Drove down Water Street earlier and the building looks excellent already from this vantage point.

It's perfectly centered on the horizon coming down Queens Road/New Gower as well.

It looks much better without the green.


If they build the Hilton and the Deacon building it will be a whole new skyline.

One thing spoiling most of these photos is that old residence on the site of the former Grace hospital. Why wasn't that taken down when the hospital was demolished? I would love to see something done with this land. I've heard that it is a potential site for a new court house but I think it would be better as residential.

Yeah I know. I noticed it's landscape and the actual building look like something you would see in Chernobyl Ukraine. especially in fall.

http://www.thecoolist.com/wp-content...hernobyl_4.jpg - An abandoned building in Pripyat, Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Source: http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=pripya...r:88,s:0,i:208

http://m6.i.pbase.com/t1/52/479852/4...6.a8cDtii6.jpg - Grace residence

Source:http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=grace+...r:28,s:0,i:170

I too love how visible Fortis Place is from Water Street and from Queens/New Gower. Deacon and Hilton will definitely create a much better and basically brand new western skyline! This time last year, we had 3 buildings in our downtown west skyline (delta/cabot twins) By this time next year, we will be well on our way to introducing 4 more! (351, Fortis, Hilton and Deacon) Hopefully we'll even see a few more proposals over the winter and in the coming years!

Deacon is approved, so it will most likely begin in the spring (yay!) I emailed Manga Hotels asking about the status of the Hilton, and they never responded. Don't know if that's a good sign or a bad sign. But i'll take it as a good sign; that they want to keep the details confidential until they release them to the public.

November 28, 2012

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8060/8...e65408a3_b.jpg
Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

And one from my shoot for East Port Properties:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8069/8...36de446a_b.jpg
Office Floor 2 of 351 Water Street by East Port Properties by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

Fortis seems to be moving along at a very slow pace lately. Guess its just about time for the winter hibernation..

I think the fact that this building is all concrete is what is making is so slow. Move the forms, place the rebar, place the forms, pour the concrete, wait for the concrete to set, remove the forms and then repeat.

I have never been so excited for a building, I think this one is going to be a real gem, it is going to look awesome!

... and add to the fact that the concurrent downtown project, 351 Water, is being built using precast and steel beams and is being erected at a faster rate makes Fortis seem that much slower.

Also because there is no tower crane, and there is some complexity to the design, it takes a bit longer.

November 30, 2012

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8487/8...da9f1f9b_b.jpg
Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8205/8...5d640046_b.jpg
St. John's from Shea Heights by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

Guess I'll post this here too, just a quick diagram I did of the completed height of Fortis Place and a few other proposed/approved/ Under construction projects in the area..

I cannot wait for Fortis to be Topped out and curtained :D

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8344/8...7b16eed8_c.jpg

I'm totally falling in love with how urbanised St. John's is beginning to look :)

A guest in one of our threads... what do we do?

*Tidies the room and puts on the kettle*

Well, thank you! :) I'm sure many here love it too.

ok so I drove by fortis place this morning and they are putting up a glass wall on the bottom floors!

It's definitely becoming more urbanized, but still room for improvement (e.g. height restrictions). The ball just starting rolling here the past few years, we're all hoping this forward momentum keeps it going. :cheers:

That's awesome! I can't wait to see this one shelled.

Really?? That's great! I guess they want to get everything they possibly can curtained before they have to shovel every floor out when they go to work in the morning :haha:

Looking forward to seeing what the glass looks like!

what is 430 Water Street and Steele? Those will really add a LOT to the area considering 351 Water Street and Fortis will be done next year.

Of course, amending height restrictions of your city would be at your discretion; although, to be honest, I don't mind the height established in St. John's. With your new towers, essentially, St. John's seems to be looking more like itself!

I believe focusing on in-fill of surface parking lots and working toward site redevelopment is more vital. The inward urbanisation of St. John's should continue, as it is in most other areas of Canada, because of the shift in demographics wanting to live, work, and play downtown -- partly because it's entertaining and convenient, and partly because you can live more affordably. And let's be honest... developments going up within a city's established infrastructure means the city doesn't have to pay for new roads, new water services and utilities, etc...

This trend should continue. :yes:

430 Water is an existing building owned by Stantec. They want to add a 6 floor expansion to their existing location. Steele is a Newfoundland owned company that own and operate hotels as well as communication stations such as radio, etc.

:previous: I agree on all fronts. Unfortunately linear sprawl is a major factor in St. John's and still continues to be an issue...

Like Statbass said, Steele is a proposed and now (as of this month) under construction 6 story hotel project. 430 Water Street is an existing three story building that wants to construct a 6 story expansion.

