Victoria Construction - #7

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Construction started yesterday on 937 View Tower, which will reach 241 feet, while neighbouring View Towers is 187 feet. Formerly a surface parking lot for ages, and well before I was born Mooney's Body Shop. Will this be a modern day View Towers? Full story here on MappingVictoria.



937 View Street - August 31, 2026 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

While not a new development, I just came across this townhouse project at 624 Manchester Rd in the Burnside neighbourhood which has an unusual suspended courtyard with parking underneath. Also check out the link above to see the renderings, some of which appear to place Victoria in a mountainous South American city.. We've heard of that floating island in a BC lake, is it possible Vancouver Island is now located off the coast of Peru?

[aastra]

Wow, thanks to mappingvictoria.com's summary of 1342 Pandora I now know they aren't planning to tear down the 1880s house but rather shift it over a bit to create more room on site. I wish other projects would adopt this strategy.

If my online activities ever cross paths with the owners and/or numerous employees of mappingvictoria.com I'll be sure to express my appreciation.

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Although I'll occasionally admit to being the founder/owner/administrator and cult leader of MappingVictoria I actually haven't met most of our approximately 157 employees as they work remotely. We're thinking of enticing them back to the office by renting the top floor of the Telus Ocean building and offering a free membership to the Old YMCA once/if the City reopens it. If this indeed comes to pass we'll invite the public to an open house and you can share your appreciation and generous gifts in person. Or witty puns - we'll take those in lieu of something practical.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by zoomer

Although I'll occasionally admit to being the founder/owner/administrator and cult leader of MappingVictoria I actually haven't met most of our approximately 157 employees as they work remotely. We're thinking of enticing them back to the office by renting the top floor of the Telus Ocean building and offering a free membership to the Old YMCA once/if the City reopens it. If this indeed comes to pass we'll invite the public to an open house and you can share your appreciation and generous gifts in person. Or witty puns - we'll take those in lieu of something practical.

Christmas is arriving early this year.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by aastra

Sometimes it feels like the CoV est toying with us, ya? I can't stand it anymore. I might just become a monk and live out my days in a quiet abbey.

Even "quiet abbeys" get demolished for non-descript townhouses or condos these days (e.g. The Abbey).

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by zoomer

As for Elford and Pandora I think it's on it's THIRD exterior wall remediation. But yah I think being surround by trees it gts forgotten about. Way too many trees to be honest, must be dark in those suites.

I've noticed that too with the google streetview of it it's hard to even see the building behind all the trees, if I lived there I think I would want some sun to come in especially in the winter

I'm shocked that 937 View is finally getting developed especially such a tall building i've seen a few proposals fail over the years at that location, I believe the last one was 17 stories

I recently noticed the two adjoining lots on Beach Dr. across from the golf course for sale for a cool $52.5 million which i believe is the highest listing in the city's history

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Originally Posted by Vin

Even "quiet abbeys" get demolished for non-descript townhouses or condos these days (e.g. The Abbey).

Yes, quite intentional I'm sure by Aryze to not use "The Abbey" in any form possible to erase the fact they demolished it. They probably used an AI enhanced RNG (Random Name Generator) and asked it to propose a name exactly opposite - thus we have The Estoya

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Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

I've noticed that too with the google streetview of it it's hard to even see the building behind all the trees, if I lived there I think I would want some sun to come in especially in the winter

I'm shocked that 937 View is finally getting developed especially such a tall building i've seen a few proposals fail over the years at that location, I believe the last one was 17 stories

I recently noticed the two adjoining lots on Beach Dr. across from the golf course for sale for a cool $52.5 million which i believe is the highest listing in the city's history

With zero vehicle parking - I wonder if they'll finish before 1045 Yates (Starlight) across the street?

Now confirmation (only because I finally got around to diving into more planning docs) of what was floated in May 2026 - The Salient Group is planning to add 5-storeys to the 1882 built Yates Block (Chandlers) and transform it into a 'premiere hotel'. More here on MappingVictoria Breaking News.

