3995 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

If you have a program with a plan, I’m not sure if you should divert so far off. In this case more than 3x more money than normally allocated under the program.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 July 2024 - 11:28 AM.

[aastra]

I'm just saying it rings a bit hollow to sound the alarm about the harm in delaying new housing when delaying new housing has been a hardcore political principle for decades (and can still rear its head on any given day for any given project).

[NinVic]

More of my tax dollars down the drain.

Indeed and not cheap.

https://www.crd.bc.c...ge-on-the-green

 

At a budgeted cost of $65M for a net addition of 102 units (140-38 existing) so like ~$650,000 per unit for affordable housing... me sees lots of 1 bd or 2 bd condos for sale in Victoria for less than this!

 

At what point is it better to give people money ?

[GaryOak]

Indeed and not cheap.
https://www.crd.bc.c...ge-on-the-green

At a budgeted cost of $65M for a net addition of 102 units (140-38 existing) so like ~$650,000 per unit for affordable housing... me sees lots of 1 bd or 2 bd condos for sale in Victoria for less than this!

At what point is it better to give people money ?

something that I have always wondered is why doesn't the government just buy up newly finished condo blocks? Then you wouldn't have to deal with the potential of contractors swindling the government. Of course pay off everyone in full, and offer the people who bought presales right of first refusal of a rental.

Edited by GaryOak, 02 July 2024 - 08:47 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Plans for a James Bay residential tower have been scaled back to 14 storeys from 17, which helped pave the way for Victoria council to consider an Official Community Plan amendment so it could go ahead.

The project, which would be built on a property that is largely a parking lot bordered by Quebec, Montreal and Kingston streets, was sent back to the drawing board last summer after council deemed 17 storeys too tall.

Revised plans from developer Mike Geric Construction include a total of 108 housing units in that and other buildings on the site — including townhouses up to three storeys high.

A daycare is also proposed.

 

 

https://www.timescol...d-of-17-9209302

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 July 2024 - 03:34 AM.

[Nparker]

Would life in James Bay really have ended if this building were 10 meters taller?

[AllseeingEye]

Would life in James Bay really have ended if this building were 10 meters taller?

 

Yes! It would have been the end of all civilization - surely you must know that?! The sun would have been blotted out for all time, that entire part of downtown would have been thrown into perpetual shade and darkness and - above all - who would be left in the horrible aftermath to think of the children?!?!?

 

Honestly like every vote on anything anywhere within the CoV more than three floors in height Marg Gardiner can be counted on not to support it: Marg Gardiner ladies and gentlemen - where the spirit of Pam Madoff lives on for ever and ever Amen, in perpetuity........!

[Nparker]

Remember when the Marg Gardiners/Pam Madoffs on council were the worst we had to endure?

[Vin]

If the 17 storey tower is ugly, it would've been an eyesore, like those flats beside Beacon Hill Park. Every time I view the Legislative building from the harbour, I wish those buildings were a lot shorter, or better still: never built at all.

 

This view:

https://www.google.c...05410&entry=ttu

[Nparker]

If the 17 storey tower is ugly, it would've been an eyesore...

So the 14-storey building is going to rival the Taj Mahal and the Eiffel Tower in its beauty?

[aastra]

In the past I tried photoshopping spiffier towers in place of old Roberts House and Orchard House. Suffice it to say, it's the bulkiness and the repetitive design of those buildings that negatively impacts the view much more so than their sheer height.

[Victoria Watcher]

A proposal to replace a seniors building in James Bay with a larger facility has cleared a ­hurdle.

 

Victoria council moved ahead a rezoning application for a six-storey, 168-unit assisted-living facility to be built on the footprint of Amica’s Douglas House independent and assisted-living facility, which would be torn down.

 

The demolition of the existing 102-unit building will mean 79 residents will have to find new places to live. Proponent Vancouver-based Milliken Developments is proposing relocation to other Victoria Amica facilities at residents’ current rent rate.

 

All residents will be given a year’s notice before they are required to vacate their units, the company said.

 

Coun. Jeremy Caradonna noted the project is a scaled-down version of the eight storeys Milliken had originally proposed, which garnered strong opposition from neighbourhood residents.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...version-9245913

[aastra]

 

While housing seniors next to Beacon Hill Park is “absolutely critical,” the proposed building’s height is a sticking point, he said.

Would we say housing seniors next to Beacon Hill Park is more critical or less critical than trashing the heck out of Beacon Hill Park every few years?

[aastra]

 

The new facility would include 57 new memory-care beds...

Coun. Krista Loughton said she appreciated that feature, noting the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada has warned the number of Canadians with dementia is rising sharply.

 

 

Coun. Jeremy Caradonna noted the project is a scaled-down version of the eight storeys Milliken had originally proposed, which garnered strong opposition from neighbourhood residents.

 

“I think that the proponent did listen to the neighbourhood and come down to six storeys,” he said.

“I definitely think it is much more supportable at six storeys than it was at eight.”

Caradonna noted there is huge demand for assisted- and independent-living units.

 

 

 

The lone vote against the proposal came from Coun. Chris Coleman, who suggested the building was still too big at six storeys.

While housing seniors next to Beacon Hill Park is “absolutely critical,” the proposed building’s height is a sticking point, he said.

 

 

Methinks this debate provides a neat summary of modern angst. On the one hand we really want to believe we're wrangling with unprecedented desperate challenges, but on the other hand we really don't want to believe we're wrangling with unprecedented desperate challenges.

Instead of trying so hard to be good citizens and thus frame every darned thing as crisis (and twist ourselves into knots of indecision because of it), why not just take a moment to sincerely ponder how significant the difference would really be between a 6-story complex and an 8-story complex? It's not as if we're choosing between 6 stories and 18 stories. If we're actually sincere in our belief that a few more units would be beneficial then go with 8 stories. If we're not actually sincere in that belief then stay the old course and restrict it to 6 stories, which is darned short by any standard, seeing as how 4 stories would have been regarded as the bare minimum even ~50 years ago and (spoiler alert) it's almost the year 2025 now.

Edited by aastra, 20 July 2024 - 11:35 AM.

[aastra]

^I'm not playing the "bigger is always better" card. I'm just saying we should be honest about what we really believe. If we believe today's [insert label here] crisis is genuine then the course should be crystal clear re: choosing between 4 or 6 or 8. If the course isn't so clear then maybe we don't actually believe the [insert label here] crisis is quite so genuine after all.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm feeling absolutely devastated with exhaustion right now to the point where my physical and mental health are hanging by a thread. Therefore I'm going to spend the next several hours debating whether I should take a nap for 4 minutes, 6 minutes, or 8 minutes.

[Nparker]

 

...I definitely think it is much more supportable at six storeys than it was at eight.

I guess 6 meters in additional height would have ushered in the apocalypse. I am glad CoV council is looking out for us in this way.

[Nparker]

...Krista Loughton said she appreciated that feature, noting the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada has warned the number of Canadians with dementia is rising sharply...

People are living longer, not better.

[aastra]

Now you made me forget what we were talking about.

[Nparker]

Now you made me forget what we were talking about

I am sure there will be space available on the 7^th or 8^th floor of the new Amica building.

[Vin]

In the past I tried photoshopping spiffier towers in place of old Roberts House and Orchard House. Suffice it to say, it's the bulkiness and the repetitive design of those buildings that negatively impacts the view much more so than their sheer height.

 

You can also try photoshopping old Roberts House and Orchard House here in Amsterdam:

 

https://www.google.c...05410&entry=ttu

 

Luckily their planners are way better than ours. 

 

If Roberts/Orchard House were half their height with double the blocks built, they would have looked much better from the Harbour.