Jump to content

      



























Photo

[Downtown Victoria] View Towers | 19-storeys | Built in 1960's

Rental

  • Please log in to reply
383 replies to this topic

#381 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 20 June 2019 - 05:04 PM

Some View Towers history from July 28, 1972:

 

"Social Tragedy" But Permit Given Nod



#382 Victoria Watcher

Victoria Watcher

    Old White Man On A Canadian Island

  • Member
  • 52,297 posts

Posted 29 October 2019 - 07:31 AM

Yes I have quite a lot of photos.

Just for reference sake. And because the media often gets things wrong about the building. It is in fact 19 stories. There are 3 underground parking lots. Level A B & C. And one ground level lot D. The parking on the View street side is guest parking. And if you drive in thru the gate on quadra/fort, it's more tenant parking like ABC. Then above D there is L. This is the lobby. Where the office is, mail boxes, and a secure laundry room(and a Pepsi machine lol). Then there are levels 2-19 with no 13th floor. Some think this building is 18 stories because there is no 13th floor. This is incorrect because the L lobby level is technically the 2nd floor as it is above the D level parking/ground entrance. There are 21 apartments on each floor. The building sits almost exactly square with North/South/East/West orientations. So that being said. Out of the 21 apts, all 4 corners are 1 bedrooms, and 2 more 1 bedrooms on the northwest corner. So the northwest corner and the next two are 1 bedrooms. For a total of 6 one bedrooms out of 21. They are around 525-600 square feet. The rest of the 15 apts are all bachelors. So in total there are 356 apts. The math says 357 but one apt spot is the hot tub/sauna. The one bedroom apts (corners only) have a kitchen window, and the bachelors do not. The one bedrooms (corners only) also have larger balconies. Most of the apts are a waxed shiny tile. Some apts have a grey/blue carpet. But it's slowly being removed as its aging and tile is more durable and easier to maintain.

Getting a one bedroom on the higher floors south facing (Olympic mountains) are extremely hard to get. Because as stated above, there are only 2 facing. One on each corner. I lived on the 18th northwest corner for 2 years before going against my love of heights and moving down to 16 for a south facing apt. It was worth it! The waiting list for 1 bedroom south's is pretty long. As for the 19th floor. Your going to have to wait until they die to get those apts. My 18th apt was bigger (northeast corner are the biggest). And the view was nice. Balcony and bedroom window on the north part of the building. And kitchen window looking west. I had a view of all the sooke hills. And of all of downtown/inner harbor. But could not see the Olympic mountains. I then had a choice of either the southeast or southwest corner one bedrooms on the 16th floor. And you might have noticed. There are a row of apts on the west edge of the building. With no apts beside them. These are bedrooms. This is the side I chose. The southeast was nice because the balcony faced directly at the mountains. And the kitchen window (east) towards the mainland. On a very clear day you can see mountains on the mainland. But not often. But on the southwest corner, the balcony faces dead west. But it is also RIGHT on the corner. So you and see the entire south view as well, along with the west view. You get a 260 degree balcony view. Instead of all the other corners being 4-6 feet from the corners edge and only
Getting a 180 degree view. So the southwest are definitely the best. You get all of downtown. The inner harbor. The sooke hills. The ocean. The ENTIRE Olympic mountain range. And the sunset. And it's a private balcony in the sense that neighbors are only above and
Below you. Not beside. Yes there are other buildings around. But it's still nice not seeing your neighbor like 10-15 feet from you. The view is one of the main reasons I live there. If I was on a lower floor without a view I wouldn't be there. I moved here for the beauty. And I wake up to it every day.

Another reason is the building is concrete. You barely hear your neighbors. I almost never did in my old 18th apt. And the same goes for my current 16th apt.

And reason number 3. My rent is $730/month. For a million dollar 16th floor view I think that's awesome.

As for security. It is a keyless entry system. The fort and view doors both have to be opened with an electronics key fob. Waved in front of a sensor. This is nice because you can copy regular keys. These you can't. They can be deactivated should the tenant take it. Once in the doors, you also need to wave the key fob to get an elevator. So if someone gets in they still can't get up the elevator. The stairwells are exit only and are only accessible from the apt floors. And the underground parking lot. So View (D) and Lobby (L) have no stairs access. There is also a key fob pad to get into the laundry room. There is man door beside both the exit and entrance to the parkade with fobs as well. And fobs to get into the elevator areas on ABCD, from parking, then fobs to call the elevators to those levels. Also. Cameras. Record 24/7 with 6 months of footage. Cameras are: on D looking at the front door and elevators. On L looking at the front door and elevators and laundry room door and office door. In the office, Looking at both the entrance and exit to the parkade. In all 3 elevators, on the stairwell exits, and in the laundry room.



The laundry room is card wash/dry. 12 washers, 15, 1 hour dryer and 3, 20 min dryers. $1.65/wash/1hr dry. $.25 more for super load. And the 20 mins dryers are $.55. And very clean.

View Towers has just been taken over by new management a month or two ago. This time a woman. She seems to be quite the hard ass. Notices have been posted on our doors about strict rules and immediate eviction should they be broken. She has already evicted 10-30 apts. And is putting money into sprucing the place up. The balconies are undergoing structural safety testing right now. And will be re sealed and the balcony bars painted. This will take all winter. And the sealing will be in the spring. Rumors of the entrance doors being replaced are going around. And also gates to get into the D level View st guest parking. To keep loiterers out. Since moved in they have completely re done the underground parkade floors and sealed them. Re don't the big sun deck area on the lobby side and revealed it. Replaced the long railing/white bars all along the lobby side. Put new cameras on the stairwells. Put a key fob on the laundry room door. This was all under the old manager. Now with the new manager, she has beefed up the staff dramatically. The biggest reason the stairwells are so unpleasant is because before we only had maybe 1-2 cleaners. So we'll see how things go with all the new staff. There is also more then one (contracted) security guard on duty. And there is still the live in security/caretaker. The apts are clean and well maintained. A little dated in terms of the cupboards or bathro vanity. But no worse then any dated apt on the gorge.

Anyway. Enough rambling. Lol.

 

now of course any police news release will just say "a residence in the 1100-block of quadra street" as per the new way of doing things.  stigma and all.


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 October 2019 - 07:32 AM.


#383 Nparker

Nparker
  • Member
  • 40,390 posts

Posted 29 October 2019 - 07:35 AM

And the very best part of the view from View Towers: you can't see VT!



#384 Victoria Watcher

Victoria Watcher

    Old White Man On A Canadian Island

  • Member
  • 52,297 posts

Posted 29 April 2022 - 11:44 AM

Victoria fire crews rescued one man using a ladder after fire at View Towers in Victoria late Friday morning.

Smoke billowed from a unit around the 10th floor of the apartment building shortly after 11:30 a.m. on April 29.



https://www.vicnews....ntown-victoria/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 April 2022 - 11:45 AM.

  • Kilo95 likes this

 



0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users