Saskatoon Construction II - Page 141

Crisis · #**2801** Posted **Jun 4, 2012, 7:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairieguy

275 Second
I just drove by the site of the now defunct 275 development and was reminded that the property is now showing as being sold. Has anyone heard ANYTHING about who might own this now and if there are ANY plans in the works?? Would love to see something happening on that site soon...

Yes, there are new owners and yes, they do have plans in the works. That's about all that should be said for now. Best to get your ducks on a row prior to making any premature announcements.

nook · #**2802** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 1:50 AM**

Whats going on in the Centre Mall parking lot across from Indigo? Yellow fences are up and they've dug up the parking lot. Signs up say something "Petrol", but it doesn't seem like a good place for a gas station.

logicrules · #**2803** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 3:09 PM**

Does anyone have any leads on whats going in to the Stonebridge Business Park this year? There seems to be a lot of activity going on, and I know that I (along with many other Stonebridge residents) am hoping for a decent restaurant for the area. Anyone heard anything?

Echoes · #**2804** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 3:33 PM**

The Meewasin Valley Authority will consider the Parcel Y proposal at its Development Review meeting this Friday.

A site plan and rendering package is posted on their website for the office tower portion ONLY (Phase I of the project).

http://meewasin.com/development/developers_area/current_projects/

Also of interest is the STM College expansion that will be considered on Friday as well. Renderings and site plan available at the above link.

Echoes · #**2805** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 3:39 PM**

Site plan shows the main floor of the tower containing two retail units, one fronting 19th Street, and the other fronting the eventual public plaza, as well as a 'Winter Garden/Interpretive Area' on the 2nd Avenue side.

prairieguy · #**2806** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 9:15 PM**

Anyone else disappointed in this rendering?? I hope that if and when the condo goes ahead, it will add more architectural interest. Maybe I am just having a bad day...

Wyku · #**2807** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 10:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by prairieguy

Anyone else disappointed in this rendering?? I hope that if and when the condo goes ahead, it will add more architectural interest. Maybe I am just having a bad day...

It seems pretty bland/boring/"meh" to me as well.

jrm857 · #**2808** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 10:33 PM**

yea not gonna lie i find that rendering rather uninspiring. I attended sait for a short period of time and saw some of gibbs gage work there, and some of their projects in downtown. over all they are rather underwhelming.

Jerry · #**2809** Posted **Jun 5, 2012, 11:36 PM**

Here is a link to their site Gibbs Cage Architects

Brutopian · #**2810** Posted **Jun 6, 2012, 3:10 AM**

Saskatoon's Downtown On The Right Track

Written by Carol Thomson, Saskatoonhomepage.ca
Tuesday, 05 June 2012 11:12

Saskatoon's downtown is a primary location for employment, shopping, entertainment, arts, culture and tourism thanks to revitalization efforts from the City and from the private sector.

These words come from a national report by the Canadian Urban Institute, which looks at ten cities and the value of investing in Canadian downtowns.

[........]

Read more:
http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/saskatoons-downtown-on-the-right-track/itemid_21

VIDEO:
http://www.saskatoonhomepage.ca/saskatoon-on-the-right-track/itemid_29

Dino35 · #**2811** Posted **Jun 6, 2012, 5:53 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by nook

Whats going on in the Centre Mall parking lot across from Indigo? Yellow fences are up and they've dug up the parking lot. Signs up say something "Petrol", but it doesn't seem like a good place for a gas station.

It is going to be a Safeway gas bar. They have had the rights to that property for some time and have even blocked other businesses from taking that location. Now it'll be a gas bar... Sigh.

Brutopian · #**2812** Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 4:50 PM**

Better aging with (social) chemistry

by Erin Anderssen, The Globe and Mail

Published Friday, Jun. 01 2012, 6:23 PM EDT
Last updated Saturday, Jun. 02 2012, 5:33 PM EDT

When they move in together this summer, the residents of Wolf Willow plan to share cars and weekly dinners. They will walk to the theatre together and to the farmers market on Saturday morning and, perhaps, start their own yoga class in the courtyard. If someone falls and breaks a hip, there’s a guest room for a caregiver, and a shower that fits a wheelchair. They will bring meals to each other during illness, and collect mail when anyone’s away. In the evenings, there will be jam sessions in the music room.

