800 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

After a seven year hiatus developer Stan Sipos of Cielo Properties, together with his son Jonathan, is back in the development realm with Customs House, arguably one of the most high profile developments in downtown Victoria in recent history.

 

Sipos purchased the federal buildings (one heritage, one built in the 1950's with faux heritage design elements) at Wharf and Government streets last year and plans to fully gut the inside of the structures and redevelop them into condo residences with groundfloor retail. The 1950's addition fronting Government will be fully transformed into an eight storey building, while the heritage building along Wharf at Courtney will see the addition of a floor plus a two-floor element similar to Shoal Point's top floors.

 

- design architect is Paul Merrick

- eight floors for the east building, 5/6 for the west building

- some 105 units are currently envisioned

- units will be in the 500 square foot range and higher

- initial pricing estimates are $500k - $2 million

- retail will envelope the ground floor

- construction is anticipated by next year with approvals by the fall

- a public hearing for a rezoning will be required

 

We will have renderings and more info soon.

[G-Man]

Wow sounds pretty amazing! The design here will be pretty critical though with prices like those shown above it should be covered.

[aastra]

Sounds fantastic. Exactly what the proverbial doctor ordered.

[G-Man]

That said this will face a massive uphill battle with the usual suspects as it is at the "gateway" to Old Town. 

[Mr Cook Street]

I almost don't want to see the plans, my imagination might be too optimistic. Could be an amazing facelift for that intersection and the inner harbour.

[Szeven]

What building exactly are we talking about here? This one?

 

https://maps.google....32.73,,0,-21.32

[G-Man]

Yup

[jonny]

Wow.

 

I guess this will be in direct competition with the Northern Junk project? I hope this doesn't cause any delays in the NJ project, which is just so sorely needed.

[Mike K.]

This project will literally offer the views every other project uses in its marketing material

[Johnathon S]

Hi, my name is Johnathon Sipos. I will be involved with this project from start to finish working for Cielo Properties. I will try to be as involved as possible with VV forum activity on the project. I will have renderings coming soon for the proposed building, and look forward to releasing them as quickly as possible!

[G-Man]

Welcome JohnathonS! It is great to have the people involved in the project here to answer questions. 

[Nparker]

Will the James Bay NIMBYs have the opportunity to massacre this proposal or is it outside of their stranglehold? 

[Mike K.]

It's still downtown

[Johnathon S]

Here is one of our preliminary 3-D renderings of the Customs House project!

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[goke]

How much did the building sell for last year?

[gumgum]

Whoa! I wish you luck! We're talking some pretty big changes in a very higher profile area!

[Johnathon S]

Here is another view looking back down Goverment Street, both proposed and previous!

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[Johnathon S]

Here i another 3D rendering, showing both current and proposed. Enjoy!

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[Mr Cook Street]

That would be such a huge improvement for that area! Thanks for sharing the plans. I like the height additions to the old structure as well. Having retail along government and wharf is so critical.

[thundergun]

Thanks for sharing! At first glance, it's a huge improvement and fits in well with the building directly across Government.

Looking forward to seeing what the Wharf and Courtney sides will look like - some retail along there would really liven up the block.