Victoria Construction - #7 - Page 23

The Great Scaper · #**441** Posted **Aug 31, 2007, 1:27 AM**

My really good friend Travis camed down from Yellowknife today for a surprise visit. I to lunch with him and Caleb came along too. It was funny because he said he couldn't believe how big and busy Victoria had gotten since he left 7 years ago. He said it was like a completely different city!

It was nice seeing him again!!!

ilford · #**442** Posted **Aug 31, 2007, 3:41 AM**

I guess he didn't get a look at the abandoned Bay department store? Or do boarded up department stores = big and busy?

Victoria has hardly changed a drop in those seven years. People see a few new highrises and they think there must be massive growth happening, but actual growth is low.

The Great Scaper · #**443** Posted **Sep 6, 2007, 2:58 AM**

I'm sure you've all heard this now. I was told today that Dockside's profit point is at year 8 if current trends and expenses stay at current forcasts. That's just crazy.

They need more density and height. The density for the site is only 2.0 :1

So low! Maybe when things get cleared up some heights will increase and the density will increase! Scary development.

Not the only current development like this right now either!

Three-Point takes major share of the Dockside Green project
By Andrew A. Duffy, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, September 04, 2007

VICTORIA - In a move expected to further the cause of sustainable development both on Vancouver Island and further afield, Victoria's Three-Point Properties has acquired a large interest in the Dockside Green development.

Three Point, founded by Jack Julseth and Ross Tennant four years ago, has purchased all but one per cent of the Dockside stake owned by co-developers Windmill Developments.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in exchange for the millions being spent Windmill will retain only a small stake in the development and use the capital to fund projects in eastern Canada and South Carolina.
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Windmill partner Joe Van Belleghem will join Three-Point as co-chair beside Julseth, while Tennant will remain as president.

A new entity, branded Windmill West, will represent the Three Point interest in Dockside and will continue to partner with Vancity to complete the $600-million, 1,000-unit Dockside development, considered Canada's largest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) development.

"It's exciting how it's starting to rub off on people; we have so many issues globally right now that no one person can do this," Van Belleghem said.

He hopes to bring his experience in developing with an eye on the social, environmental and financial bottom lines and not only share that with Three Point's other developments but also with other developers.

"We have to collectively come from sharing what we've learned and we'll all be better off," he said, noting he doesn't see it as a case of giving away trade secrets, but rather challenging his company to stay ahead of the game. "We're hoping this announcement today will start doing some things to cause developers to start doing the right thing in terms of helping the planet," Tennant said. "We're hoping this will accelerate important change."

CanWest News Service

G-Man · #**444** Posted **Sep 11, 2007, 3:48 AM**

I thought the density for the whole site was 3:1 still low but anyways.

Mike K. · #**445** Posted **Sep 14, 2007, 4:08 PM**

The groundbreaking for the region's tallest highrise took place the other day. Silkwind will be a 23-storey, 77m, 150 unit highrise located in Colwood.

Holden West · #**446** Posted **Sep 14, 2007, 6:02 PM**

James Bay's Orchard House apartment is also 23 storeys. Who wins the exact height title?

Mike K. · #**447** Posted **Sep 14, 2007, 6:11 PM**

OH is around 62m but it's shorter by one storey.

Jarrod · #**448** Posted **Sep 15, 2007, 8:53 AM**

It looks nice! Now, how tall is the Beacon in Nanaimo? I know it's 26 stories, but is it still going to be the tallest on Van Isle?

Mike K. · #**449** Posted **Sep 15, 2007, 6:01 PM**

Actually, according to SSP it's 76m tall! So this will be the tallest building on the Island!

Phil McAvity · #**450** Posted **Sep 28, 2007, 6:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holden West

James Bay's Orchard House apartment is also 23 storeys. Who wins the exact height title?

If you're superstitious it's 23. If you're not, it's 22. I count 22 storeys. I also saw somewhere that Orchard House is 67 metres, not 62.

Why is it every time i turn around, the Hudson loses another floor? It was originally supposed to be 26 storeys, then 25, now the Victoria diagram here has it listed at 24. If it doesn't get built soon, it will be shorter than the Wax Museum.

Holden West · #**451** Posted **Sep 28, 2007, 7:08 PM**

^The zoning is 24 storeys so any higher number was old rumours/misinformation/bad reporting.

