Saskatoon Construction

[kgc087]

I like seeing the lighthouse building a bit taller, it makes it a bit more proportionate to how wide it is. I'm still hating the stucco belt and hope it is either removed or they decide to use a different material. And back to the dense development. I would love to see the city begin to put up more condos oriented towards family but that would mean an increase in green space, more shopping diversity and all of that which would be a large step for Saskatoon's downtown. Considering Rosewood will be the farthest neighbourhood from d/t it still is reasonably close, it is prob MAX 10 minutes on circle drive. Maybe one developer will pursure a more condo based sales plan rather then suburban style homes. We can only hope!

[Wyku]

It was on Global news on Friday.

[drm310]

It will take a shift in attitude and our culture in Western Canada for higher-density housing to gain wide acceptance. We all know the benefits of higher density... reduced land take, reduced infrastructure costs, lower carbon footprint, etc. However, since the establishment of permanent settlements here, we've had a culture where land has been seen as an inexhaustible resource. Immigrants were attracted here in the late 1800s with the promise of their own parcel of land.

I was born and raised in a suburban neighbourhood. We lived in a 60s bungalow, and as a kid I played in a big backyard with my friends and my dog. It was on a quiet street with good neighbours, and my memories of it are fond. Since my parents (now in their 70s) and most of their neighbours still live there, it obviously has had lasting appeal. I imagine that a lot of peoples' experience were similar to mine.

The lure of a single detached house is a powerful one. I lived in an apartment and later a townhouse, sharing walls with others who were not as quiet and considerate as I am. I also am a gardener, and I just didn't have that opportunity available to me in a multiple-unit dwelling. I don't have kids but my partner and I will probably get a dog soon. We ended up buying a house last year, and I have not regretted it one bit. It would be very difficult for me now to go back to a condo and accept the change in lifestyle that would accompany it. I imagine that when I am older and maintaining a house becomes increasingly difficult, I will change my mind.

As you can see, the appeal of single detached dwellings is not going to go away anytime soon, unless certain factors make it prohibitively expensive to own them. Planners, developers and real estate agents will have to work hard to sell the positives of higher density living to change the prevailing attitudes about home ownership here.

Originally Posted by socialisthorde

I would and did all of the above in Vancouver, which is exactly my point. To be honest, I am sick of house maintenance and yard care, my kids rarely use the yard, and I hate having to travel even the short distance I do to work downtown. I would gratefully move to a condo downtown, if there were amenities (i.e. community centre, school, grocery store, full range of shopping), and other kids for mine to play with there. BTW, I am considering the ecovillage to be built across form RIver Landing

My childcare provider in Vancouver lived in a 600 square foot aoparment with two kids and cared for 6 more all day. She was constantly in the park, at the library, at the commubity centre etc, with the kids and I think the kids had a much richer experience than they would have had in someone's suburban basement and yard. This doesn't exist in Saskatoon, because people have a whole bunch of misperceptions and unexamined biases toward suburban versus urban living. Until someone challenges those biases, they will not change. Millions of European and Asian (and more recently Vancouver) children grow up to be healthy, happy and successful in apartments. Somehow, bringing up children in an apartment is be considered nearly akin to child neglect here.

WRT to "a quiet stret your kids can play in", if you look at the stats, I would guess (I am open to correction) you would find more kids are killed or injured on those quiet suburban streets where people are lulled into complacency than on busy downtown streets where people are realistically cautious. An example from my own experience (living in a core neighborhood) would be cycling. I taught my kids form an early age to ride on (relatively busy) streets in an appropriate way. When I take them and their friends on a bike ride, I do not fear for my kids safety, but I fear for their friends, who ride all over the road, switch from sidewalk to road without looking and ride their bikes across cross walks, because they learned to ride on "quiet [suburban] streets. The same goes for strangers. Living in an inner city neighborhood, my kids are learning to be able to judge social interactions for safety, whereas their suburban friends don't. My kids can identify a situation to stay away from, becasue they have seen a few. At third example is traffic safety. My kids don't run onto the road without stopping and looking. Their friends who grew up on cul de sacs do. This difference would likely be even greater if we lived right downtown. I would argue that while this takes a lot more work as a parent, it is beneficial for the kids in the long run. Living in a (relatively) crowded downtown can be a huge advantage to kids.

My argument is that a "vision" should see beyond what is to what might (and should) be. If we don't want sprawl, we can't all have our own yard.

As for the cost of apartments being 500,000 to 1,000,000, that is only because they cater to wealthy folks without kids, which is exactly what the city is encouraging. If the city wanted to encourage family oriented and more reasonably priced condos, that could be acheived in many ways.

