65 replies to this topic

[Scaper]

It's on Bellville St. The property is owned by WestBank Corp. Developers of the Falls.

There are some interesting here says regarding this project. Though it will be West Banks next project in Victoria.

The problem lies in the fact that the little corner this building rest on belongs to Jamesbay. And the JBNEA will fight tooth and nail agains anything being built here.

[Ben Smith]

One or five of these downtown, and it's all good!

Ben

[Lover Fighter]

Wasn't this going to be officially proposed something like last August? It still hasn't even happened yet? It will be awhile before it goes to council I think.

[Holden West]

[Doc Sage]

Back to topic...somewhat.

I see nothing wrong with having two areas of tall buildings in the CDR, downtown Victoria and a group of tall towers in Colwood/Langford.

Look at Toronto and North York.

Doc Sage

[Lover Fighter]

I am referring to the Michelle actually, the one this thread is about...
I read in an article awhile ago that he was going to propose it to council in August, but i don't think it ever happened.

[Mike K.]

Could it be that this proposal is still alive? The website has released new documents showing new shadow studies, street profiles from Sooke Road and the Panorama Rec centre and new elevations (pictured below).

http://www.themichelle.ca





[url=http://www.vibrantvictoria.ca/resources/mcp/0028.htm:74fb9]The Michelle MCP entry[/url:74fb9]

[G-Man]

Surrounded by forest!

[D.L.]

I saw those on their site months ago.

[renthefinn]

Panorama Rec Centre? It shouldn't cast a shadow into North Saanich you think?

[Mike K.]

Looks like this project is now two towers at 20- and 30-storeys a piece.

At least the proposal is still above water...

[Mike K.]

As reported in the [url=http://www.vibrantvictoria.ca/resources/mcp/index.htm:bd7b3]Vibrant Victoria MCP[/url:bd7b3] last week:

Developer Russ Ridley revises plan for proposed highrise condominum complex

Rick Stiebel/News staff

By Rick Stiebel
News staff
May 02 2007

When the community spoke up, Russ Ridley came down.

After extensive discussion with the neighbours and local businesses indicated Ridley’s proposal for a 41-storey condominium proposal was too tall for their liking, Ridley and architect Charles Kierulf of de Hoog & Kierulf Architects went back to the drawing board.

The new plan he brought to the City of Colwood last week proposes a 21 and a 31-storey highrise on the the two-acre property on Belmont Road near the Colwood core.

Ridley said the initial concern from neighbours and local businesses was over the height, and Colwood staff encouraged him to poll people in the area.

“Lowering the height and going with two towers of varying height met with much more approval,” he said. “The feedback from the neighbourhood has been 90 per cent plus positive.”

The only major changes other than the height is the way the plan accesses the ground, Kierulf noted.

“We see that as an improvement,” he added. “It’s more traffic and pedestrian friendly.”

Another advantage of the two-tower design is that it enables the project to be phased in, said Kierulf, who estimates it will take a minimum of two years for each phase.

Kierulf said the most important component of the $150 million project is that everything behind the towers will be an extension of the natural landscape once landscaping is completed.

“The landscaping over the parking is essentially an extensive green roof,” Kierulf said.

The 41,000 square foot, 200-condo unit plan retains about 10,000 square feet of commercial space which will mainly service the neighbourhood.

Ridley will hold several public meetings in the near future to gather more comment for the ‘Michelle’, named after his brother and partner Rob’s daughter.

“We haven’t finished finding out what the neighbourhood wants,” Ridley said. “We grew up in Colwood and want to do something Colwood is proud of.”

Colwood Mayor Jody Twa pointed out the proposal is in the preliminary stage, and will have to go through all of the steps required after it is forwarded to the City’s planning and zoning committee, including a public hearing.

“I’ve always felt highrises should be dealt with on their own merit,” Twa said.

Noting the proposal is for residential neighbourhood, Twa said he’s looking forward to what the community has to say about the project.

Ridley is working with the Prince Edward branch of the Royal Canadian Legion to subsidize 14 one-bedroom units for veterans.

“That’s something Rob and I wanted to do from the beginning,” he noted.

Other amenities include extensive upgrades to Belmont Road, including sidewalks and street lights, $15,000 toward public art, as well as a car and bicycle co-op.

Putting a well on the property for storm water management and irrigation that Colwood could use for irrigation in the area is another possibility being considered.

“We’ve had preliminary discussion with John Stubbs elementary to see what we can do to help them,” Ridley said.

The project would require an official community plan amendment for a height variance, but Ridley believes the upcoming OCP review will identify that area as suitable for highrises.

For more on the Michelle, check out the website at themichelle.ca.

[Mike K.]

Here are new renderings courtesy of Davidson Yuen Simpson architects. The design was changed from a single 41-storey building to two towers in the 20 and 30-storey height.

[G-Man]

The only part I like is the three story part along the street.

[Mike K.]

For a slapstick suburban highrises the overall design is quite good.

Whether this design is actually built is another story as we could be looking at a tentative proposal for the rezoning.

[Mike K.]

By Rick Stiebel
Goldstream Gazette
News staff

Aug 17 2007

Ridley sweetens towers pot

Russ Ridley wants to sweeten the pot he’s offering Colwood, providing the City purchases the property next to his highrise development for a park.