The Great Scaper · #**452** Posted **Sep 28, 2007, 8:07 PM**

I have a height survey that was done this year by a professional company and the height of the Orchard House to the roof not the mechanical room was sited at 76 meters.

aastra · #**453** Posted **Sep 29, 2007, 12:00 AM**

Methinks something like 65 metres is the correct number from the ground to the top of the mechanical room:

ground floor = 12 feet?
21 floors x 8 = 168 feet?
22 floorplates by .75 = 16.5 feet?
mechanical room = 14 feet?

total = 210.5 feet * .3048 = 64.2 metres

How thick are the floorplates? How high are the ceilings?

Even if the ceilings are 9 feet high you only get maybe 71 metres at most out of it.

I don't see how Scaper's 76m is possible, unless they were measuring from the bottom of the driveway or something.

aastra · #**454** Posted **Sep 29, 2007, 12:08 AM**

Scaper, are you sure those heights aren't the heights in relation to another site in the neighbourhood? (in other words, a site that's a bit lower than the site on which Orchard House stands)

Stupid me, are you sure those heights aren't the heights in relation to sea level?

The Great Scaper · #**455** Posted **Sep 29, 2007, 1:32 AM**

I wondered the same thing. Did I send you a copy of that? I think I did. It didn't look like sea level to me. Though 62 meters seems too low. Is not the CIBC 60 meters? That's only 13 stories to the roof line as an office tower. The Orchard House is 22 stories.

Very interesting. I'd like to get onto the roof again with a laser measure. Solve this mystery once and for all!!!

Phil McAvity · #**456** Posted **Sep 29, 2007, 9:54 PM**

^ Not only that but i remember reading in the T-C 11 years ago when the Beacon was built in Nanaimo that it was the tallest building on the island at 76m and if Orchard house is the same height, the Beacon obviously couldn't have taken the title from Orchard House. Not only that, but the Beacon is 26 stories and Orchard House is only 22, so i tend to think that the T-C actually got their facts right.

Also, the CIBC building is 50m tall, at least according to Cadillac-Fairview when they were proposing to build the Eaton's/Sears/Bay/Zellers/Woodwards/K-mart/JC Penney/Woolworth/Kresge/Harrod's Centre in 1989, they cited that figure in their proposal.

Mike K. · #**457** Posted **Sep 29, 2007, 10:56 PM**

Silkwind has 9' "regal" ceilings so the 22 residential floors alone, without the podium or concrete between them, are 198' (60.4 meters). Having been inside an apartment at Orchard House the ceilings are definitely not 9' but more like 8' (if not 7' and change). Even at 8' in height per floor, that'd be 168' (51 meters) without the podium or concrete between floors.

The Great Scaper · #**458** Posted **Oct 3, 2007, 6:40 AM**

I attended the Christmas Hill project's public hearing tonight in Saanich. It was pretty crazy. Four different community associations spoke out against the proposal. Members of these associations as well as presidents of them mostly spoke out against the density saying it was just way too high. Others said 8 stories was too tall.

I spoke in favor as well as a few other people. Over 70 speakers and letter sender combined spoke against the project. Traffic was the next big thing against the development.

I was amazed that all councilors and Mayor voted in favor of the proposal. Most spoke of the high quality and acknowledged the need for greater density. The few points that were made by councilors against the project was that there was no commercial tenant thus it was car depended if someone needed a loaf of bread. Another two councilors spoke against the fact there was no low income housing though were happy with the cash contribution towards low income housing.

There seemed to be a shift in council member's speaches and thoughts towards higher density projects and height in specific areas. This gives me hope for the Town and Country proposal. Which as I heard in the last week has changed. I'll email some of you some hear says.

Anyways it was a long long meeting. I didn't get out until after 11 p.m.

But two 8 story towers are going up in Saanich!

Night!

Dylan Leblanc · #**459** Posted **Oct 3, 2007, 6:30 PM**

wowzers!

aastra · #**460** Posted **Oct 3, 2007, 10:36 PM**

It's rather incredible that a municipality the size of Saanich hasn't dared to build even 8 stories high (until now).

It's not like there aren't large buildings in Saanich. There are some outstanding fatscrapers. And there are also a few buildings that are pretty much exactly the same height as these ones just approved, even if their floor counts are lower than eight.