failed.

[Phil McAvity]

Scaper, i'm surprised you mistook that picture of Government St for Douglas because I could tell immediately it was Government St

Originally Posted by zoomer

Thanks for sharing, but good grief that's awful, even for Langford. Very unlikely to go anywhere as with virtually all of the previous Western Communities 'investors wanted' proposals.

I don't think it's that bad it's just meh, but that little 6 story building on the left, now that thing's fugly
I agree that the likelihood of this thing getting built is about as likely as the Langford Gateway project that Skylinegazer posted getting built, which is somewhere around absolute zero given all the failed attempts in the West Shore to build high rises and the fact that the one high-rise that has been built there has had serious problems: https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/a...tely-1.4770911

I've been thinking recently of the building boom that the city's been in for many years but just since 2016 I tried to add up all the projects that will be completed by the end of next year so in the 5 years between 2016 and 2021 Victoria will have added a:

10 story residential building (Escher)
13 story office building (1515 Blanshard)
14 story residential building (1400 Quadra)
14 story residential building (Yello on Yates)
15 story residential building (Hudson Walk One)
15 story residential building (Tapestry)
15 story residential building (989 Johnson)
16 story residential building (Hudson Walk Two)
17 story residential building (Encore)
17 story residential building (Legato)
17 story residential building (989 Johnson)
19 story residential building (Yates on Yates)
19 story residential building (Vivid at the Yates)
23 story residential building (Hudson Place Two)
25 story residential building (Hudson Place One)

I think if you were to add up the square footage of all our projects and divide them by the population, that Victoria's building boom would rival that of even Toronto's which I consider the gold standard of building booms, at least in North America

[The Great Scaper]

Phil, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I thought that was Douglas Street.

I Also agree with you on Victoria's building boom. It really amazes me. Especially because for years nothing got built downtown at all. Really amazing.

[aastra]

Lowrise apartments planned for Herald Street. I sure hope they're not planning to have the same look across the whole thing. Granularity and narrow frontages are what the old town is all about. Ideally the heights of the sections would also be staggered, to jibe with the height variations in the old town. But for some reason the city's heritage advisors always forget about these crucial aspects.

[aastra]

Pic from https://www.instagram.com/p/CENh-gbjSW3/



**********

Pic from https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Vg_ZVDCur/

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by The Great Scaper

I Also agree with you on Victoria's building boom. It really amazes me. Especially because for years nothing got built downtown at all. Really amazing.

I think a lot of it has to do with mayor Alan Lowe who was a big proponent of densification (and little wonder as he was an architect) whose legacy seems to live on today, he was elected in 1999 and shortly after that is when the building boom started

[The Great Scaper]

Aastra, Those are some of the best photos of Victoria that I've ever seen. Zoomer posted a bunch of them on the Found City Photos thread he started. They are absolutely amazing.

Phil, I completely agree with you except for the sad excuse for an arena he built for us.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by The Great Scaper

I saw this photo on Facebook tonight. Sad how they ruined Douglas Street.

Old Victoria B.C. Canada by thegreatscaper, on Flickr

Totally right. It looked like a way more sophisticated City back then, and I'm not only referring to its architecture and general aesthetics, but also on transportation infrastructure, vibrancy, culture, etc. It is now definitely a shell of what it used to be.