Ridley said he would increase the payment Colwood requires from $1,500 per unit to $1,800.

It’s a $90,000 boost that would bring the total paid to Colwood to $540,000 for The Michelle, a $150 million residential/commercial complex consisting of about 300 units in two towers of 21 and 31 storeys on Belmont Road.

Ridley would like to see the one-acre property about 500 metres from his two-acre parcel turned into a park honouring Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan.

Dave Munro, Royal Canadian Legion service officer for South Vancouver Island, said it’s a fantastic idea.

Munro has already spoken to the mother of Myles Mansell, a Belmont secondary graduate who was killed while serving as a bombardier with the Fifth (BC) Field Artillery Regiment in Afghanistan in 2006.

“It would be great to have her dedicate the park,” Munro said. “We certainly want to honour the sacrifice of Canadians killed in Afghanistan.

Ridley noted that there is no other municipal park in the area, and protecting a Garry oak system while honouring veterans would be a good fit.

At least half the site “definitely has some very good Garry oak values,” said Louise Goulet, executive director of the Garry oak Recovery Team. “It’s well worth protecting.”

Ridley pointed out there is a development proposal for an apartment complex on the property, adding “we’re in the eleventh hour to save an intact Garry oak ecosystem.”

Munro and South Vancouver Island Legion zone commander Angus Stanfield are also pleased about the inclusion of 14 one-bedroom units at a cost of $3.5 million for veterans in Ridley’s proposal.

“It’s really tough to build rental housing for veterans,” Munro said. “These units would provide affordable places for veterans or their spouses to live until they need to move to assisted living.”

There are about 55,000 veterans on Vancouver Island — 20,000 to 30,000 in the Victoria area, with about 12,000 of the veterans on the island living on disability pensions.

Munro has discussed Ridley’s proposal with Veterans Affairs Canada, which indicated they want to look at using the proposal as a pilot project for similar initiatives in western Canada.

“We’re more than pleased with what the Ridleys are trying to do for veterans, both from the housing aspect and the park,” Munro said.

Stanfield said it was “quite refreshing to have a developer step up the plate in this manner.”

Stanfield and Munro also both lauded the inclusion of a 10,000-square-foot wellness centre that would serve veterans and the rest of the community.

Harry Stinson, president of the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Peacekeepers Veterans Association, and William Isfeld of the Canadian Association of Veterans in United Nations Peacekeeping, echoed their support.

Some of the other amenities in Ridley’s package to Colwood include:

• $20,000 toward reclamation, reconstruction or improvements to the playing fields at John Stubbs elementary school;

• $15,000 toward public art;

• $15,000 to the Colwood fire department for highrise fire training;

• $10,000 for drilling a well that could irrigate city boulevards;

• another $10,000 toward the installation of pipes and pumps, etc. if the drilling is successful.

Ridley is also offering about $300,000 toward improvements to Belmont Road such as sidewalks, lighting and landscaping.

The larger sidewalks would be two metres in diameter to allow seniors to pass on scooters.

“We’re hoping to make Belmont Road like Goldstream Avenue in Langford with flowers on the boulevards and landscaping,” Ridley said.

[amor de cosmos]

Developer wants to build $230 million condo tower project in Colwood

320 units represent an 11-fold increase in density for the area

Bill Cleverley, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, December 08, 2007

Colwood's planning and zoning committee will get a first look Tuesday at a proposal to build two condo towers -- one 21 storeys and one 31 storeys -- and a low-rise commercial centre on Belmont Road.

Russ Ridley, who calls his $230-million project the Michelle after his niece, wants to build the two towers on a 0.8- hectare parcel in the 300-block of Belmont.

The committee has the option of forwarding the proposal to council or postponing the application pending an appraisal of the project's financial impact or a review of the Official Community Plan, now underway.

<snip>

Built on a site that rises to 61 metres above sea level, the building's top elevation would be about 170 metres -- equal to the height of Haida Drive above Cairdale Road on Triangle Mountain or 27 metres less than the summit of Mill Hill, which is 197 metres.

With 320 units proposed, the plan represents an 11-fold increase in the density for the area as outlined in the current Official Community Plan.

"There's a great opportunity here for Colwood," said Kierulf, "and I think they understand that and are working on that to create a real centre, that yes, does involve some higher densities and taller buildings but gives them an opportunity to cluster it and create these views for people that you don't get anywhere else."

The site is just outside the boundaries of the Colwood Corners designated town centre.

http://www.canada.co...b0-eb16e66c99e3

[larrobb]

sorry if i've missed the answer to this, but where exactly on Belmont Rd is this project proposed to happen? initially it sounded like it would be near Sooke Rd but artist renderings show it set back quite a bit. is it actually in Belmont Park itself? i remember an old grocery store that had been closed for years, thinking that may be near the proposed site. thanks to anyone with specifics.

[amor de cosmos]

300-block belmont rd in relation to colwood corners:

[larrobb]

thanks for the great graphic. does this mean that the apartment buildings in the 300 block will be torn down to make way for the Michelle? who owns those? what if they're condo's, how does that work? i was close, the store i remember is a stone's throw up the road. been empty for years.