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Morgan Block and Watson & McGregor Buildings
Uses: condo, commercial
Address: 1314-1324 Douglas Street
Municipality: Victoria
Region: Downtown Victoria
Storeys: 4
Condo units: (studio/bachelor, 1BR, 2BR)
Sales status: in planning
A proposal to restore the Morgan Block and Watson & McGregor buildings (built in 1891 and 1909, respective... (view full profile)
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Morgan Block and Watson & McGregor Buildings


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#21 Nparker

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Posted 20 December 2020 - 02:21 PM

Douglas Street has been treated as the red-headed step child for decades. It's nice to see someone show it some love.



#22 aastra

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Posted 20 December 2020 - 03:00 PM

It almost seems too good to be true. Just imagine if its neighbours ever get the same treatment.

 

Johnson-St-Enterance-to-Morgan-Block-Con

 

Morgan-Block-Condos-Victoria-Canada.jpg

 

Courtyard-at-Morgan-Block-Condos-Victori


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#23 Nparker

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Posted 20 December 2020 - 03:08 PM

I hope the set-back, rooftop additions are done well. We haven't seen too many good examples recently.



#24 aastra

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Posted 20 December 2020 - 03:18 PM

I was going to say, even though the new levels are obviously designed to be "deferential", they're sure not bland, bleak, or ugly (or all of the above). There's some there there. New construction can be half-decent to look at without running any risk of outshining the old buildings themselves.


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#25 aastra

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Posted 20 December 2020 - 03:28 PM

But I gotta ask, how could this project be viable but doing something similar with the Fairfield Church property was not viable?



#26 Jackerbie

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Posted 20 December 2020 - 03:41 PM

But I gotta ask, how could this project be viable but doing something similar with the Fairfield Church property was not viable?


Depends how well the insides have been maintained. Fairfield United was in poor condition, so bad that the congregation was using a different building for services. The big issues there were seismic instability and a leaking roof that led to mould in the walls, iirc

#27 Mike K.

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Posted 20 December 2020 - 07:07 PM

This project is also a condominium, the church a rental. It’s possible that the rental market at-present cannot sustain the ROI for that project.

And years of municipal wrangling Unity faced also didn’t help.

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#28 Jackerbie

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 09:01 AM

This project is also a condominium, the church a rental. It’s possible that the rental market at-present cannot sustain the ROI for that project.

And years of municipal wrangling Unity faced also didn’t help.

 

The replacement building for the church is a rental. Was there any talk of squeezing units into the existing church when the renovation conversation was going on? There's not exactly the same opportunity to slap an extra storey on top like there is with flat roofed buildings.



#29 aastra

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 09:30 AM

I was thinking more of gutting the church building and building a new building beside it (adding levels on the side rather than above).



#30 Mike K.

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 09:45 AM

The replacement building for the church is a rental. Was there any talk of squeezing units into the existing church when the renovation conversation was going on? There's not exactly the same opportunity to slap an extra storey on top like there is with flat roofed buildings.

 

Technically the church no longer exists, but I do mean church as in the church project, not the old place of worship  :cop:


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#31 aastra

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 09:54 AM

^No worries, governments around the world have conveniently put the kibosh on places of worship. (worship of anything other than the governments themselves, of course)



#32 aastra

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 09:55 AM

So obviously nobody should have cared one bit about the church as a church.



#33 MarkoJ

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 10:56 AM

Who is the developer?


Marko Juras, REALTOR® & Associate Broker | Gold MLS® 2011-2023 | Fair Realty

www.MarkoJuras.com Looking at Condo Pre-Sales in Victoria? Save Thousands!

 

 


#34 Mike K.

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 10:58 AM

The building owner, plus Condo Group as the representative.


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#35 MarkoJ

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 11:28 AM

Is the building owner acting as the contractor as well?


Marko Juras, REALTOR® & Associate Broker | Gold MLS® 2011-2023 | Fair Realty

www.MarkoJuras.com Looking at Condo Pre-Sales in Victoria? Save Thousands!

 

 


#36 Mike K.

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 11:29 AM

I don't think so. The owner/developer is the family which owns the block, and has for some time.


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#37 m3m

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 03:21 PM

Wish they could have combined it with the burger king lot on the corner. 



#38 Rob Randall

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 03:43 PM

No, that BK building is super old. It'll never be torn down.



#39 aastra

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 04:18 PM

Allow it to fall down or burn down? Sure. But the city would never allow it to be torn down. (Unless maybe the owner wanted to replace it with a surface parking lot.)

 

Seriously though, fix up all of the old buildings on this block of Douglas and it would be tremendous.


Edited by aastra, 21 December 2020 - 04:20 PM.

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#40 zoomer

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Posted 21 December 2020 - 07:44 PM

How did they get this so perfect and in the first attempt (I know.. City Hall has yet to weigh in)?! Is it really this easy? As long as that’s not hardie board on the upper level addition.. we’ve seen that happen before. But seriously, this is brilliant, time to give the keys of the city to the genious behind this. As Old Man Aastra mentioned let them restore Douglas in this style and I’d be.. hardly bored at all.
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