1440 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

Incredible views from that perch!

[AllseeingEye]

RJAG and I used to have a great friend who owned a split level condo just slightly east along Esquimalt Road from that location with a stunning view of the harbour, Laurel and Ogden Points from the rooftop deck that ran along the entire breadth of the building. That area is seriously underrated in terms of 'view', providing some of the very best water vistas anywhere in the city core....

[G-Man]

I hope they can put some nice commercial space in. Those old buildings actually give that area it's urban feel.

[Dinya]

Saw the other day something is finally under construction at 3959 Shelbourne Street.  (Shelbourne frontage of Tuscany Village).  My apologies if this has already been mentioned elsewhere.  I did find the other cancelled project thread that is now locked.

 

Anybody got intel on what it's going to be?

[Hotel Mike]

I thought I heard that Abstract had a project right about there.

[Rob Randall]

^This is the thread for the cancelled version. Not sure what the new proposal is.

 

http://vibrantvictor...etail-canceled/

[Jackerbie]

Saw the other day something is finally under construction at 3959 Shelbourne Street.  (Shelbourne frontage of Tuscany Village).  My apologies if this has already been mentioned elsewhere.  I did find the other cancelled project thread that is now locked.

 

Anybody got intel on what it's going to be?

 

It's a CIBC. http://victoria.citi...anich-location/

[Dinya]

So they're moving from across the street then? Wonder what's going to happen to the old building next to JJ Morgan's?

[Rob Randall]

^Interesting proposition, the site is large and JJ Morgan's demographic does not have a strong future outlook.

[Nparker]

It's a CIBC. http://victoria.citi...anich-location/

What a poor use of the land in this location. It seems odd that a new bank branch couldn't have been located in a more substantial structure. I would have thought the property was too valuable for a one-storey building.

[phx]

Future CIBC site:

 

[Kungsberg]

What a poor use of the land in this location. It seems odd that a new bank branch couldn't have been located in a more substantial structure. I would have thought the property was too valuable for a one-storey building.

 

Totally agree. Nice enough building for a stand-alone bank branch, but what happened to the idea of greater density along the Shelbourne corridor? This is such a great area for walkability - near UVIC, grocery and services, buses, and a soon-to-be-improved bike corridor.   It's a shame this was not a proposal for some additional height for condo or rentals above.  (And their design calls for half the lot going to surface parking.)

 

http://www.saanich.c...ordon-head.html

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[Nparker]

And it's really ugly too.

[lanforod]

Isn't this the second new CIBC being built along that corridor now? There is one on Cedar Hill X too.

[thundergun]

^ Nope, maybe you're thinking of VanCity? There is a CIBC in Hillside mall. Are people still going to be visiting bank locations in 10 or 20 years? How are they going to pay this thing off? I haven't stepped foot in a bank in years.

 

Seems like a shortsighted plan for Shelbourne. Long live the strip mall!

[lanforod]

Oh, could be VanCity. 

[RFS]

The new condo project on boleskine has fencing a signage up. Lots of activity

[Mike K.]

Ah, right. That one has been converted into a rental building. Citified profile: http://victoria.citi...e-road-saanich/

[AllseeingEye]

^ Nope, maybe you're thinking of VanCity? There is a CIBC in Hillside mall. Are people still going to be visiting bank locations in 10 or 20 years? How are they going to pay this thing off? I haven't stepped foot in a bank in years.

 

Seems like a shortsighted plan for Shelbourne. Long live the strip mall!

Difficult to project 10 never mind 20 years out, but the short answer is a definite "yes" to the continued viability of physical bank branches for a variety of reasons, not the least of which (both here and in the US) internal customer surveys consistently indicate 80-85% of customers want and expect that retail channel as an option for whatever financial entity they utilize.

 

More critically - and I totally concur having spent 5 years in the financial services sector - those same surveys show quite plainly that branches continue to be critical in the pursuit of new customers and for doing additional business with existing ones, including millennials.

 

Above all, and my old institution heard this time and time again as did the competition: the most powerful force that will keep physical branches alive and well for many years to come is the instinctual human desire to meet the people to whom they are entrusting with their money. Although this may well change in the extended future its quite clear currently that there is no technological substitute for the trust building that occurs when you can meet with someone face to face and shake his or her hand. That personal connection or 'touch' is a major - and very powerful - trigger that credit unions in particular continue to use effectively to differentiate themselves from the "Big (impersonal) Banks"...

[Jackerbie]

^ Maybe I'm just not at a point in my life where I need to use the services my bank offers, but I can count on one hand how many times I have been to a physical branch to speak with a person in the last ten years. One of those times was to close an account at RBC, one to open a new account at Scotia, and then twice to withdrawn currency that wasn't available at the ATM.

 

In fact, there's a new "branch" of CIBC here in Richmond that doesn't even have bank tellers, just ATMs, a couple financial advisors, and staff who can help you set up online banking.