The 36 soon-to-be residents of this Saskatoon residence range in age from the mid-50s to 80, and none of them wanted to go to a retirement home where strangers would live next door and a for-profit company would make the rules. They certainly wanted to avoid a nursing home for as long as possible. So they designed and built their own place to age; this August, Wolf Willow will become the first senior co-housing development in Canada.

[........]

Read more:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/rela...ng-with-social-chemistry/article4226047/

Echoes · #**2813** Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 6:51 PM**

If you haven't been in the Scotia Centre lately, the concourse is undergoing a remodelling with new tile, paint, and lighting. The update was badly needed in my opinion. Still no tenants named for the food court, after they lost Good Earth Cafe to the new River Centre.

Speaking of the River Centre, I went to look at their website and what was Tonko Realty Advisors is now called Triovest, following a merger of Tonko and Redcliff Realty just this month. I wonder if this will have any (positive) implications with regard to River Centre Phase II going ahead sooner rather than later.

Echoes · #**2814** Posted **Jun 7, 2012, 6:53 PM**

The building housing the former Custom Drapery Shoppe on 2nd Ave is getting a much needed facelift as they try to attract a new tenant:

Before

After

Source

I would be interested to hear any historical background on why this is "The Torch Building"?

mattykicks · #**2815** Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 2:38 AM**

Ok, I'm starting to wonder about River landing. I read earlier in this thread that the Meesawin Valley Authority will be discussing the office tower proposal for Parcel Y this Friday. And That's good....

But the more people I talk to, the more I get the sense that the centerpiece of the project (The 27 storey condo complex) may not go ahead for years, if ever.

I the project has been expanded, and is bigger than previous proposals. And there needs to be final approval from the city for zoning and possible other amenities.... etc. However, perhaps he may just not have the confidence in the market over the LONG TERM, and maybe he's just holding off as a precaution??? (And yes I live in a HOME). I know housing prices are skyrocketing now, but I've heard from many people (BNN, CTV, CBC) that in the next few years, there will be a "noticable correction" in the market. Some say it will cool off VERY rapidly, even here in Saskatchewan. I also see potash stock has dropped nearly 20 percent over the last 24 months, and oil prices are extremely volatile.

Just wondering if maybe the condo tower is being held off until some of the market volatility settles down??? It just seems like things are taking too long.

I dont post much, so I'm not trying to be a downer.... just throwing out different scenarios......

drm310 · #**2816** Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 3:09 PM**

Not sure why they are calling this the "Torch Building", other than the light fixtures on the facade resemble torches. Or its someone's grim sense of humour, because the adjacent buildings were either destroyed (Stephenson Block in 1970, site of Otowa restaurant now) or damaged (D.C. Block, now Scratch, burned in 1925 and 1942) by fire!

This building's original name is the McKay Block. It housed a business named Mikado Silk which operated from 1933 to 1998, owned by the Wakabayashi family.

Sources:
http://spldatabase.saskatoonlibrary.ca/i...arches&QB2=AND&QF2=THUMBNAIL_IMAGE&QI2=*

http://spldatabase.saskatoonlibrary.ca/i...G=&FG=&QS=&OEX=ISO-8859-1&OEH=ISO-8859-1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Echoes

The building housing the former Custom Drapery Shoppe on 2nd Ave is getting a much needed facelift as they try to attract a new tenant:

I would be interested to hear any historical background on why this is "The Torch Building"?

Ricopedra · #**2817** Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 6:03 PM**

As I peer into my murky brain with eyes closed and imagine myself standing high in parcel Y, I look out upon the Saskatoon skyline and see... many buildings that are pretty 🞵🞵🞵🞵-uglee.

Regardless of what else may be built at parcel Y, we now have a concrete vision of an office bldg. of significant height.

Now I look again and see the Imperial Bank building. I see the white office block/parkade across from the Bess; hurt my eyes glancing at Saskatoon Tower. (I know, nice views - but it's by far the worst building ever built in Toon-Town). Yet mainly I see a whole lot of not much. This place seems a far cry from that pile of bones down south that most viewers feel must possess a pop twice the size. Saskatoon, if this proposal is real, give it some time and really criticize!

