[Downtown Victoria] View Towers | 19-storeys | Built in 1960's
#41
Posted 14 April 2012 - 08:27 PM
#42
Posted 14 April 2012 - 08:35 PM
#43
Posted 14 April 2012 - 08:39 PM
^ You would be surprised as to how many older buildings in this city were built before there was a requirement to have a sprinkler system. Both highrise and 4 story.
Can the city strong-arm older buildings into bringing them up to current code? (Install sprinklers, in-suite fire bells/sirens, etc...) or once they're built to the code of the day can they no longer be forced to upgrade?
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#44
Posted 14 April 2012 - 08:57 PM
That is easier said than done. That order may need to be consistent with all buildings instead of just one, a judge may need to decide that answer.
The Victoria Fire Department has recently written a directive to remove all fire hoses within the city. Some owners are reluctant to do so. So, if you have a standpipe system and 1 1/2" hoses connected to that system......because of water pressure issues...they are required to be removed and capped off. The fire department wants to use their own hoses. When the owner has the 5 year flush and flow test performed (even with the hoses removed) and the system is deemed to not have the appropriate water pressure, thou shalt remove that 1 1/2" system and install a 4" standpipe system.
The water pressure is continually reducing due to increased building.
I appreciate that my response does not answer your question regarding increasing life safety protection, my point is that Fire Marshals do have the authority to issue an order that must be complied with.
#45
Posted 14 April 2012 - 09:10 PM
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#46
Posted 14 April 2012 - 09:12 PM
#47
Posted 14 April 2012 - 09:26 PM
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#48
Posted 14 April 2012 - 09:32 PM
#49
Posted 14 April 2012 - 11:16 PM
The 18 story building has no sprinkler system. Does it need to be condemned?
In a word, YES. View Towers should be condemned and immediately imploded; not because it doesn't have sprinklers, but because it's an aesthetically atrocious, Soviet-Russia-style monolith that since being constructed has left a 4-decade long bad taste in the mouths of locals leading to an irrational fear of all structures over 4-storeys in height.
ps: It also blocks the views of the Sooke Hills from the windows of a certain city counsellor's car as she drives around town.
#50
Posted 14 April 2012 - 11:23 PM
#51
Posted 15 April 2012 - 12:15 AM
#52
Posted 15 April 2012 - 07:47 AM
I'd love a crack at "fixing" view towers. Make it part of a package to develop the adjacent lot.
Me too.
Take the very top floor. Make the suites awesome. Give them a dedicated laundry room.
Make the lobby and at least one elevator nice (the one that mainly only goes to top floors, if you can rig it that way).
The suites are not a bad size, but they lack dishwashers and laundry, I presume. Is there a work-around for dishwashers, so they can be installed? Laundry might be tougher.
But the top floors have killer views, surely they can be converted into suites that'll bring a good buck.
#53
Posted 15 April 2012 - 08:01 AM
ps: It also blocks the views of the Sooke Hills from the windows of a certain city counsellor's car as she drives around town.
Thanks for this, I just snorted hot coffee out my nose I laughed so hard!!
#54
Posted 15 April 2012 - 08:06 AM
#55
Posted 15 April 2012 - 08:09 AM
I've seen Soviet-era commie-blocks that are nicely decorated so I'm confident a skilled architectural team could make it the jewel of Harris Green by replacing the View parking with townhouses, recladding the exterior and developing the corner lot.
However, I know there are decent, working class folk young who are not crackheads who live there and their presence in downtown is vital to its livability.
-City of Victoria website, 2009
#56
Posted 15 April 2012 - 08:52 AM
Even if it were feasible, I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't like the idea because a lot of people believe rental apartments for low income folks are supposed to be ugly and intimidating and unsafe and all the rest.
But it sure would be a good thing for the area and for Fort Street.
#57
Posted 15 April 2012 - 09:23 AM
VHF, I'd be willing to bet re-plumbing VT for dishwashers and laundry and perhaps sprinklers would run into the multi-millions. The drawback is the cost would rival new construction. The flip side is you'd never get permission to build another tower so high with those views.
Do you think so?
Well, I'm not sure at what point of improvements the need for sprinklers kicks in. A dishwasher only needs 120v, a single hot water input tapped off the main sink line, and drains upwards into the existing sink trap or garberator. I think if you are replacing the kitchen cabinets anyway, it can be worked.
I mean, what can the cost be to completely gut a suite there?
New flooring and paint throughout, plus new cabinets and fixtures in kitchen and bath, new appliances, and maybe some nicer baseboards, cove ceilings or similar, and window treatments.
If that costs more than $20,000 for a one-bedroom suite I'd be surprised. Now if you can get an extra $400-500/mo. for that suite, the return (less than 4 years) is awesome.
Make an ultra-secure (electronic recorded entry, security cameras) laundry room with lots of top-end machines for this floor, and you might get past the objection of no ensuite laundry. I'm guessing most apartments have s x s machines, so theoretically if electric supply allows, you can double the capacity of that room with European stackers.
#58
Posted 15 April 2012 - 09:28 AM
I mean, what can the cost be to completely gut a suite there?
If the damage estimate from yesterday's fire is accurate, then about a hundred grand.
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#59
Posted 21 April 2012 - 10:16 AM
Figure it would be quite a job to upgrade a building the size of VT..
cakes..
#60
Posted 15 August 2012 - 09:49 PM
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Sat-Sun 9am to 5pm
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*2 blocks from downtown
*affordable rents from $580
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