Olympic Village & Southeast False Creek Updates Discussion

[igeneer]

Originally Posted by sacrifice333

There are a few issues there that are obviously not acceptable.

But there's a lot of stuff pointed out in the video that is simply due to a natural settling that occurs in buildings as they age, especially in their initial life.

Note regarding cracks, minor deficiencies, etc. I am a tenant at "The Village" obviously not the highest-priority resident of development yet I have had people in to fix deficiencies, of which there were some, within days and generally accommodating my schedule. Granted, while Millennium still owned the village I understand there were a lot more issues with have deficiencies dealt with promptly. With E&Y/COV this has not been the case, in my experience.

Re some of the leaks shown. I suspect that those are largely capillary mat issues (the heating/cooling system) and were probably inadvertently punctured, possible by the owners!

As for doors opening into each other and so forth. Some of what was on the video obviously need to be fixed. But others are just a matter of size and having the best of both worlds... unless you want endless wasted hallway space you may have multiple doors that can not be opened at the same time. Get over it.

As for the bedroom size, again, it's a bit of a catch 22. Firstly, welcome to condo living, where you DON'T have much bedroom furniture other than your BED and maybe some NIGHT TABLES. Second, if in some of these suites, especially the smaller ones you were given a larger bedroom, such as one with a king bed and room for a "5 piece bedroom set" you wouldn't have room for more than a single chair in your living area. Living space is in my opinion more important than bedroom space and if the tables were turned you'd agree!

5 percent of one circular column being cut off at the base. Oh not, call the seismic police, the buildings coming down!



I repeat, there's a few issues there that are obviously not acceptable, but the vast majority of that stuff is a) just condo living and b) what you would get with the majority of developers in this day and age.

I agree with you on most of the points you make. I'm a tenant in the Village in a 1-bdrm and it's 620 sq.ft. I have a queen-size bed, and I still have enough room for a dresser in the closet and nigh table. The doors in my place are not close enough to each other to get in the way, and they all open/close the right way.

Perhaps some of the subs on some of the buildings were worse than in others. I found there to be several minor deficiencies that Millennium took forever to fix, but once E&Y took over it's been much better, with quick response times and ample communication to tenants.

I can only assume a lot of these 62 people are scrambling to get out of their investment because of the drastic price-drops. The bigger the unit, the more it would've lost... From what I can tell, the base building and most of the interior finishes have been done to a fairly high standard. Lots of green features that save me big bucks on monthly utility bills. And no forced ventilation, so very little dust!

Some people expect to be able to move into a new condo and have no deficiencies. Sorry to burst their bubble, but that's never going to happen on new construction. I feel bad for those who feel that they cannot live in the unit they purchased, and think the City/E&Y needs to fix the problems asap.

[As a side note, people need to be a more positive in this city. The endless complaining needs to stop as the rest of the country thinks Vancouverites are a bunch of whiners...This is especially true for the media that blew this way out of proportion. Enough ranting for the day].

[jlousa]

As stated already above by others, the units would be built to the plans the purchasers bought off. If there are substantial changes to either layout or in size they would've had outs if they did not wish to complete. I imagine they didn't look over the plans too much as they figured they would be worth more then their purchase price at completion and if they didn't like them then they could always sell. Now that prices are lower they could only sell at a loss, hence the lawsuit. Rule #1 if you're a small time investor, is only purchase something that you could live with yourself.

As far as the deficiencies, that is what the warranty is for. Sure it — to have people in and out of your unit while getting things fixed, but they will get fixed. Every developer has issues, and trust me the highest end product suffers more from deficiencies then the lower end stuff as owners are unlikely to let anything slide. To be honest I'm surprised at how little issues there have been in the Village, sure there are a bunch of issues here and there but there has not been a systematic failure on any one item which is surprising on a project this size.

[cornholio]

Originally Posted by trofirhen

British Columbia has long been known as a "make a quick buck" place. I recall living in a new apartment building, and my front door opening was sloped, so that there was a thin triangular space that peaked over the opening side of the door and let in noise.

Just quick, shoddy, do-the-minimum-and-go-for-a-beer workmanship.

We had the leaky condo issue several decades back, and they (the leaky condos) were everywhere.

It's largely lack of pride, and selfish laziness (or vice versa) that's the underlying factor. A mentality that lacks a sense of civility, and crassly thinks only of its own interests is largely at the root of much of this ... sadly.

