27837 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

BC Housing:

 

 

We are writing to share that the temporary housing with supports at 940 Caledonia Avenue (Caledonia Place) will permanently close March 31, 2026. The City of Victoria has allowed the units to remain in place over the coming winter. This will help ensure we have enough time to offer current residents other housing. Thank you for being a good neighbour to all who have lived at Caledonia Place over the past several years. What’s next? BC Housing and Our Place Society will begin working with Caledonia Place residents immediately to find other housing that meets their individual needs. Closure and Decommissioning Once Caledonia Place is vacant, BC Housing will dismantle and remove all structures from the site. We will share updates with neighbours about any potential traffic disruptions during this time. The City of Victoria owns this land and will determine next steps for the site.

[Victoria Watcher]

February, 2024:

 

 

 

 

 

Days later, BC Housing purchased the units but did not release plans of how they would be used in future.

 

On Friday, the province announced it would be reopening the units at their previous location with funding from the Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing (HEARTH) program. Some $400,000 was spent in purchasing the structures and another $1.4 million will be provided through the HEARTH program to operate the site.

 

The 30 units will be open until September 2025, and will be operated by Our Place Society, which had operated the complex before it closed. The province estimates it will take about two weeks before people can start to move in.

 

[...]

 

However, Victoria Coun. Stephen Hammond says this decision to reopen Tiny Town is an act of betrayal for the neighbourhood.

“BC Housing and the Minster of Housing has deceived the people around here,” Hammond said.

 

The councillor says he’s heard a number of stories from nearby residents of disruptions, break-ins, and broken property since Tiny Town began operating in 2021. While Hammond says supportive housing projects provide a need, the pleas from neighbours for better security and safety have gone unheard.

 

 

 

https://cheknews.ca/...avenue-1192265/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 September 2025 - 01:45 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Mike K.]

A non-profit has purchased the Skyeview building on Island Highway in View Royal that was built as a condo, but later put on the market as a whole building. I know the deal has closed but I don’t know the details.

https://victoria.cit...ondos/skyeview/

[Sparky]

^ How does this work for people that have invested with a promise to purchase a condo?

 

Do they just tell the poor smuck that has been waiting for his new home to be built....to take a hike....or do they write him a cheque?

[Victoria Watcher]

^ How does this work for people that have invested with a promise to purchase a condo?

 

Do they just tell the poor smuck that has been waiting for his new home to be built....to take a hike....or do they write him a cheque?

 

Well, any deposit is held in trust, and returned.

[Sparky]

^ Ya I don’t like that. The guy thinks he has bought a home to live in… waits for 2 years while the real estate market increases…then the developer reneges on the deal and gives him his own money back?

[Victoria Watcher]

^ Ya I don’t like that. The guy thinks he has bought a home to live in… waits for 2 years while the real estate market increases…then the developer reneges on the deal and gives him his own money back?

 

I'm not sure of a better system.  If you "force" him to build it, who takes the loss?  How can the loss be financed?

 

I mean, the vast majority of projects go ahead mostly as planned.   The odd project stalls, but you get all your money back.  Conversely, many projects move forward and the early investor makes a windfall on the new value at completion, compared to what he paid for it. 

 

Also, many BUYERS walk away, and the developer has to take legal steps, if he chooses.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 September 2025 - 06:50 AM.

[dasmo]

Buyer beware as they say. It’s a simple ask, what happens to my deposit if it all falls through? If you don’t like the answer, don’t put your money down.

[Mike K.]

The money gets returned to you, as it is held in escrow until project completion, so you're protected in that regard.

[dasmo]

The money gets returned to you, as it is held in escrow until project completion, so you're protected in that regard.

One could ask for interest at the point of "investment." If you don't ask you don't receive. in the past few decades most pre purchase investments have paid off for the buyer so no one cared about this. Non issue as long as no falsehoods were presented to investors. 