Recent context view complete with seagull crap coating:



View looking west from Yates Street Parkade - August 17, 2026 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

[Phil McAvity]

Wow, that proposal for the old Chandler's building is just awful, it's like they plopped down a small brutalist building atop a lovely old heritage building, rather than two wildly different styles of architecture combined together you'd think they would have tried to seamlessly blend them together instead

Now if only I could link the picture of the building here

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I'm not sure if this image will work/stay for long - for some reason the MappingVictoria website guru doesn't like that.

Image © Cascadia Architects



To be honest I rather like it. Of course my eye sight is failing, but still.

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611 Speed Ave - MappingVictoria project page - still in the process of potentially becoming a co-op.



611 Speed Ave - Tresah West - September 1, 2026 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

[aastra]

I escaped from my subterranean cavern recently and as I was going about town I realized I don't mind the Speed Avenue building as much as I thought I would. It's still wider than I'd prefer, but the overall esthetic and presence isn't bad at all, especially for Mayfair area.

As for the Chandler's building, I'm almost tempted to bet the CoV will approve it without much fuss and for no other reason but to spite the Northern Junk buildings one more time.

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Alright, I think this one will agitate you more, because agitation is good, at least for washing machines right?

MappingVictoria story on revised plans with new renderings for 251 Esquimalt Rd - 22-storey, 209 unit affordable housing tower at the Roundhouse.



251 Esquimalt Rd - June 2026 Plans - © dHK Architects by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr



251 Esquimalt Rd - June 2026 Plans - © dHK Architects by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr



251 Esquimalt Rd - June 2026 Plans - © dHK Architects by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by aastra

I escaped from my subterranean cavern recently and as I was going about town I realized I don't mind the Speed Avenue building as much as I thought I would. It's still wider than I'd prefer, but the overall esthetic and presence isn't bad at all, especially for Mayfair area.

As for the Chandler's building, I'm almost tempted to bet the CoV will approve it without much fuss and for no other reason but to spite the Northern Junk buildings one more time.

I agree, Speed Ave turned out okay and compared to the Wellburn's replacement it went up quickly

It's weird how the renderings of the Roundhouse project are so hazy, why would they do that?

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The one rendering where the other towers are even more hazy is more of site context photo and to show that 251 Esquimalt Rd is the one to focus on, the least hazy of the bunch, lol.

As I mentioned in the story the other towers won't look as shown as only 2 of the 9 towers have design submitted; for example here's the Kimta Rd plan from last summer:



210 Kimta Road - Bayview Railyards Development by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

But it really does show how crowded it could be having 9 towers on that one site.

[aastra]

It will be a challenge for me to take seriously anything roundhouse-related until the first tower is topping out.

In terms of the density, that layout would seem to be too packed to the tune of at least one or two towers. Knock a couple of the more central buildings down to maybe ~12 stories and methinks the whole concept would be significantly improved.

I'm also skeptical of the design. If this was ~2005 I might believe they'd be able to get away with such large windows and abundant glass coverage. But in the late 2020s I'd say it's unlikely the CoV would reverse course on its panel fetish so abruptly on such prominent buildings. I really like the Bayview/Promontory esthetic, but I'm not holding my breath for more of it.

Why so few balconies?

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Of the two designs released the affordable tower has no balconies by the looks of things, that said, for the one affordable housing tower out of the nine it's better than expected. The other one shown above has lots of balconies. But yes.. don't count your chickens. Yes, Baywatch and Purgatory (ahem) do look look and they stand out nicely in 'skyline' shots as well.

[aastra]

Let me put it this way: if they're serious about doing something equal to Promontory then I'll be cheering "Bravo!". Music to my ears. But if they're just going to do a second Encore then I'll be leaving early.

[RHINO]

What a beautiful concept. I hope it pans out. If not send them here to Kamloops, well take the project.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by RHINO

What a beautiful concept. I hope it pans out. If not send them here to Kamloops, well take the project.

Kamloops just got a new tallest as well so kudos to you guys even if the building isn't going to win any architecturally awards