[madsad]

Originally Posted by Wyku

Going back to the increased densisty downtown, I'm just curious how many of you guys that are adimant about this idea would like to live in a 20th floor condo rather than a house with a yard? Or, spend $500,000-$1,000,000 on a loft in a sketchy warehouse district, rather than a nice sized home with a yard or quiet street your kids can play in? I think this is just a couple of the reasons why you can't expect many families to find downtown living as a viable option when there are better options available for them. We aren't restricted for space so we will continue to build out whether is makes enviromental sense or not. Hopefully we build a bit smarter than Calgary in that sense (at least how they have done in the past), but it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon with Rosewood being developed now, which will become the neighbourhood furthest from downtown and the northend where the bulk of the jobs are.

I vote for city living, even with children.

With kids, some aspects of urban life can be more difficult, for example, access to elementary schools and park space. But if a city is properly designed, both should be within walking distance. Unfortunately, that isn't always the case.

On the other hand, I believe that too many kids who grow up in the burbs feel entitled to and used to driving or being driven because everything is outside of walking distance, or it is unsafe to walk due to the auto-oriented nature of suburban neighbourhoods. I also, personally, think suburbia is mind-numbingly boring. Garage after garage projecting facades of "I'm normal, I'm normal" into identical treeless streets really wears thin on me. I grew up in suburban townhouses, and as DeNiro said in Heat, "I ain't ever goin' back." I also think watering lawns is a total waste of fresh water, at a time when our access to fresh water resources is dwindling. That being said, you can use greywater.

One useful thing you do have with a suburban house that you don't have with an apartment condo is land. Given increasing fuel costs and the need for increased locally of our food sources, a large yard may come in handy for growing food. I doubt it would be enough, though, and by using an entire community's manpower resources, you can organize larger community gardens to grow food in higher-density areas.

None of my friends are raising children in apartments, but it is possible, I see it all the time here. I do, however, have friends in Edmonton with a baby daughter, who live in a small urban house, and they do not own a car. They move around on bike, pulling their daughter in a Bob trailer 12 months of the year, and they do just fine.

[Wyku]

I guess I would just point out that there are plenty of houses that AREN'T in the burbs where one can live, *GASP* . Granted this doesn't do much for continued growth, but there are definetely options available to be close to downtown if that's your goal without having to restrict yourself to living in the Milroy or something similar. To each their own though .

Back to the construction topics, does anyone have any photo updates of the LUXE? I walked past the KG on Friday and it looked like there was a lot of activity there, including a cement pumper truck (which was there a couple time during the week). I was also impressed by how clean and organized the site looked.

[Stewie]

I am glad this project is going ahead, and a date is comitted to break ground. Now all we need is the condo beside the Radisson, the one in the church property on Spadina, and the Holiday Inn on 22nd to begin construction. I as well am not too excited about the possible yellow stucco, but I guess beggers can't be choosers.

With the Lighthouse and the River Landing towers going up this fall, am I crazy for thinking that attracting labour for these massive projects will be a serious problem??

[kgc087]

Labour will be a hard thing to find but hopefully that deal the city might strike up with Ontario will bring some much needed labourers. Hopefully our city will attract them enough to move here. Hopefully if some people start to move here they will want a more compact living style and some more condo towers will be erected to welcome them! I think the KG is probably the most exciting project happening right now besides the riverlanding. I really love how Saskatoon finds preserving and restoring its heritage a necessity for positive development.

[Wyku]

The labour shortage should be a definetey concern for those, and any other, projects going forward. Hopefully they don't get the same crew/company as the 2nd Ave. Lofts...

[socialisthorde]

Originally Posted by Wyku

Back to the construction topics, does anyone have any photo updates of the LUXE? I walked past the KG on Friday and it looked like there was a lot of activity there, including a cement pumper truck (which was there a couple time during the week). I was also impressed by how clean and organized the site looked.

Striking contrast to 2nd avenue lofts. The pace and apparent level of organziation of that project makes it look like it is being done by a home handyman in time off work.

I notice that they have done a lot of concrete reinforcement work on the KG building. There is shiny new cement poured around the posts and bay platforms for the first few floors. That building will likely be habitable before the 2nd avenue lofts.

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by socialisthorde

Striking contrast to 2nd avenue lofts. The pace and apparent level of organziation of that project makes it look like it is being done by a home handyman in time off work.

I notice that they have done a lot of concrete reinforcement work on the KG building. There is shiny new cement poured around the posts and bay platforms for the first few floors. That building will likely be habitable before the 2nd avenue lofts.

Most likely, the 2nd ave lofts are a great idea but so far have been so unorganized I think the city has lost interest in them. I'm really pumped for the KG I think it will really anchor the north end of d/t and possibly...make that definatley spruce up that area, hopefully the city will get their act together and relocate the bus mall, redevelop the streets (remove the hideous blue lights and put in the old style black ones like the ones on spadina) and ta da!, stylish new d/t that everyone can appreciate!

