Saskatoon Construction

[Ruckus]

Oh well. One less surface lot is an impressive win for Saskatoon!

Curious about the tenant mix...

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Thanks for the photos Jerry.

[Ruckus]

Originally Posted by Echoes

That's the one, thanks.
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So, today is the day that Saskatoon Construction hits 10,000 posts. Any volunteers who want to pioneer the Saskatoon Construction II thread and set it up with a nice first page summary of local projects?

If I had the technical or creative prowess to set it up I'd do it, but I feel that someone could do a more polished, attractive job than I. I'm willing to help compile the project master list however.

Just fab up an excel sheet and call it a day

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by Jerry

The 2 beauties you speak of.



^^ Pillar project next to the Holiday Inn on Pacific Ave.


^^ 24th Street E and Wall Street N.

They may not be exactly cutting edge architectural marvels, but they will certainly quicken the heart rates of a glazing contractor or two. And, as previously stated, they beat the hell out of a gravel parking lot.

[Jerry]

A little more on Value Village from the Star. Check out the comments section.

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Value Village approved for Stonebridge, community association satisfied

The StarPhoenix March 8, 2011 2:17 PM

The president of the Stonebridge Community Association said he’s now satisfied with the development of a Value Village in the area, after initial concerns about the potential mess left behind by people carelessly dropping off used goods. [...]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/V...tisfied/4402912/story.html#ixzz1G3RRkX2q

[brithgob]

According to CTV, the Planning Commission heard plans for an expanded Walmart at Preston Crossing (presumably to become a Supercentre) and a big-box sporting goods store. Any ideas? Bass?

[dsim249]

Bass Pro would be sweet. I can't imagine we'd get one though... But who knows. I can't think of any other ones and we already have Wholesale.

[drm310]

I think the detractors' objections are just a thinly veiled way of saying "we think Value Village attracts poor people, and we don't want them soiling our middle-class neighbourhood with their presence."

Originally Posted by Jerry

A little more on Value Village from the Star. Check out the comments section.

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by dsim249

Bass Pro would be sweet. I can't imagine we'd get one though... But who knows. I can't think of any other ones and we already have Wholesale.

There's Cabela's, which is a chain of huge outdoor outfitter stores. These are the stores after which the Wholesale Sports stores are modelled. They currently have a store in Winnipeg and one is announced to be going into Edmonton.

[dsim249]

Originally Posted by Crisis

There's Cabela's, which is a chain of huge outdoor outfitter stores. These are the stores after which the Wholesale Sports stores are modelled. They currently have a store in Winnipeg and one is announced to be going into Edmonton.

A quick search of Cabela's and Saskatoon, gives a bunch of forums, with numerous people 'confirming' Cabela's for Preston Crossing.

Nothing official, but seems pretty legit.

[Bdog]

Originally Posted by drm310

I think the detractors' objections are just a thinly veiled way of saying "we think Value Village attracts poor people, and we don't want them soiling our middle-class neighbourhood with their presence."

It's funny - In Toronto, Value Village attracts the upper-middle class hipsters, who shop for those vintage/unique clothing items. Ironically, the prices have risen there to meet that demand - some of the clothes they sell there are just as expensive as brand new! I hope VV boutique doesn't gentrify in Winnipeg as it has in TO lol...

[gowest]

Wow, how long is east is better than west going to go on. I'm sure there are many people who live on the east side who like to shop there. If you are to good to shop there, maybe it's a shorter distance than the dump, to drop off all the things you throw out that are still great to use. Some people would really like them. There's lots of students in Stonebridge that could furnish a really cool place with what people don't want or use anymore because they can't afford new stuff.

[kgc087]

I would really like to see Saskatoon take a progressive step forward with it's downtown planning and require new structures to have green roofs and have some sort of sustainability integrated into them. As well it would be nice if they made it mandatory to have the structure interact with the public at street level during specific hours. I'm SO disappointed they named a neighbourhood Kensington, that would have been perfect for a sisterhood to the warehouse district.

[Jerry]

When the university announced this expansion last year, the talk was that it would be Cabela's. I have shopped them south of the border and like the store. Hope the rumors are true.

Judy Yungwirth, director of Corporate Administration, said the expansion will take place north of the existing Wal-Mart store and will involve a large hunting, fishing and camping outfitting store as the anchor tenant plus a smaller retail space, likely a restaurant.

