Jump to content

      



























APPROVED
Harris Green Village, tower 1
Uses: rental, commercial
Address: 900-block of Yates Street
Municipality: Victoria
Region: Downtown Victoria
Storeys: 32
Harris Green Village, tower 1 is a proposal for a 32-storey mixed-use purpose-built rental tower with ground f... (view full profile)
Learn more about Harris Green Village, tower 1 on Citified.ca
Photo

[Harris Green] Harris Green Village & Harris Victoria Chrysler/Dodge redevelopment | Multi-phased; mixed-use | Proposed


  • Please log in to reply
1565 replies to this topic

#21 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,155 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 09:50 AM

I remember being disappointed when this residential component was added to the Harris Green Village that something taller wasn't built. The current configuration is far too low density for the neighbourhood.

 

Oddly enough, this property was once a "vision" that the City of Victoria undertook with an architect and quite possibly the developer that eventually built the four-storey building. The "vision" was a 13-storey apartment tower.


Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#22 Nparker

Nparker
  • Member
  • 40,390 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 10:05 AM

I seem to recall something about that "vision". Perhaps that is part of the reason why I found the completed project so underwhelming.



#23 Rob Randall

Rob Randall
  • Member
  • 16,310 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 10:11 AM

Was it viable at the time for Art Kool to put a 13-storey tower on a relatively small footprint of land above a swamp?



#24 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 10:15 AM

There was a grassy slope on that corner for a while. Convenient shortcut when sunny; treacherous hazard when muddy/wet. Add it to the list of lost green space. But wait a sec... if a vacant lot is replaced by a lowrise building then the green space isn't actually lost, right? Isn't that how it works?


Edited by aastra, 30 May 2019 - 10:30 AM.


#25 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,155 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 10:28 AM

Perhaps the next big downtown project should be called Green Space?

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


#26 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 10:31 AM

This work will span two blocks, so how about "Green Space" on one and "Our Space" on the other?



#27 spanky123

spanky123
  • Member
  • 20,971 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 10:37 AM

Perhaps the next big downtown project should be called Green Space?

 

I think that plans may be drawn up that this site may site as is for a while yet. Every single residential developer I have spoken with in Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto feel that we have crossed the supply/demand tipping point with multi-family residential development. Everyone I speak to is starting to feel the pinch and despite what the head of the BOC is saying, bond yields continue to forecast fairly substantial rate cuts indicative of an extended period of slower growth.



#28 Jackerbie

Jackerbie
  • Member
  • 3,776 posts
  • LocationRichmond, BC

Posted 30 May 2019 - 11:20 AM

So what other brand new developments have they done that would compare to this?

 

Depends on who thy hire as the developer. Lougheed Village in Burnaby is being done by Shape,which is the same developer Cadillac Fairview has tapped for redevelopment of Richmond Centre. Here's the Starlight/Shape project in Brunaby, via https://urbanyvr.com...ntal-apartments

 

Lougheed-Village-infill-rental-apartment


Edited by Jackerbie, 30 May 2019 - 11:21 AM.


#29 Rob Randall

Rob Randall
  • Member
  • 16,310 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 11:37 AM

That's my fear, that it will be redeveloped by a bunch of eastern architects who've never set foot in Harris Green and are fresh off their latest generic cut-and-paste tower project.


  • aastra and victorian like this

#30 victorian

victorian
  • Member
  • 47 posts
  • LocationHarris Green

Posted 30 May 2019 - 11:48 AM

Hi. I'm a first-time contributor, long-time follower/reader. I moved to Harris Green because of the Harris Green Village development. As Rob Randall noted above, the Village defines Harris Green, and it's a magnet for the neighbourhood, offering many critical services. As a result, I'm very nervous about redevelopment plans, as there is much more for residents to lose than there is to gain. This isn't a surface parking lot, but an active, successful, and critical development for the neighbourhood. The fact that the Village is owned by non-residents make re-development even riskier.

 

I'm 100% supportive and excited about increasing residential density (i.e., height), but I hope the Village maintains a wide range of commercial services. It seems that the trend is for fewer, larger commercial tenants, like the gym at Yello, the real estate firm at the Legato, or the Save On on Vancouver/Cook (probably because they're the only ones who can afford the leases). This would be a big step backward for the area.

 

Just as importantly, I hope any new development maintains or improves on the Village as a hub for people to spend time in. I love how many people are out and about in the Village every day, year round, with many pedestrians and cyclists, people enjoying the street furniture, the flowers outside of LD and Market, the cafe tables outside Market, and the deliberately infuriating parking to discourage drivers. The City has done a terrible job holding developers to high enough standards (translation: hideous designs, low quality construction materials, lack of fit within neighbourhoods, etc.), and I hope residents keep the pressure on for higher quality developments. I'd rather have re-development stall out than go backwards on the urban design.


  • Listener likes this

#31 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 12:02 PM

 

That's my fear, that it will be redeveloped by a bunch of eastern architects who've never set foot in Harris Green and are fresh off their latest generic cut-and-paste tower project.

 

And height would be the number one concern they'd be hearing from locals. Methinks Victoria needs to be careful not to come full circle back around to Ontario-style slabscrapers.


