Victoria Construction - #7

[vicdevelopments]

Thanks for sharing the renderings. All three look great. Downtown is changing so fast. It’s awesome.

[Phil McAvity]

Those newspaper clips showing the housing shortage (although I think calling it a "crisis" is hyperbole) just shows how useless government is at solving problems since it took ~6 decades for local leaders to figure out that permitting developers to largely have their way floods the market with housing which not only stimulates the local economy by creating employment but also solves the housing problem which largely explains Victoria's microscopic unemployment rate

Originally Posted by aastra

The 900-block Pandora project:

That's crazy that Victoria's original Mickey D's underwent a thorough rebuild (probably cost 6 digits) recently only to see yet another residential mid-rise proposed for their lot. The residents will have a front row seat to the squalor that the opioid epidemic has created too. Lucky them. It's great to see setbacks on the building too

[aastra]

Pretty sure the McDonald's would still be there on the corner. Too bad they didn't update it to a more urban format (you know, more like the very first incarnation... it's goofy how each successive version of that McDonald's has become more suburban in style, not less).

[aastra]

Also pretty sure that the Pandora McDonald's was #2 in Victoria. Shelbourne was first, I think.

Edit:

Grand opening of Shelbourne McDonald's around the end of May, 1969

Fast-forward to December, 1970, and "what Victoria needs is a good 5 cent cup of coffee" at either the Shelbourne or Pandora McDonald's (or get a burger and coffee for 30 cents)

The second location seemed to open shortly after the first, since both locations are mentioned in this article about drive-ins in January, 1970.

I assume the Town & Country location would have been #3 (and Colwood #4):

...McDonald's had two (drive-ins), one on Cedar Hill Cross Road and another on Pandora and was planning a third on another location in the area.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by aastra

Also pretty sure that the Pandora McDonald's was #2 in Victoria. Shelbourne was first, I think.
Grand opening of Shelbourne McDonald's around the end of May, 1969

Wow that old depiction of Mickey D clown surely reminded me of Pennywise from IT. Scary stuff.

[aastra]

...reminded me of Pennywise from IT. Scary stuff.

Scary characters are not unusual in IT departments.

[aastra]

Although you probably shouldn't have used Penny's full name on a public message board. Where I work it's Neil from accounting who's really scary, but I sure wouldn't mention it online. That dude is scary.

[aastra]

Cook Street village project by Kapten Kapsell over at vibrantvictoria.ca:



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Ironworks by Marko J.



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Yates on Yates/Vivid by dkuitu:

[skylinegazer]

strange the way that ironworks photo makes it look taller than it really is

[city guy]

curious how they're going to deal with overlook/proximity of the 2 towers facing each other on the Yates on Yates

[vicdevelopments]

The tapestry building is so ugly. So much concrete and such small windows. Especially for such a prime location. It’s really sad.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by skylinegazer

strange the way that ironworks photo makes it look taller than it really is

Probably because there's 8 levels of scaffolding

[aastra]

Hudson Place One by Gary Hoyer at flickr.com



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A pic from 989 Johnson looking back the other way (pic from https://www.realtor.ca):



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And another pic from 989 Johnson (pic from https://www.realtor.ca):



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And for no particular reason except that I liked it, a pic from 613 Herald (pic from https://www.realtor.ca):

[skylinegazer]

very nice and it will look twice as nice with it's decorative roof line 8-)

[aastra]

Here's another pic by dkuitu at vibrantvictoria.ca from late October:

[Phil McAvity]

I still wish that office building were 15 stories like the old Gateway Green proposal instead of 13, it really would have made a difference

[vicdevelopments]

I totally agree. It’s not tall enough.

[Vin]

I think for that area, it's tall enough, although I don't mind seeing 20 to 40 storey towers, including office buildings and hotels, north of the Hudson building.

That office building would contrast really badly with the heritage city hall if it were to be built too tall.

[aastra]

Methinks either the Rotherham site or the Gateway Green site would be suitable for an office building with a floor count in the teens. The new "Douglas House" building would block out the Rotherham site from the west and the Gateway Green site from the southwest, so no worries about the impact on the skyline as seen by most tourists.

Daily Colonist
September 4, 1974

Project clears last hurdle

An $8 million residential-shopping-motel development proposal for the periphery of Victoria's downtown core cleared a final hurdle Tuesday.

The project, consisting of 118 condominium apartments, 108 motel unites and 85,000 square feet of commercial space, will be built on the west side of Blanshard between Pandora and Cormorant.

It will not exceed the permissible height of 140 feet.

The major part of the planned development was already authorized by city council last year. A building permit was issued at that time to Speed Development Ltd...

That firm has, meanwhile, sold its interest to Rotherham Holdings... which changed some of the plans.

Daily Colonist
June 12, 1980

"Hole in ground about to sprout"

Construction is about to begin on a $2.5 million office-retail complex on the vacant site behind the row of shops opposite Victoria city hall.

Rotherham Estates, believed to be operating with West German money, has taken out a building permit for the first stage of what is eventually to be a $10 million or $12 million project.

The site, which has been vacant for years, has become known as "the hole in the ground."

The initial construction phase will consist of a three-storey building with underground parking. The main floor will have retail outlets and the two upper storeys will be for office accommodation.

[vicdevelopments]

What is the Rotherham site? Is it an empty lot somewhere?