[Downtown Victoria] 937 View/930 Fort condos | 14-floors | Canceled in 2012

Maybe I'm not understanding, but I think that if council upzones something based on an outstanding proposal, the upzoning should only apply to that proposal. Should the proposal be withdrawn, the upzoning should be withdrawn.

I wonder how much negative impact View Towers had on this project. I can't imagine many would want to pay for a $300k unit facing VT and its colourful mosaic of tenants.

Admin note: posts through 4:11 PM Dec 17th moved from this thread.
 

^ You mean the proposal that would have made the wall formed by View Towers even wider?    Same proposal where the Bottle Depot used to be would have been fine.  Jamming another 15 story building right up against View Towers was a bad idea in my opinion.
 
I think you'll need a better example of community obtuseness than that one.

The tower along View was not up against View Towers there was an alley in between the two buildings and it was a very cool looking building which was also a plus and it was shorter than View Towers so it would have had a height differential as well.
 
Are you saying that the fact that View Towers exists means you can't build another building over 10 storeys on either vacant adjoining lot?

^ Yes.  I think lining tall buildings up next to each other with only minimal spacing is bad urban form.  Fine in 100 years when our population density has tripled. 

Edited by jklymak, 17 December 2013 - 11:48 AM.

^ You mean the proposal that would have made the wall formed by View Towers even wider?    Same proposal where the Bottle Depot used to be would have been fine.  Jamming another 15 story building right up against View Towers was a bad idea in my opinion.
 
I think you'll need a better example of community obtuseness than that one.

 
I'm not sure if I misunderstood, but how else do you build something along the same street and have it not create a wall, whatever the definition of wall may be in this context?
 
Did Victoria really dodge a bullet here? Imagine if this bad idea had come to fruition. Would Fort Street have gone down the gutter and the "wall" of towers along View Street would have been forever changed for the worse?
 

 

^ Yes.  I think lining tall buildings up next to each other with only minimal spacing is bad urban form.  Fine in 100 years when our population density has tripled.

This was just too good for 21st century Victoria?

No, it was too dense for 21st century Victoria.  I don't object to the design: as I already said, this would have been great on the corner of Fort/View and Vancouver.  

As for what you can build at this site?  Four or five storey infill would be appropriate in my opinion.  

^ Two relatively remote towers in close proximity to one another can and do work well together. Promontory/Bayview 1, Orchard House / Roberts House, the two dark brick towers by the arena and the two beautiful pink and green buildings on Yates/View come to mind.  

The death of that Lunds parking lot site was such a tragedy for the area.  It was a fantastic design,  it would have hidden view towers from the west yet I don't think at all that it was too close, there was quite a wide gap between the two buildings.  It was also one of the only city-demanded mid-block walkways that made sense as it linked up to the stairs to London drugs and as a direct path to the liquor store.   

I'd say the worst thing about all the retail on fort are the homeless people in nearly every doorway after 5.  I live right in the area and that whole stretch is just something you walk through to get downtown, rather than a destination.  The buildings have a sort of quaint charm if you like that faux-tudor stuff but like said, a lot of them are clearly on their last legs.  I'd love to see them all replaced with 5-6 story urban buildings at a real proper density (4:1 or higher)  Keep the dense number of small storefronts but loose the silly cheap fake heritage stuff and add some residential and office above. 

I think the tower would have provided a good jump-start to the area.  I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing more for-lease signs in storefronts and more FOR SALE signs on buildings along that chunk of fort in the future.  Gotta preserve the View tower green space and the big surface parking lots!

^ I agree that most of the properties on Fort from Quadra to Cook (and View and Yates) are ripe for redevelopment.  

The Lund’s parking lot proposal was pretty damn good. Harris Green needs about a dozen buildings like that.