I don't know what I expected, but at least this tower is mostly clad in glass, an element predominant in most cities outside of Saskatoon. That's a plus. And obviously, the - if you don't want to call them architects let's say designers - at least thought about it's location in the prairies by referencing the sky and shards of wheat blowing in the wind with the multi-coloured glass panels.

The fact that the building is not just a perfect square or rectangle should not be lost on the local pop, either. This proposal has setbacks and risers and overhangs, to state things simplistically.

I may be the only one, but I think Saskatoon's skyline would be much improved without Saskatoon Tower. The gap provided, especially when viewing the skyline from the east side of the train bridge on the university lands would make the Saskatoon Square office tower look so much taller.

Anyways, my whole point is you can't expect something along the design of the Absolute World condos in Mississauga in a town as conservative as Saskatoon. Or maybe you can. But then why haven't recent condo and rental buildings been at least clad in glass? Why are they all so dark and foreboding with tiny window slits?

I already know the answer, and it's the same reason here in Taipei: people want their privacy, and most condos are for old people in Saskatoon. I hope, as people mature, that Saskatonians will embrace the condo lifestyle. The best reason to do this, is freedom. Freedom from a perfect lawn; from how to fill all the rooms; from which new tools to buy and what about that snowblower?...

Choices. Nasser went with this Calgary Architectural firm. Must be budget-wise and experienced. You want a Starchitect for this project? Start a bake sale.

So I guess, going against the grain, I'm saying, this'll be the best building built in Saskatoon since Saskatoon Square, in 198__!

Ricopedra · #**2818** Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 6:44 PM**

Sorry guys, I just got more of an overview of your overall supportive thoughts from the actual River Landing thread. Nevermind.

Temperance · #**2819** Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 8:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrm857

yea not gonna lie i find that rendering rather uninspiring. I attended sait for a short period of time and saw some of gibbs gage work there, and some of their projects in downtown. over all they are rather underwhelming.

The renders have gotten worse with every iteration. I understand Ricopedra's point but I still think we could pressure the developer to come up with something a bit more thoughtful for this prominent site. This was supposed to be something special.

The "torch building" reno looks nice!

TechnicalRecession · #**2820** Posted **Jun 8, 2012, 11:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattykicks

Ok, I'm starting to wonder about River landing. I read earlier in this thread that the Meesawin Valley Authority will be discussing the office tower proposal for Parcel Y this Friday. And That's good....

But the more people I talk to, the more I get the sense that the centerpiece of the project (The 27 storey condo complex) may not go ahead for years, if ever.

I the project has been expanded, and is bigger than previous proposals. And there needs to be final approval from the city for zoning and possible other amenities.... etc. However, perhaps he may just not have the confidence in the market over the LONG TERM, and maybe he's just holding off as a precaution??? (And yes I live in a HOME). I know housing prices are skyrocketing now, but I've heard from many people (BNN, CTV, CBC) that in the next few years, there will be a "noticable correction" in the market. Some say it will cool off VERY rapidly, even here in Saskatchewan. I also see potash stock has dropped nearly 20 percent over the last 24 months, and oil prices are extremely volatile.

Just wondering if maybe the condo tower is being held off until some of the market volatility settles down??? It just seems like things are taking too long.

I dont post much, so I'm not trying to be a downer.... just throwing out different scenarios......

To put things in perspective for you, the Captial Pointe project in Regina has been 'in the works' for probably three years now and they don't seem to be close to building anything anytime soon. It is similar to the 27 story condo tower proposed by Nassar in the bridge city, both are modern and large, and a relatively new concept to Saskatchewan. I think that is part of the reason whey these projects are so hard to get off the ground.

And units in these buildings are not cheap. You can buy a 700 square foot condo in Cap Pointe for 250K or go out to the suburbs and buy a townhouse that is 50% larger for the same price. Commute time is not a huge impediment in Saskatchewan, nor is lack of land for new houses. This makes these downtown modern condos a tough sell. Add to the fact that for these larger condo developments they like to pre-sell in the 50% range before the put a shovel in the ground. That makes for a long period of time before anything concrete happens.

I wish you guys the best and hope both of these towers get built in our respective cities, I am just not sure Saskatachewan is ready for this kind of development, or should I say, it may not be the right market.