I'll add some pictures to the mix for reference. Here is the steele hotel. It's a little infamous among us (well mainly only me :haha:) This is what was originally proposed

http://www.pbase.com/image/142087644.jpg

I didn't have a problem with this. It looked great. I would have ideally rathered something a bit taller for that site, but the proposal looked great. It seems that building was way over budget and they 'updated' the design. The most recent render we've seen looks like a cheap industrial building straight out of 1962! Here's the most recent render:

http://i993.photobucket.com/albums/a...photo-65-1.jpg

Hopefully it won't turn out that bad, but I cannot say I'm a fan.

Here are a few early concepts for the 430 Water street proposal. I think glass would look nice and would compliment Fortis Place brilliantly, but the heritage committee wants the developer to consider brick. Just a matter of opinion I guess.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...69626706_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...47243558_n.jpg

Both projects will greatly improve that part of downtown, even though they could use a few extra stories, and if one of them isn't exactly ascetically pleasing :haha:

But I think they will add some vibrancy to that decrepit portion of our downtown. Hopefully they are just the start of many (taller!) developments to come in that area. Sorry if this was a little off topic, I just wanted to fully answer Chadillac's question :)

December 4, 2012

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/...85d9f587_b.jpg
Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8068/...a7a89185_b.jpg
Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8059/...4c634c98_b.jpg
Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/...59ca7120_b.jpg
Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8201/...d42e5b40_b.jpg
351 and Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8209/...2a3710c1_b.jpg
351 and Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

I LOVE the color of glass they chose!! I'm surprised to see them curtaining the bottom floors already. I guess, if they are done all the concrete work for those floors, there's no reason why they can't get a head start on curtaining them. They won't have to shovel out the curtained floors!

I really like the shade of glass though, it looks fantastic! I can't wait to see more of it done!

I'm a little disappointed by the glass. I would have preferred something closer to charcoal or black, rather than blue, for a building like this. But it's still a 9/10.

But didn't we know it was going to be blue from the very first render? I'm glad it's a nice dark navy blue though. It looks like the center part of the building is going to be done in charcoal brick anyway, so I want the windows to be somewhat distinguishable from the side of the building. Color is 9.9/10 for me, As is this building so far :D

Nice photos.

I think the glass will look good.

December 6, 2012

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8209/...853acb02_b.jpg
Downtown St. John's from the Battery by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8210/...baff6f14_b.jpg
Downtown West End including Fortis Place and 351 by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8062/...7f1fae42_b.jpg
Downtown St. John's from the Battery by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/...492aaa2e_b.jpg
Star of the Sea Site with 351 and Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8208/...663a94d5_b.jpg
Downtown St. John's from Signal Hill by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

I don't think Stantec owns this building, but rather they are leasing part of it. Keep in mind it was previously Quadratec until they were purchased by Stantec a couple of years ago. Technip occupy a large portion of the building as well.

Stantec are only leasing space. 430 Water was recently purchased (along with other properties) by an out of Province commercial property investor.

Thanks for the correction.... :cheers:

December 8, 2012

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8345/8...c25425d6_b.jpg
Fortis Place by Signal Hill Hiker Photos, on Flickr

December 21, 2012

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...45315244-5.jpg

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...45315252-5.jpg

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...45315266-5.jpg

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...45315516-5.jpg

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...45315522-5.jpg

December 24, 2012

Fortis Place and 351 Water Street:

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...49624700-5.jpg

I love the glass on this building.

I was unsure. It seemed a little too blue to me - almost to the point of being tacky. But I've compared my pictures to the renders and the colour of glass is identical in certain lighting (it does look more charcoal in some of the renders, which are lighted in a different way) so I'm confident I'll love it once it's done. Woohoo! :D

You're after getting some picky Signal hahahah jk

But as long as it doesn't look like Cabot building reflective glass- me see no problem

:D :haha: I always was picky.

From what I see so far, I love the glass! I have faith that 'twill look great when finished :tup:

December 28, 2012

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...54109644-5.jpg

oh wow looking good!!!

The visual impact is great, luh. Driving west on Topsail Road, Westdale Grove is equally obvious/centered - and for longer. It's an impressive view.

what floor are we at?

I counted it up the other day and there's 4 left to go :) :cool:

Too bad, I wish there were more.

They are almost finished the 8th and just beginning the 9th so 4 left to go! I wish there were more floors as well.. It would look even better with say 5 more stories added on. Oh well, it's still going to be a beautiful building!

December 29, 2012

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...55270910-5.jpg

http://ryancrocker.zenfolio.com/img/...55270918-5.jpg

The glass is starting to climb the tower. :D

Not sure what you mean. I only see the glass that has been installed for weeks. Is there new glass??