Victoria Construction - #7

[Mike K.]

A before-and-after rendering of the upcoming two building 1515 Douglas project across from City Hall on Douglas Street between Cormorant and Pandora.

[Metro-One]

Thanks for all the Victoria up dates again guys. I love the scale Victoria is building at. It matches the cities character well and continues to make sure it doesn't become just a mini Vancouver.

[aastra]

I wonder, if it's possible for an older city to eventually become a mini version of a younger city, does that mean Vancouver is just a maxi-Victoria?

[TriWolf]

This is an amazing amount of high-rise and mid-rise for such a small city! :O

[troy87]

Wow!There have been a lot of changes since I left Victoria 5 years ago.

[craneSpotter]

I don't mind seeing this go in:

Contentious $22M Victoria Harbour marina ready to go

July 25, 2014 TC

Dredging 18,000 cubic metres of muck and clay from Victoria Harbour’s seabed is slated to start in September, kicking off construction of the long-planned and contentious $22-million luxury marina.

Once the dredging is done — that will likely take about two weeks — pilings will be driven into the seabed, Anthony Utley, Victoria International Marina sales manager, said Friday.

The piling work will last about a month, he said.

Pilings will support two commercial buildings in front of Songhees and other marina infrastructure.

“It’s going to be a very esthetically pleasing facility,” Utley said. “The buildings are going to be architecturally interesting.”

The two commercial buildings will likely take about six months to construct, with the entire 29-slip marina finished in 15 months, he said. It is designed for yachts about 65 to 150 feet long.

[craneSpotter]

I like this concept for Ship point from the City of Victoria's Harbour Vitality plan. Especially the improved Seaplane terminal and improved public space where current parking lot is:



current state:



The report can be found here: http://prod-admin1.glacier.atex.cniw...talityplan.pdf

It also includes concepts for the Lower Wharf street area and Belleville ferry terminal.

[Metro-One]

That looks like a big improvement.

For the landscaping I hope they use a mix of native vegetation (Garry Oaks and Arbutus trees) along with some exotics (maybe windmill palm) instead of using the standard boring coniferous trees, eastern maples, and juniper shrubs.

[craneSpotter]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

That looks like a big improvement.

For the landscaping I hope they use a mix of native vegetation (Garry Oaks and Arbutus trees) along with some exotics (maybe windmill palm) instead of using the standard boring coniferous trees, eastern maples, and juniper shrubs.

Yes it would/will be. I agree re: vegetation. I'm sure they'll no doubt add maples... not sure if they would use Arbutus...that would be a nice touch but they require more maintenance (shed bark and leaves all year long). I most definitely would like to see some windmill palms, perfect location for them too. Locally Langford city has gone to town planting palms for streetscaping.

The first piece of the improvements was just announced .. the new floating Seaplane terminal is going ahead The will free up the area immediately adjacent to the harbour/terminal to also create a new public plaza.

$4-million float-plane terminal going to sea

TC - July 30, 2014 (http://www.timescolonist.com/busines...-sea-1.1269348)

The float-plane terminal in Victoria’s Inner Harbour will move from land to sea and a new public plaza will replace the existing terminal site as part of the signing of a new long-term lease between the City of Victoria and float-plane operators.

Victoria Float Plane Terminal Ltd., a group that includes Harbour Air and Kenmore Air, has agreed to a 20-year lease with the City of Victoria that will see the terminal move from city land to the city’s water lots in front of 950 and 1000 Wharf St., adjacent to Ship Point and the lower Wharf Street parking lots.

It also means float-plane operators can get to work on the long-planned $4-million floating terminal building.

“This is exciting, exciting for us and for Victoria,” said Randy Wright, senior vice-president at Harbour Air.

“It allows us to proceed with a floating terminal,” he said. “We required the confirmation of a long-term lease before we committed to the project.”

The new terminal building will be a two-storey, 5,200-square-feet structure that should take about 18 months to be built off-site and then floated into place.

Wright said as soon as the ink was dry on the lease agreement, he started engaging consultants and “started spending money” on the project, which includes a public plaza where the existing terminal buildings stand.

[Mike K.]

Victoria's tallest, the 21-storey Promontory, in Vic West as seen from Mt. Tolmie in Saanich.


http://vibrantvictoria.ca/forum/inde...50#entry224006

[Mike K.]

With so many new buildings built over the last 10 years that don't poke through the existing mass of buildings, you'd be hard-pressed to even notice that anything has changed on Victoria's skyline. That table-top is getting pretty extreme, isn't it?





http://vibrantvictoria.ca/forum/inde...otos/?p=224007

[Phil McAvity]

The Promontory can be prominent from some angles but some of that is simply because it's on a hill. You could have used your zoom lens to make it stand out. We will be stuck with a tabletop skyline as long as people cling to the fantasy that Victoria is a small town.

[Mike K.]

Thank God for it being on a bit of a rise. It sticks out just a little more because of that and despite it's prominence nobody seems to mind and the sky still hasn't fallen. Imagine that.

[Phil McAvity]

Except scientists have proven it takes a 30 story building in Victoria for the universe to implode.

[Mike K.]

That might just do it.

[craneSpotter]

Good news

Victoria to help propel B.C. economy: report

T-C August 6, 2014 - http://www.timescolonist.com/busines...port-1.1301178

A reborn tourism industry, rapidly growing high-tech sector and expansion of the shipbuilding industry are expected to have the Victoria economy humming over the next few years — and helping to propel the province, says the Conference Board of Canada.

In a report released Wednesday, the Conference Board predicted the provincial economy will grow at an average of rate of 2.7 per cent over the next three years and Greater Victoria’s economy will play a significant role in that growth.

The board’s fiscal snapshot of B.C. — titled Back on Solid Ground — said the province is in good financial shape with growth expected to be 2.3 per cent this year and 2.9 per cent in 2015, driven by natural resources.

While forestry, which is seeing resurgent demand in the U.S. and China, is given a lot of credit for growth in the report, the board noted shipbuilding is about to get its due.

A lot is expected from shipbuilding in Victoria.

“We may see some metal cut on new ships in the fall of next year, which will bring jobs,” said Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce chief executive Bruce Carter.

[Mike K.]

Here's an early draft of Alpha Project Developments' proposed 17-storey tower across from London Drugs on Yates (on the Phillip Nyren property).

Photos were taken by Dylan Leblanc.




http://vibrantvictoria.ca/forum/inde...osed/?p=225306

[Dylan Leblanc]

Era today

[LeftCoaster]

Yuck. That thing needs some cladding. Fast.

[Mike K.]

Not to worry, crews are now painting the tower.





















Source: http://vibrantvictoria.ca/forum/inde...43#entry226799