[Downtown Victoria] Cityzen Residences (613 Herald Street) | Condos; commercial | 6-storeys | Excavation

To me this looks like a cheap, slapped together love child of that hideous pink and white building to the left and the rather elegant, but boring, 601 Herald to the right.

Then it is the perfect transition building! In all honesty though, I can't see why anyone wants to expend a lot of time or energy even thinking about this little infill project. Our collective forces should be concentrated on ensuring something spectacular gets built at the Northern Junk site and that the North Park NIMBYs don't destroy the St. Andrew's School proposal.

From the TC comments:

 

The front setback needs preserving as is should not join visually as a mass with 601 Herald.

Good grief, what nonsense! We're concerned about "preserving" the incongruous setback of the postwar apartment block? I'm impressed that somebody dared to counter with the truth:

 

You do realize the setback of historic buildings in Chinatown present a more-or-less unbroken facade.

It blows my mind, how people want to celebrate setbacks as some sort of hallmark of sensitive development even in districts where setbacks make no sense.

...It blows my mind, how people want to celebrate setbacks as some sort of hallmark of sensitive development even in districts where setbacks make no sense.

There is something strangely familiar about that second quote above 

Don't care much about the setbacks either way on this one.  It's just ugly.  I don't want to look at it on my walk to UP every morning.

And the ground floor is almost 1/2 garage door, with the tiniest most useless commercial spaces to either side.

I don't really care about the inside of the building, but based on the plans, it's clear the building is going to be inhabited entirely by people addicted to World of Warcraft.

I also don't like the design. It's bland. No distinction at all. But the minimal setback is one thing that they got right.

I admit that I don't get the warcraft reference at all, so I'll just smile politely.

I also don't like the design. It's bland. No distinction at all. But the minimal setback is one thing that they got right.

 

I admit that I don't get the warcraft reference at all, so I'll just smile politely.

Basically people who are fine living in extremely small residences because they're spending most of their awake hours on their computers playing online games...

This "beauty" got approved pretty much just across the street from Kunju. I don't see the proposed design for the latter being much worse.

Perhaps adding some brick along one facade makes the other flaws of this one disappear.

Keep in mind if nothing gets approved for this lot, this is what we'll have to look at for years to come:

Wow so the bar is as long as it's better than what's currently there and/or better than other terrible buildings on the same street, it should be approved?

You should try that at the Northern Junk meeting.

It blows my mind, how people want to celebrate setbacks as some sort of hallmark of sensitive development even in districts where setbacks make no sense.

People who don't know anything about architecture just latch on to the first term they can think of and run with it.

I don't really want to see it shelved again, since it is just an empty lot currently. Hopefully as the approval process meanders along, there are some improvements made to the exterior. It really shouldn't take much to go from 'bad' to 'not bad'. I'd accept 'not bad' in exchance for some density on an empty lot that contributes nothing to the city.

Yeah I don't think it needs a huge overhaul, but it would be nice for them to try a bit more on this one.  And it would be really nice if the retail spot on the bottom was large enough to have something worthwhile in there.  Just move the car entry to one side.

Not every building can be a winner. If this project is earmarked for the entry market, concessions have to come from somewhere.

And there's demand for small retail spaces. They are affordable and make economic sense for small retailers starting up or moving from old, dilapidated spaces into their first brand new digs.

I don't like the idea that the big buildings must hit it out of the park while little buildings get a free pass.The problem is that D'Ambrosio long ago submitted a pretty nice design (actually, a few of them) and now we are spoiled.  It's no fault of the developer but to us, it feels like bait and switch. Franc has a track record of cranking out great little jewels and I wish he was still involved. 

At the time, Franc told me he'd love to take a crack at the Chung Wah mansions and eliminate that setback. That would take care of the first floor of Kunju but the rest will still be visible as long as Chung Wah remains. 

We have to keep in mind though that Frank's design is nearing 10 years old. Over that time construction costs have risen, there's more market uncertainty regarding condos over rentals, and to keep the per-square-foot costs down some concessions have to be made. This building can easily hit it out of the park design-wise but is there a market for expensive condos fronting onto warehouses and empty lots?

Wow so the bar is as long as it's better than what's currently there and/or better than other terrible buildings on the same street, it should be approved?...

My point being the developer could point to a project directly across the street and say their proposal fits the character of the neighbourhood. 

Elegant, eye-catching design does not have to cost more.

29 September 2015

Charlotte Wain,
City Planning Office

Re. 613 Herald

Dear Ms Wain,

The DRA Land Use Committee along with representative owners from 601 Herald met again on Wednesday, 23 September, with developer and architect of Kunju, 613 Herald.  We reviewed together the latest evolution of their project, and were well pleased with the way it is progressing.

The courtyards, green spaces, and much improved massing are well thought out and will benefit the residents of Kunju, of 601 Herald, all those neighbours who overlook them. The detailing of the façade and renderings of the elevations, which we had not seen before, were reassuring. All of the positive improvements we liked in our letter of 7 September remain intact.

DRA LUC committee would like to stress to the City that we appreciate the way the developer and architect collaborated with us, and believe that this process has shown how residents and builders can work together to improve a project.

In short, we think this building, if approved, will provide superior residential units within the Chinatown/ Old Town district. We encourage the City to look on it favorably.

Robert Florida for DRA LUC

This might be it but I can't find anything official.  I can live with this one.

Here's the latest on that project, together with a rendering of the new design: http://victoria.citi...nju-residences/