If people placed a higher importance on quality then price then you would get better workmanship.

At least thats my opinion.

[SpongeG]

was down there last night it was quiet but saw a few signs of life, there was something going on at the community centre

[urbandreamer]

Is OV all Chinese owned? From that video, looks like it....

[SpongeG]

i saw an old white lady living in there - she lives across from teh park - always has her windows open you can watch her eat and watch TV and read books - its kinda weird shes always in there when i am down there

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

was down there last night it was quiet but saw a few signs of life, there was something going on at the community centre

The community centre is busy every night. I go for runs around the area and during weeknights it looks like almost every room is full.

[187 Feet Tall]

Some people are being really hard on these buyers.
It's likely those are people who bought in the presale stage and off floor plans. Windows opening into balconies, water leeks, poor subfloors, small rooms etc. are all things that would be very difficult to be aware of. Most developments don't give room dimensions because the final build will vary slightly.

The only thing that should have been obvious was the doors opening into each other, but even then the floor plans likely made it look like a more accommodating space where that wouldn't have been an issue.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i saw an old white lady living in there - she lives across from teh park - always has her windows open you can watch her eat and watch TV and read books - its kinda weird shes always in there when i am down there

Good old Larry Campbell lives there too...he must be be pissed he paid full price, but that's kind of poetic justice, as he bears some responsibility for the whole debacle.

[Delirium]

here are some additional renderings of the opsal project


http://www.hoodsurf.com/?p=7067


http://www.hoodsurf.com/?p=7067


http://www.hoodsurf.com/?p=7067


http://www.hoodsurf.com/?p=7067


http://www.hoodsurf.com/?p=7067

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Good old Larry Campbell lives there too...he must be be pissed he paid full price, but that's kind of poetic justice, as he bears some responsibility for the whole debacle.

I heard he bought two units.
Perhaps he can donate one of them to be used as a homeless shelter?

[city-dweller]

I went to the UDP for the OPSAL development. I believe their initial propsal was rejected based on conservation plans for the heritiage buildings and the massing on the site. (sfuvancouver do you remember?)

[SpongeG]

i drove past the opsal the other night - it looked like the old building was completely stripped down to the bones

[entheosfog]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

i drove past the opsal the other night - it looked like the old building was completely stripped down to the bones

Yup, they're probably going to be taking down the insides really soon:


Skeleton by entheos_fog, on Flickr

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by city-dweller

I went to the UDP for the OPSAL development. I believe their initial propsal was rejected based on conservation plans for the heritiage buildings and the massing on the site. (sfuvancouver do you remember?)

You pretty much covered it. There was a lot of concern that too little of the Opsal steel building was being retained and later, when additional bays/units of the building were retained, there was too tight a condition between the tower and Opsal. There was also criticism about the amount of surface parking that was proposed for the project and in an early iteration the was nearly as much surface parking provided as there was internal usable space inside the restored Opsal Steel.

[SFUVancouver]

SEFC from the Cambie Street Bridge, looking down First Avenue.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


Maynards Block.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


Maynards Block project detail.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


James as seen from the Cambie Street Bridge.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


SEFC from 2nd Avenue.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


Pinnacle Living False Creek.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


James is at that tricky stage in its construction where it is difficult to photograph.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


The Science World expansion continues.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


First and Main social housing as seen from the Creekside Community Centre. They are installing roundabouts at either end of Athlete's Way.

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


First and Main supportive housing

Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.


Taken by SFUVancouver, March 23rd, 2011.

[wrenegade]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

They are installing roundabouts at either end of Athlete's Way.

Because the traffic is SO heavy in that area.

[sacrifice333]

It's a good idea. Cars and especially bikers like to cut those corners!

p.s. Terra Breads has put up signage on their upcoming space on the NW corner of the plaza next to Legacy Liquor Store.

[city-dweller]

sfuvancouver you should answer your phone. lol. I did the same walk yesterday. I am just comparing photos before posting to avoid duplication.

[city-dweller]

All photos by me March 23rd 2011:

From East side of site:

by city-dweller Vancouver, on Flickr

From Alley (west side)

by city-dweller Vancouver, on Flickr

Facing north from the alley (same spot as last shot was taken):

by city-dweller Vancouver, on Flickr