725 replies to this topic

[aastra]

 

...someone has to make it happen and have deep enough pockets to make it happen.

 

The very same critics who complain endlessly about the mountainous profits of developers will also claim the profits aren't so mountainous that they could possibly facilitate a bit of heritage preservation.

 

Come on.

[aastra]

Remember that allegation re: a million bucks profit per floor? (the same basic notion has been around for decades but this specific reference was made I think during the earliest phases of the Hudson redevelopment controversy). Anyway, great, developers make big profits. If that's what you really believe then obligate the fat cat developers to preserve and restore some heritage.

 

But aastra! They don't make that much profit!

 

Sigh.

[Mike K.]

Dude, new houses also need to be maintained. They aren't new forever. Are you running for council or something?

EVERY other city can do this stuff. Other cities and towns are having Victoria's old houses shipped over! Only Victoria cannot do it. And yet Victoria devotes more effort to proclaiming and celebrating its commitment than any other place. What's wrong with this picture?

Old restored house also have to be maintained.

And Victorians do restore a lot of houses. But it takes time, money, perseverance and skill navigating a complex process.

So after all of the above, what’s stopping you from buying this house? It’s on wheels. Good to go.

[Rob Randall]

Good Lord, I would hope that if there were no buyers at $140,000 they would reduce the price to zero plus moving costs. 

 

Or the City could chip in for the moving costs so they could be on record as actually saving heritage, rather than merely giving tax holidays to developers engaged in facadeism. 

[Mike K.]

What are you waiting for? Make them an offer.

[Victoria Watcher]

let's start a gofundme to roll it to aastra's place.  better yet if it's near the bottom of a hill we'll just pay to the top of the hill and let gravity take it the rest of the way.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 June 2020 - 01:46 PM.

[aastra]

 

it takes time, money, perseverance and skill navigating a complex process.

So after all of the above, what’s stopping you from buying this house? It’s on wheels. Good to go.

 

On the one hand it's such a trivial matter that any ordinary bozo should be able to handle it (indeed, people acquire these relocated houses all the time), but on the other hand it's such an overwhelmingly complex and expensive proposition that the combined resources of the city government, the developers, and the heritage preservation programs can't possibly be expected to make any headway.

[IPH]

Restoring and converting buildings like this are not as easy or profitable as a new build but are immensely more satisfying. Unfortionalty heritage grants are only for Designated Heritage buildings and I believe property tax holidays are limited to the seismic upgrade cost for Commercial, industrial and institutional heritage buildings in the downtown core that are being converted to residential use. This building is not designated and given it was originally built as residential it may not qualify as commercial plus your unlikely to find an affordable lot in the Downtown core to move it to, so its probably not going to qualify for a tax exemption.

But, if I had a lot available right now I'd still be tempted to make an offer.

[Mike K.]

They’re also a great way to lose your shirt if you don’t know what you’re doing, or don’t have deep pockets, or both.

It’s one thing to relocate an old house and use it as a farmhouse in the country or as a cabin in the woods, and quite another to restore it to the satisfaction of architecture buffs. My mom’s neighbour restored her home and had it designated. She still goes on about it being the worst decision of her life.

[IPH]

Both for sure! 

[Spy Black]

If you're into "old houses", well OK, but this falls far short of anything you could call anything close to a real estate bargain.

 

Presumably, you have a large enough empty lot here in town, so there is $350,00.00 to $500,000.00

The house purchase and moving cost is (at the low end) $140,000.00 (it would likely be higher with overhead wiring issues taking it above 140K, depending where your empty lot is).

Then there's the cost of foundation, power, water, sewer  and other miscellaneous infrastructure at the new site, so there's another $100,000.00.

 

And now you've got a run down shell of an old house to completely gut renovate into something livable, so let's say another $400,000.00

Doesn't take a math professor to see you're into it all for $1 million (plus) before you've got anything close to a finished project.

And don't give you a mortgage for this kind of house moving project. Maybe you could get one on the empty lot, but the rest is going to be cash out of your own pockets.

 

Unless you're a very wealthy "old house buff", who absolutely has to have this specific house (for reasons known only to you) ... for a million bucks most folks want something they can move right into with no hassles, or they want something that they themselves have had specifically designed to their requirements.

 

 

[IPH]

 

Presumably, you have a large enough empty lot here in town, so there is $350,00.00 to $500,000.00

 

You might want to double your lot cost if your thinking in Victoria.

[Rob Randall]

My bet is that is will be trucked down to Rock Bay and put on a barge and it will reside on an island, Gulf or San Juan.

[Mike K.]

Or turned into affordable housing. I think several old homes from Victoria ended up as affordable rentals in Port Townsend or something like that. Surely I’m not imagining it?

[Rob Randall]

^Yes, that fourplex on Oliphant Street:

 

https://www.ptleader...e-housing,13599

 

Here it is in its new location:

 

https://www.ptleader...-townsend,12456

 

Unfortunately no Google Streetview in Port Townsend.

Edited by Rob Randall, 28 June 2020 - 05:31 PM.

[Mike K.]

That’s what it was.

Another building was sailed up island to some homestead. Imagine me sitting on the patio of a vacay place watching a house being tugged along the water. Looking up the info it turned out the home was from Victoria.

[grantpalin]

There was one that was moved from Dallas Rd near the breakwater up to Comox. I remember seeing that one on the TV show Massive Moves.

[Spy Black]

You might want to double your lot cost if your thinking in Victoria.

Thinking about it, you're right.

My numbers are accurate for a new build of a typically smaller "contemporary" house: https://www.realtor....ctoria-oaklands

 

But to accommodate the size of this heritage home, you're correct that within the Victoria/Saanich region, it would likely be closer to $900,000.00 to $1 million+ for the empty lot.

[Hotel Mike]

Victoria has lost some classic houses to Pt.Townsend for sure. But there have been some laudable efforts to retain the character housing stock as well. Capital City is a fantastic example. They created a small enclave on Michigan of heritage houses, beautifully restored and turned into suites. The other two houses ended up on Dallas Road and have improved the area at the base of the breakwater. I would like to see more of this kind of preservation.

[aastra]

Capital Park did very well and there are some other examples of relocation here and there. But methinks this sort of thing would be the rule rather than exception in any community that actually cared about its heritage.