  • Redd42 likes this

#32 Alice

Alice
  • Member
  • 9 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 02:23 PM

https://www.cheknews...o-close-549461/

So for current residents and all the people to be added through this development, the plan is... just don't get sick?

Thanks for the link. I missed that story.

Edited by Alice, 30 May 2019 - 02:24 PM.


#33 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 02:33 PM

That's my fear, that it will be redeveloped by a bunch of eastern architects who've never set foot in Harris Green and are fresh off their latest generic cut-and-paste tower project.

 

Because the stuff proposed and built around here by our western architects has absolutely knocked your socks off, right?


  • Nparker and victorian like this

#34 jonny

jonny
  • Member
  • 9,211 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 02:48 PM

This is pretty hilarious. 

 

Harris Green Village is super ugly. The parking lots are a travesty. It's a strip mall right smack dab in the middle of Victoria's expanding downtown. 

 

I doubt they demolish all of the existing buildings completely, as they seem to have quite a bit of life left (the Market on Yates is another story...), but I certainly hope the plan is to massively rejig the joint. It's increasingly out of place. 


  • Nparker and sdwright.vic like this

#35 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 03:08 PM

I have to say, I have no love for the existing complex. It's a strip mall and it didn't fit from the very first day. The View Street side is terrible. That's no comment on the businesses themselves or even on the premise of having a shopping centre in this location, but rather on the format. I don't mind the little building on the corner that came later. It's a bit goofy but goofy little buildings will always have their place in the mix.

 

If Victorians love Uptown's square so much then why not do something similar in Harris Green, but with London Drugs as the big tenant instead of Walmart? Put a small-footprint junior highrise building on three of the block's four corners. Lowrise stuff everywhere else. An abundance of small storefronts. Trees. Criss-crossing pathways through the property. All parking underground. After a couple of weeks nobody would ever remember what the strip mall was like.



#36 aastra

aastra
  • Member
  • 20,649 posts

Posted 30 May 2019 - 03:10 PM

 

If Victorians love Uptown's square so much then why not do something similar in Harris Green...

 

I should say, with genuine downtown architecture rather than knockoff stuff.


  • Rob Randall likes this

#37 Jackerbie

Jackerbie
  • Member
  • 3,776 posts
  • LocationRichmond, BC

Posted 30 May 2019 - 03:17 PM

I have to say, I have no love for the existing complex. It's a strip mall and it didn't fit from the very first day. The View Street side is terrible. That's no comment on the businesses themselves or even on the premise of having a shopping centre in this location, but rather on the format. I don't mind the little building on the corner that came later. It's a bit goofy but goofy little buildings will always have their place in the mix.

 

If Victorians love Uptown's square so much then why not do something similar in Harris Green, but with London Drugs as the big tenant instead of Walmart? Put a small-footprint junior highrise building on three of the block's four corners. Lowrise stuff everywhere else. An abundance of small storefronts. Trees. Criss-crossing pathways through the property. All parking underground. After a couple of weeks nobody would ever remember what the strip mall was like.

 

The DCAP does include an urban plaza on this block. Hopefully it's done well!

 

Capture.PNG



#38 victorian

victorian
  • Member
  • 47 posts
  • LocationHarris Green

Posted 31 May 2019 - 07:07 AM

I should say, with genuine downtown architecture rather than knockoff stuff.


What is "genuine downtown architecture"? I'd just be happy to have non-hostile architecture, which is a bar Victoria's been failing to clear in our downtown for a while.

#39 victorian

victorian
  • Member
  • 47 posts
  • LocationHarris Green

Posted 31 May 2019 - 07:19 AM

This is pretty hilarious.

Harris Green Village is super ugly. The parking lots are a travesty. It's a strip mall right smack dab in the middle of Victoria's expanding downtown.

The strip mall aesthetic is no more ugly than anything built by Chard, Jawl or any of the other generic garbage being built. Tall is good, but the new high rises are no more attractive than strip malls. Not to mention that tenants in the new buildings are rarely the same types of services than those in HGV - they're high-end hipster restaurants and gyms instead of clinics, post offices, and pet stores.

But aesthetics aren't the attraction of HG Village. It's the closest thing we have to a public square in the neighborhood. It's more lively and active than Centennial Square and has services that (shockingly) have services people want and use in an accessible and navigable format (except the View St side). That's what we'll lose if the development isn't sensitive to the neighborhood.

Edited by victorian, 31 May 2019 - 07:22 AM.

  • Redd42 likes this

#40 Mike K.

Mike K.
  • Administrator
  • 83,155 posts

Posted 31 May 2019 - 07:38 AM

There’s a cost to architecture. If we want attainable housing, we can’t expect landmarks on every street corner. That’s not only not feasible, but it’s unafforable for the Victoria marketplace. If we as a community start paying $2,000 per square foot for condos, the architecture will keep pace with that level of investment from consumers.

And there is nothing stopping post offices and pet stores from opening. They have the opportunity to lease those spaces, but that’s not in the cards there, or even in affordable class C spaces. If it was, they would be there.
  • spanky123 likes this

Know it all.
Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.


You're not quite at the end of this discussion topic!

Use the page links at the lower-left to go to the next page to read additional posts.
 



2 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users


    Bing (1)