187 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s mentioned in the middle image above.

[Matt R.]

"post pandemic design".  Huh.

[Mike K.]

I guess CBRE is no longer involved with leasing, and Colliers is instead.

[Victoria Watcher]

Are some of those announced companies not coming?

[Nparker]

"post pandemic design" Huh

I got a chuckle out of that one myself.

[Kapten Kapsell]

Merchant House Capital has unveiled plans for the residential component of Victoria Press Building. 160 rentals will be built in a tower on the site of the surface parking lot there. The underground parking will be dedicated to the commercial tenants on the first floor as well as the office tenants from the press building; no parking is planned for the rental units.

Here are a few pics:

[Nparker]

It should probably be taller and thinner, but at least it's a North-South oriented widescraper, so it won't have one wall in blazing sun and another in perpetual shadow.

[Kapten Kapsell]

Between this proposal and the Scott Building redevelopment and expansion, this pocket of Victoria will be getting a nice influx of residents. Eventually, the affordable housing development to the east (across Blanshard) will be getting some significant density too.

[Victoria Watcher]

That looks nice.

[Nparker]

... Eventually, the affordable housing development to the east (across Blanshard) will be getting some significant density too.

Blanshard Court? Has anything actually been proposed for that site?

[aastra]

For that part of town I'd say the design seems much better than I would have expected (assuming the cladding is not 100% bland-tastic panels like we've been seeing on some other newer buildings).

But I gotta say, I really don't want to see Victoria making a return to the same widescraper format that caused the 1970s anti-highrise backlash in the first place. This building would seem to be as wide as View Towers, Princess Patricia, Harbour Towers, etc.

We could say there aren't any other residential buildings in the immediate vicinity that would be impacted by the width, so what's the problem? For the time being I guess there wouldn't be any problems. But how about in the future? It just bugs me when people* want to repeat the same old mistakes.

 

*especially when "people" = the CoV

[aastra]

Put it another way: if it was four stories taller but only half as wide then I'd probably be hocking everything Mike K. owns and contributing the proceeds directly to this project.

[GaryOak]

Keep the same floor area if not more, but put it in 2 towers.

[Barrrister]

No parking at all? Not great for the handicapped then? 

[Mike K.]

Is it mass timber, maybe?

[AllseeingEye]

Nice to see a long overlooked and neglected and very "meh" part of what I'll call "mid to north town" is finally getting some love.

[Citified.ca]

Thank you for the heads-up, Kapten!

 

The 120-stall parkade below this building will be available to the tenants of the Victoria Press Building.

 

12-storey apartment tower with no on-site residential parking proposed behind old Times Colonist HQ

https://victoria.cit...es-colonist-hq/

[grantpalin]

The minimal residential parking currently planned for the Harris Green project is borderline tenable to me, being right downtown, but this proposal with no onsite residential parking at all seems unworkable. While it is on the Douglas corridor and thus has access to all those bus routes, that's only going to go so far. I can't see the nearby side streets being able to absorb that many parked vehicles, if that use is even allowed. People still own cars for numerous reasons.

Edited by grantpalin, 06 March 2023 - 04:56 PM.

[Mike K.]

Methinks that "a" has gone astray, eh?

Thank you!

[Mike K.]

The minimal residential parking currently planned for the Harris Green project is borderline tenable to me, being right downtown, but this proposal with no onsite residential parking at all seems unworkable. While it is on the Douglas corridor and thus has access to all those bus routes, that's only going to go so far. I can't see the nearby side streets being able to absorb that many parked vehicles, if that use is even allowed. People still own cars for numerous reasons.

It’ll be tricky, for sure.

Perhaps one segment they will want to cater to is the UVic and Camosun crowd.