1676 replies to this topic

[RFS]

SAD!

[Kach]

Come on Council!  I am sure you can get this down to < 20 stories if you try really hard.

[Nparker]

Come on Council!  I am sure you can get this down to < 20 stories if you try really hard.

Hopefully not since the current approval is for 24 floors.

[Mike K.]

I can confirm Townline has opted to reduce the height to 25-floors. There will be a variance requirement to permit rooftop decks on what would essentially be considered a 26th floor. There will be a press release issued early next week with additional details.

 

My sense is the civic process required for the additional 29-storey version was becoming a little too complicated, so Townline decided to fall back to its original plan.

[RFS]

Alas, I thought this project might be the "one" catalyst project that would reach a legitimately respectable height and usher in a new era for development downtown. But 25 storeys ain't it

[TheInterior]

Swinging and missing is better than striking out without swinging at all. Townline made a valiant attempt, which brought a lot of attention to their build. At 25 stories, Hudson 1 will dwarf many buildings in the downtown core. In 2020, Hudson 1 will cast its shadow over Victoria, and plant a slightly larger seed in developer's heads. The surrounding buildings will be sold off, council will agree to a height of LAST BUILD + 1 floor, and the city of Langford will look up into the sky and say, "ain't that cloud city beautiful."

 

In 2035, Hudson 1 will be the smallest building in downtown Victoria, which Townline will take full advantage of by asking City Council for permission to rebuild at a height of 89 floors. Council will reaffirm their position on maintaining downtown's integrity by replying with "85 floors only mister!"

[jonny]

Meh, 5 years ago we would have killed for a 25 storey building downtown. I'm disappointed that we won't get 30 *yet*, but I'm very excited for Townline to finish 'the Hudson District' sooner rather than later. 

[Mike K.]

This “dream” has been alive since 2006. It’s exciting that 11 years later it’ll actually materialize

[jonny]

It's a dream that for a while there looked like it was going to be stuck as a crappy parkade for the rest of my life. 

[Kach]

My sense is the civic process required for the additional 29-storey version was becoming a little too complicated, so Townline decided to fall back to its original plan.

 

 

I'll be honest I don't really know the first thing about building skyscrapers (shocker).  But aside from impact on a skyline and the variance required to already established maximum heights/densities through zoning or other type of planning, are there other considerations that make this "too complicated"?

[Mike K.]

Politics!

[Kach]

Politics!

Sigh....

[Mike K.]

Yup.

But it’s all good. Townline just wants to move forward and they’ll still deliver a landmark building with a 25-storey design.

And when the sky doesn’t fall after the tower’s completion and the completion of the next Bayview tower, the height phobia issue will be further eroded.

[aastra]

I just hope they remove levels from somewhere in the middle rather than off the top.

 

[MarkoJ]

I've travelled to a lot of places in Europe and a lot of cities do a great job of integrating old with new.  Vienna is one of my favorite cities with so many awesome examples.

 

St. Stephens square you have a 900-year-old cathedral and modern buildings so close you could throw a rock from one to the other. Yet, it somehow all works.

 

Here we get caught up on a few stories of height or those two falling apart boxes next to the bridge.  

 

 

 

[mbjj]

Having just spent time walking through areas of the financial district in London, now full of skyscrapers dwarfing the churches where my ancestors were baptized and married, I felt it was a very unpleasant experience. Very little sky to be seen, not much sun and a complete feeling of being enclosed. One church was right at the base of the Gherkin and could barely be seen. I was happy to be walking along the river with a bit more space around me.

[Nparker]

Having just spent time walking through areas of the financial district in London, now full of skyscrapers ...I felt it was a very unpleasant experience...

At the current rate of skyscraper (LOL) builds in Victoria, it should be several millennia before you experience anything so terrible here.

[2F2R]

... Any news yet

[Jackerbie]

... Any news yet

 

No news on Council dates, but the proposal has been scaled back to 25 storeys with a rooftop deck. No revised drawings available that I know of.

[aastra]

If this building ends up being 25 stories but with a perfectly flat top as some sort of twisted compromise then I might just check myself in to VV's rubber room.