365 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

So the house I grew up in is in the very bottom right, the furthest one into the corner.

 

Those greenhouses were mostly there as I grew up.  The path running up the right side of them was our route to K-mart, you can see it ends then there is a crosswalk across Shelbourne.

 

Those houses likely went up in the late 60's early 70's when the building boom was on. 

If you go back there now there are 100 foot trees every where.

[Kach]

So, I would assume this should get approved without much issue.  It is in line with the Shelbourne Valley Action Plan, and being a long time resident of Gordon Head myself, I personally support this.

 

Any thoughts on what may be the possible concerns with this development?

[Nparker]

...Any thoughts on what may be the possible concerns with this development?

The usual: too tall, too dense, and no one is thinking about the children. I can hear the NIMBYs now: "I support development, but I don't think this is the right place for it".

[amor de cosmos]

i thought there might have been more on the shelbourne st side rather than the mckenzie side, sort of like at mayfair the focus is douglas st rather than finlayson. maybe it was because of the gas station on the corner, which isn't part of this project, or the location of the parkade, or the corner of mckenzie & cedar hill already has the library, fairways & the school so they want to build on what's already there. *finds rendering*

it looks like that's what they're thinking, this is how it will look from the library. so cedar hill & mckenzie will be getting the major changes rather than shelbourne.



btw pdfs of this project are on this page
http://www.saanich.c...ordon-head.html

Edited by amor de cosmos, 23 December 2017 - 10:02 AM.

[amor de cosmos]

I don't see anything on Saanich's website but I wouldn't be surprised if this development of University Heights sets off more improvements to Cedar Hill Rd around there. It got proper bike lanes etc north of there but south of that intersection I can see getting the complete streets treatment, maybe to Cedar Hill X Rd, like they did on Tattersall, Tillicum & Cook St in recent years

[VicHockeyFan]

Oh ya the street in front of the school is pretty weak.

[grantpalin]

Took another look at the linked page. It makes mention of 360 residences, but does not mention whether they would be condos or apartments. I think apartments would be really good at that location to add some rental stock to Gordon Head. That said, they might then become heavily occupied by university students.

[Mike K.]

It’ll be rentals, most likely, but with this project still several years out I’m sure they’d rather leave the option for either open.

My sense is the two Shelbourne Street buildings are disposable and the gas station does create an impediment.

Now that being said, from a residential perspective it would be far more desirable to leave along Cedar Hill than at Shelbourne AND McKenzie.

[Bingo]

Save the movie theatre, or else.  

[Nparker]

Save the movie theatre, or else.  

I don't see how all of UH can be rebuilt (with the exception of Home Depot) and possibly keep the theatres open. However, once everything is complete, new theatres would be a great tenant in the revamped development.

[grantpalin]

Ya, I'm no engineer but I don't know how feasible to demo the existing mall and build new structures atop the current theaters. If not, then it would be great to have an equivalent designed into the new complex. Losing those theaters for good would be a loss for the neighbourhood.

[Bingo]

Why don't they leave the existing buildings and put the new residential east of them on the Shelbourne Street side, with more underground parking than there is now?

[Nparker]

Why don't they leave the existing buildings and put the new residential east of them on the Shelbourne Street side, with more underground parking than there is now?

There's nothing about the existing buildings worth retaining. You may just have to accept that the theatres will disappear - at least temporarily - during the makeover.

[G-Man]

I really hope we see new theatres built here. It would be great for the neighbourhood. 

[Nparker]

I really hope we see new theatres built here. It would be great for the neighbourhood. 

And if not here, the (soon-to-be) former Sears space at Hillside could be redeveloped into a multiplex.

[van-island]

If this goes ahead as proposed, I will be flabbergasted. Council spent a lot of political capital on implementing bike lanes on Shelbourne, ostensibly to move toward the Shelbourne Valley Action Plan vision of making Shelbourne a "people place" instead of a traffic sewer. If they let this proposal go ahead as-is, that political capital will be wasted, at least in this section of the street.

 

Like Uptown, this proposal abandons its surrounding streets in favour of a private, internal street, which will suck commercial activity away from Shelbourne into the interior of the development (as the developer and their tenants prefer). With the focus on the internal street, this will likely leave the units on Shelbourne with reduced foot traffic and marginal tenants as a result... the upshot of which will be that no one will care if this section of Shelbourne remains a traffic sewer.

 

If Saanich is serious about making Shelbourne a community hub with a priority on non-vehicle users, then a UH redevelopment needs to enrich its surround streets, not abandon them.

[sdwright.vic]

I really hope we see new theatres built here. It would be great for the neighbourhood.

We are really lacking in movie theatres in the CRD.

[Citified.ca]

An artist's rendering of the planned redevelopment of University Heights Shopping Centre in Saanich. Depicted in the rendering is the six-storey 'building B' at right and the nine-storey 'building A' at left. Both will incorporate a mix of uses that include retail and commercial spaces with residences above.

 

University Heights redevelopment plans to go before Saanich design panel (with renderings)

http://victoria.citi...h-design-panel/

 

[RFS]

LOVE it.  Total homerun

[RFS]

This rendering appears to show an articulated bus.  Funny.

 

Also, a movie theatre does not appear under envisioned tenants.  Guess Landmark is out.

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