67 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

Well let's hope a better job of marketing can be done on this than on the Radius, another mixed project that is floundering.

[Mike K.]

I suppose this should be moved to the active construction section.

[gumgum]

That might be jinxing it.

[Nparker]

I'd like to see this one go ahead almost as much as seeing the Radius get back on track.

[zoomer]

This morning I saw an excavator in the lot along with a few workers. Not sure what if anything was done/accomplished...

[Nparker]

Let's hope this was not some elaborate April Fools joke.

[Holden West]

Sounds like remediation is continuing. The soil will have to be clean before anyone will want to buy it.

[Mike K.]

So you figure they'll be flipping the site, even after all that talk of going forward with the original plans?

[Holden West]

Seems like a lot of site are flipping nowadays.

I can imagine Charman wanting to wash his hands of this whole mess and cashing out.

[Mike K.]

819 Yates has flipped but other than that nothing immediately comes to mind that has recently been propped up as a done deal by the developer (unless we start to speculate about the likes of Radius and friends).

[Lover Fighter]

So was the dirt there for the sole reason of filling up the pond?

[aastra]

I was just reading an old 1995 article about St. Andrew's Square. Did you know the View Street side was originally conceived as a 15-story residential tower? There were supposed to be 106 condominium units.

He (Councillor Alan Lowe) predicts the project will give Yates Street a shot in the arm.

That's just what Louise Parton, president of the 700-block Yates Street Association, is counting on. After all, $750,000 was spent to revitalize that block a few years ago. "It's wonderful," Parton said. "It will increase pedestrian traffic. Just having a nice, crisp new building will upgrade the appearance of the block."

The project will be a welcome anchor for small businesses on Yates Street, said Coun. Helen Hughes, downtown liaison.

And it fits in with a key city goal - to encourage more residential use downtown, she said.

So jump forward to 2008 and we've still got the same goals (with the focus now being on the Mozart lot). We want to encourage residential use, upgrade the appearance of the block, and give Yates Street a shot in the arm.

[D.L.]

yup I remember the residential proposal for the view street side

[concorde]

Concert Properties has an offer in to Eric Charman for this property. I haven't heard if it was accepted or not.

[aastra]

Interesting. I believe somebody here called that a long time ago, back when Concert bought the building next door.

[Mike K.]

^I think you're right. Either here or on SSP.

[Mike K.]

There's some activity on-site today. It could have something to do with the soil remediation but I'm not sure.

[Mike K.]

A drilling machine rolled up on site this morning. Perhaps they're testing the soil.

[Holden West]

I spotted this man on the site this morning:



He was out there shooting at some food when up through the ground came some bubbling crude.

So I believe there may still be issues with soil contamination on the site.

[Mike K.]

He be rich.