Source

[Jerry]

Up in the air: Penthouse living in Saskatoon

By Jenn Sharp, StarPhoenix March 9, 2011 3:07 AM

Thinking of moving on up to a fabulous penthouse in the sky? It wasn't too long ago that Saskatoon penthouses were a rare find. While they're still the ultimate in luxury and status, several new penthouse options have been hitting the Saskatoon market, in a variety of price points. Perhaps your new dream residence will be one of them. [...]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Penthouse+living+Saskatoon/4407185/story.html#ixzz1G6bJQz9t

[Jerry]

Multi-family building boom

By Cassandra Kyle, The StarPhoenix March 8, 2011

A six-fold increase in the construction of new semi-detached homes, row housing and apartments in Saskatoon last month is being attributed to the city’s recent population growth. [...]

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Multi+family+building+boom/4406145/story.html#ixzz1G79Ls3FF

[Caswellian]

Originally Posted by Crisis

They may not be exactly cutting edge architectural marvels, but they will certainly quicken the heart rates of a glazing contractor or two. And, as previously stated, they beat the hell out of a gravel parking lot.

I disagree. Why should we have to settle for such crap buildings in the heart of the Warehouse District? A couple more of these and any chance of it becoming the destination spot the City presents will be gone. Let's start putting some teeth to development guidelines. Retail/Commercial on ground levels, human scaling, designs in the spirit of the area, etc...

Building for the sake of building gets you boring, monolithic streetscapes that people do not spend time in....

[WoodlandCritter]

Well put Caswellian

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by Caswellian

I disagree. Why should we have to settle for such crap buildings in the heart of the Warehouse District? A couple more of these and any chance of it becoming the destination spot the City presents will be gone. Let's start putting some teeth to development guidelines. Retail/Commercial on ground levels, human scaling, designs in the spirit of the area, etc...

Building for the sake of building gets you boring, monolithic streetscapes that people do not spend time in....

To all those critical of the look of buildings currently being planned or constructed (not just these two), I say that you are fully entitled to your opinion. But until you start putting your own money on the line, I'd temper the criticism somewhat.

Be wary of asking for sharper teeth as they may turn around and bite you... Meaning that tighter development guidelines may very well lead not to more attractive buildings, but to more gravel parking lots. As much as developers make an easy target, please remember that these are the people taking the risk by forging ahead with projects, creating a great deal of employment & spin-off business as a result. I certainly appreciate an attractive building and fully support the U of S's program of maintaining architectural guidelines for all of their buildings. But then again, those buildings are being built with public money. It's not as if Peter MacKinnon is paying for the additional cost of fieldstone out of his own pocket.

Opinions are like assholes - everybody has one. But it's the people who have the strength to believe that their idea has merit that put together the money and make things happen.

[Caswellian]

Originally Posted by Crisis

Opinions are like assholes - everybody has one. But it's the people who have the strength to believe that their idea has merit that put together the money and make things happen.

True, but if Saskatoon continues to allow these type of buildings to go up without expecting better than the attractiveness and usefulness of the city core decreases, which in turns drives people away, leading to decreased revenue for buisness and the city.

Given that Saskatoon is not exactly a destination city we need to provide ourselves with a leg up any way we can to push in against the Edmonton/Calgary/Vancouver/Winnipeg's of Western Canada. Hot economies will eventually go cold and if we are left with cold, uninviting, desolate streetscapes why would anyone want to be here?

The great thing about Saskatoon is that we have a near blank canvass to work with. We can do the legwork now to strongly encourage and guide great development, not repeating the mistakes of our cousin cities, or, we can realize our mistakes 20 years from now and spend 10X as much fixing them....

[Ruckus]

Originally Posted by Caswellian

True, but if Saskatoon continues to allow these type of buildings to go up without expecting better than the attractiveness and usefulness of the city core decreases, which in turns drives people away, leading to decreased revenue for buisness and the city.

Given that Saskatoon is not exactly a destination city we need to provide ourselves with a leg up any way we can to push in against the Edmonton/Calgary/Vancouver/Winnipeg's of Western Canada. Hot economies will eventually go cold and if we are left with cold, uninviting, desolate streetscapes why would anyone want to be here?

The great thing about Saskatoon is that we have a near blank canvass to work with. We can do the legwork now to strongly encourage and guide great development, not repeating the mistakes of our cousin cities, or, we can realize our mistakes 20 years from now and spend 10X as much fixing them....

Probably the single greatest distinction that will set us apart from those cities: livability. Especially our downtown, but also our neighborhoods.

Competing with our peers using measures such as GDP, population figures, depth of road infrastructure and mass transit systems is delusional. They are important, but should not be our primary objective. Creating a livable city for all four seasons is ambitious but is a more honest approach to city building based on the challenges and opportunities surrounding us.

Crisis makes good points with respect to the risks developers face. These things take time, and we should expect a few hiccups along the way. Hopefully those hiccups will become less frequent post-City Centre Plan, and after the City digests the findings from Saskatoon Speaks visioning process.