[kgc087]

Just a random side note for everyone that puts Saskatoon ahead of Regina for becoming a transportation hub is that Saskatoon has a passenger rail system and Regina does not. Maybe Saskatoon will be the main passenger transportation hub and Regina will be the main import/export hub? Who knows.

[macca]

Originally Posted by socialisthorde

Striking contrast to 2nd avenue lofts. The pace and apparent level of organziation of that project makes it look like it is being done by a home handyman in time off work.

I notice that they have done a lot of concrete reinforcement work on the KG building. There is shiny new cement poured around the posts and bay platforms for the first few floors. That building will likely be habitable before the 2nd avenue lofts.

Today it appeared they were delivering windows/some sort of cladding.

[kgc087]

Could you get a good look at what the cladding and windows were like?

[macca]

No, I was a block away. The best I can do is 'shiny'.

[kgc087]

Shiny is good, I and I think I can say, we like shiny. It will be fun to watch them unload the terra cotta gargoyles and shields! When is their estimated time of completion?

[joelpiecowye]

the king george will be completed early 2009 so we should expect the exterior to me mostly done by fall

[kgc087]

Originally Posted by joelpiecowye

the king george will be completed early 2009 so we should expect the exterior to me mostly done by fall

How exciting! Lets hope no half ass design plans or construction plans are implemented! I can't wait!

[jaysfan99]

Sorry,...double post

[jaysfan99]

Originally Posted by Wyku

According to the news report on the Lighthouse project, the city

Going back to the increased densisty downtown, I'm just curious how many of you guys that are adimant about this idea would like to live in a 20th floor condo rather than a house with a yard? Or, spend $500,000-$1,000,000 on a loft in a sketchy warehouse district, rather than a nice sized home with a yard or quiet street your kids can play in? I think this is just a couple of the reasons why you can't expect many families to find downtown living as a viable option when there are better options available for them. We aren't restricted for space so we will continue to build out whether is makes enviromental sense or not. Hopefully we build a bit smarter than Calgary in that sense (at least how they have done in the past), but it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon with Rosewood being developed now, which will become the neighbourhood furthest from downtown and the northend where the bulk of the jobs are.

I really think that you are not getting the point! Not everyone can afford a condo for $500,000-$1,000,000, but I'm sure some people could afford a nice condo close to downtown in the $300,000 price range. I believe cities like Saskatoon should adopt a more environmentally responsible policy when it comes to planning the city. You don't have to be a genius to know that we not restricted for space, but that doesn't mean that we should keep polluting the environment. A creative thinking is what we need, not more and more cars on the road.

[Ruckus]

Multi-family home starts jump year-over-year in May
TheStarPhoenix.com
Published: Monday, June 09, 2008

Construction started on 115 multiple-family residences in the Saskatoon census metropolitan area (CMA) last month, a figure 72-per-cent higher than the 67 multi-family starts during the same time last year, according to a new report.

At the same time, 195 single-detached homes went under construction in the Saskatoon CMA (a region of about 240,000 people) in May, a slight 3.7 per cent increase over the starts in May 2007, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.'s monthly survey of residential construction.

In the City of Saskatoon, new construction on single-detached units slipped 4.2 per cent to 114 from 119 last year, the first drop the city has seen in new home construction in months. Construction on single-detached houses in the areas surrounding Saskatoon made up for the city's loss, rising 17.4 per cent to 81 from 69 last year.

All told, housing starts in the CMA rose nearly 22 per cent in May to 310 over May 2007, when construction started on 255 single-detached and multi-family houses.

Source


Housing Starts On Record Pace...
...but rental market not so hot.
Reported By Patrick Book
Posted June 9, 2008 - 11:15am



If house starts continue on the pace set out in the first five months of this year, 2008 could prove to break even more records in the housing market in Saskatchewan.

The Canada Mortage and Housing Corporation says housing starts in May are at their highest levels since 1983 for both Saskatoon and Regina. The year-to-date numbers show Regina has seen 546 new starts while Saskatoon has doubled that at over 1,100.

But the other side of the coin reveals that concern over the state of the rental market is likely justified: multiple family dwelling construction starts are down in both cities more than 25% this year.

Source


Thomorat Says City Needs To Get Faster
Says building permit approvals too slow
Reported By David Kirton
Posted June 9, 2008 - 6:18pm



The housing boom continues. But a representative of Saskatchewan's Homebuilders says it's not without its challenges. Canada Mortgage and Housing says single housing starts in May were 4 per cent higher than May of last year in Saskatoon.Multiple family housing was up 72 per cent.But Alan Thomorat, CEO of the Saskatoon Home Builders Association, says the City of Saskatoon has been slow with building permits.He says there was an agreement that permits would take no longer than five days to be approved. But he's hearing that it's taking up to three weeks.Thomorat says delays cost money, and when it comes to building multiple-family dwellings, the costs can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Source