170 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

A major addition to the office scene is the Merchant House Capital makeover of the Times Colonist building on Douglas Street, which is being transformed into 120,000 square feet of office space and about 10,000 square feet of retail, including a brewpub, as the Victoria Press Building. The Times Colonist has taken space in the complex and a private college, Sprott Shaw, has also leased space, said Nathaniel Simpson, leasing agent with CBRE Victoria.


https://www.timescol...land-1.23888751

that’s just the two existing office tenants. nothing new?

[Kapten Kapsell]

Two facets of this development are going to CotW on Thursday Feb 27:

• An application to designate the facade of the Times Colonist building (from 1971) as 'heritage'
• An application for a 10-year tax break to seismically retrofit the existing structure

[Bernard]

The building is close to 50 years old and there is a shortage of buildings from the post war era of this style that have been protected.  Not to protect this building is a very similar argument that was used in the 80s and 90s not to protect art deco buildings.    A lot of buildings that have been heritage designated are ones that are not of a high architectural value but simple managed to survive.   Most of our best buildings from 100 to 140 years ago have been torn down

[G-Man]

I agree. I think that it should be protected.

[Kapten Kapsell]

An updated resining application has been filed as a distillery is interested in taking some of the space here: https://tender.victo...210103022189135

[Mike K.]

I'm hearing that the leasing program is going very well.

[Brantastic]

The Times Colonist is apparently relocating to Vic West September 1 in anticipation of the remodeling of the building. Is this going to council sometime soon or something?

https://www.timescol...west-1.24186355

 

[Mike K.]

This project was approved some time ago and has been in the lease-up phase. Leasing is going well.

[Victoria Watcher]

it's interesting in the article how the tc says their office has been closed to the public since march.  i guess there is not much need for human contact at the office anymore.  nobody goes in to pay for their subscription.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 August 2020 - 09:26 AM.

[Kapten Kapsell]

it's interesting in the article how the tc says their office has been closed to the public since march.  i guess there is not much need for human contact at the office anymore.  nobody goes in to pay for their subscription.

This is likely due to Covid.

[Victoria Watcher]

it is.  but what i'm saying is that for such a public building before - now newspapers can exist with no public visits.

 

nobody is coming in to pick up "box reply" envelopes etc.  no carriers are coming in to pay their bills.  nobody is coming in to pay for their classified ads or subscriptions or to drop off their letter to the editor.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 August 2020 - 09:36 AM.

[Brantastic]

This project was approved some time ago and has been in the lease-up phase. Leasing is going well.

Ahh, I was just going off of the word "Proposed" in the thread title.

[Mike K.]

Oh, that's interesting. Now I'm wondering if it actually secured municipal approvals, or if that's still underway. I'll have to reach out to MC.

[Brantastic]

I don't think it's been approved. The application is still listed as "active" on the development tracker. There were actually updated plans submitted at the end of July. What ever happened to the 9-storey residential building at the back? Did I miss something?

[Mike K.]

Right! Ok, I was going to say that I don't know how I missed the approvals after thinking about this one for a moment.

[Kapten Kapsell]

I think the active application is for the distillery- not for the renovation?

 

Wouldn't they just need a BP- not a DP- for the office renovations?

[Jackerbie]

I think the active application is for the distillery- not for the renovation?

 

Wouldn't they just need a BP- not a DP- for the office renovations?

 

There's a rezoning application to add brewing/distilling/liquor sales/etc to the existing zone, and there's a development variance permit application to reduce the parking requirement. There is no active DP.

 

A BP is required for the interior works, and a DP may or may not be required for exterior works depending on how Victoria has defined their DP areas (this varies from municipality to municipality).

 

I think that the application for heritage designation and the associated application for heritage restoration funding/tax incentive were approved?

[Mike K.]

I can confirm the renovation for the office building is approved.

[Victoria Watcher]

glacier media says print ad revenue was down 49% in their 2nd quarter.

[Victoria Watcher]

farmer has fenced off the site. Looks like work is beginning.