[Victoria Watcher]

You could also ask for an ice cream sundae every day until closing date.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 September 2025 - 09:07 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://www.timescol...treets-11274669


This is all fine, what he says. I bet 80% of the readers agree.

But I, for one, suspect that there will be no increase in the amount of people arrested or involuntarily detained. Nobody wants to do that. So nothing will change.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 October 2025 - 05:13 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

During the pandemic, a small group led by then-mayor Lisa Helps did just that. Around one table sat housing providers, Island Health, B.C. Housing, police, nonprofits and city staff. Meeting weekly, we found housing and supports for nearly 700 people. What seemed impossible became reality because we set aside politics and focused on solutions. Where there is a will, there is a way.


https://www.timescol...treets-11274669







Sure. And then this week we learned we have 100 more homeless than last year, and the highest count ever.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 October 2025 - 04:52 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria city council reaffirmed on Thursday its commitment to community policing in the downtown core.

 

Council voted unanimously to back the motion, brought by councillors Jeremy Caradonna, Dave Thompson and Matt Dell.

 

Caradonna said it was a chance to affirm council’s focus on downtown safety in alignment with its Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan.

 

The plan, introduced earlier this year, is a 99-point blueprint to address street disorder and improve the perception of safety in the city. Its eight categories include everything from housing and health care to aesthetic changes to the downtown and increased bylaw and policing presence and enforcement.

 

Thompson said while there is nothing new in Thursday’s motion, it’s useful for new Victoria Police Chief Fiona Wilson “to get an understanding of what council has said in the past.”

 

He emphasized, however, that council has no authority over police decisions. “It’s important to bust the myth that council tells the police what to enforce and what not to enforce.”

 

Though all of council voted in favour of the motion, three councillors suggested it meant very little.

 

Coun. Stephen Hammond proposed an amendment to add that another of council’s priorities was “motherhood and apple pie.”

 

Mayor Marianne Alto ruled that amendment out of order.

 

Coun. Chris Coleman said the greater affirmation of council’s priorities “may come when the police come back to us with a request for support, budgetary support for more police officers.”

 

Coun. Marg Gardiner dismissed the motion as posturing. “There’s nothing against this motion except that it’s just for show, and I certainly hope we do see actual support for the police going forward,” she said.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...upport-11296573

 

 

 

I've got an idea, why don't we just make one congregate shelter that isn't a disaster, and one that people do feel safe and secure in?  Then once you get that right, apply it to the next shelter.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 October 2025 - 05:07 AM.

[Mike K.]

There has been a marked decrease in police press releases.

That must mean crime is under control, and the police budget can be cut?

[Victoria Watcher]

Crowdfund targets $100,000 to create 10 Victoria beds for folks in recovery

Fundraiser shifts to support renovations at Dowler Place site


https://www.vicnews....ecovery-8294426

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 08 October 2025 - 01:31 PM.

[Mike K.]

What on earth transpired there? This whole thing was such a saga, promoted as crucial, then abandoned?

[Victoria Watcher]

That business owner is misguided.

[Victoria Watcher]

Friends shared hugs and shock in Campbell River’s downtown on Thanksgiving Monday, after the horrific death of a young woman happened in front of their eyes a day earlier.

 

“I just can’t believe it happened.  I mean she had a smile that would light up the room up, and Victoria was a lovely girl,” said David Michelanko, a friend of the victim.

 

“It was really traumatizing because she was a good friend of mine,” said Campbell River’s Shaunte Waterhouse.

 

Friends identified the victim as 30-year-old Victoria Nesbitt, who lived with a severe hearing impairment and communicated by writing on cardboard as she live unhoused on these streets. 

 

“She was really, really kind,” said Waterhouse.

 

According to Waterhouse, the fatal stabbing happened in the parking lot of the overdose prevention site in the 1300-block of Dogwood Street.

 

She said the unhoused gather there at night to feel safe, because there are so many cameras on the building.

 

https://cheknews.ca/...murder-1283447/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 October 2025 - 10:47 PM.