Saskatoon | Baydo Towers | 80m - 80m | 25-25 Floors | U/C

[roryn1]

yea the dirt shifting around has been weird, but they’ve now been removing it aggressively since the crane was set up. Must have been being used to cure the concrete piles

north tower starts first

[waytootall]

They improperly installed the shoring, it was not going in far enough so they tried to reinforce it but decided to keep excavating and undermined the sheet piling. They also did not have enough soil anchors. The adjacent buildings started to move and settle which has triggered a third party review of this building and the Broadway one, a stop work order, and will result in many lawsuits. They installed all the shoring bracing and started filling it back in to save it. Now they're moving the fill around as they can to keep the walls stable and to facilitate work until proper shoring is installed.

It's a mess.

[King Ralph]

Originally Posted by waytootall

They improperly installed the shoring, it was not going in far enough so they tried to reinforce it but decided to keep excavating and undermined the sheet piling. They also did not have enough soil anchors. The adjacent buildings started to move and settle which has triggered a third party review of this building and the Broadway one, a stop work order, and will result in many lawsuits. They installed all the shoring bracing and started filling it back in to save it. Now they're moving the fill around as they can to keep the walls stable and to facilitate work until proper shoring is installed.

It's a mess.

As I said before, this entire project is amateur work. Not only is it ugly as sin, Baydo has no clue how to properly do a project of this size.

[Crisis]

I can certainly believe all that (waytootall's post). But it still begs the question, “why the tower crane?”

[905er]

Originally Posted by Crisis

I can certainly believe all that. But it still begs the question, “why the tower crane?”

these towers are a joke and will continue to be from start to finish.

[roryn1]

I don’t think waytootall’s post is completely true because they’ve only been working on parkade framing all week. Shoring/side bracing hasn’t been touched in well over a month. The vibrations may have triggered some ground changes, but that’s normal big city construction. Welcome to density building probz Saskamatoon my neighbor in my condo comes from vancouver and said the harsh vibrations were normal, our land definitely isn’t fit for it though compared to Vancouver.

This Baydo project is more like River Landing’s commercial towers than the Urban Capital tower. Lots of people living downtown want to move into Class AAA condo space, but River Landing’s is not that premium (who wants to be watched while working out, way too busy of an area, no standard amenities offered in most big city condos for how busy of an area it is, no trees). This Baydo project will mostly see rental tenants move from other older downtown condos, compared to how few downtown condo residents moved into Urban Capital’s condo.

[roryn1]

Dirt ramp up to the main level has finally been removed Must mean dirt moving is complete! They haven’t removed dirt in well over a month, seem to just be shifting it around while sealing concrete piling.

I think people are misunderstanding the underground parkade - I think it’s two floors below and two above (not 4 below)… can anyone confirm?
.

[Crisis]

I went back near the beginning of this thread and found this:

I heard Chris Luczka on CBC radio this morning. He said there would be 513 spaces on 4 underground levels and 2 podium levels, and the stalls would be big enough for full size pickup trucks (this is Sask. after all).

Given the issues they've had in the hole, they may have modified their plans for the depth of the excavation. Regardless of the number of level of U/G parking, I don't believe they're done moving dirt, as there's still a tremendous amount of soil in that hole that shouldn't be there. Who knows, maybe the're going to put a shovel on the crane...

[The Bess]

some info on the owner of Baydo

https://engineering.usask.ca/news/2021/building-success.php

[Crisis]

Originally Posted by The Bess

some info on the owner of Baydo

https://engineering.usask.ca/news/2021/building-success.php

Nice article. It says he's an innovator, so for his sake, let's hope it's innovation rather than errors that's leading to the confusing sequence of construction activities that we've seen there thus far.

Nice snapshot of the development:

And now, the company’s largest project is underway. Baydo Towers will be comprised of two 25-storey buildings, rising on the corner of 25th Street and Fifth Avenue downtown. Wang says there will be 460 to 480 units with four underground parking garage levels. With a completion date of 2022, the project’s cost is estimated at $110 million. Wang believes it is the largest residential development in Saskatoon’s history, and the location is excellent.

[roryn1]

The location is excellent! This development’s block radius will have density envious to big cities. Our city developers better realize that (Bus Hub with additional amenities, walkway across 25th to downtown, additional street amenities). The tax dollars created for Saskatoon in the 25th/5th block are phenomenal.

Mistakes will always b made on a company’s largest project (not saying any major mistakes have even occurred yet!). I would rather see mistakes vs empty vacant lots and buildings like North Prairie’s many false promises - snipping up investment properties and leaving them vacant for well over a decade - wasting city council time/scaring away out of town developers.

If BHP expands their office space here (which I assume they will), they better not use North Prairie as the contractor. That company is so clueless.

[prairieguy]

I have also been highly critical of NP track record...but in fairness, they do a decent enough job with house builds. I would just not trust them with any project larger then a multiple unit townhouse type. They have an absolute horrible reputation for following through on any kind of significant build (i.e. World Trade Tower, Condo highrise at College and Clarence...and I am sure others).

I am not sure I subscribe to the theory they do this to scare off other developers, but it would be interesting to hear their perspective/argument for why the big announcements and public consultations and then poof...nothing!

[King Ralph]

I'm not sure what Roryn is smoking to be so exited about this project, but I would not mind having some of it.

[roryn1]

Lots of work starting up closer to 25th! Seems to be progressing as fast as the river landing project now that things are settling.


Why doesn’t the admin delete King Ralph? If they look back it’s an account that doesn’t provide any constructive debate or valuable input. thank you

[Roquentin]

Originally Posted by roryn1

Why doesn’t the admin delete King Ralph? If they look back it’s an account that doesn’t provide any constructive debate or valuable input. thank you

"Constructive debate" and "valuable input" are in the eye of the beholder. This project has been a bizarre mess so far --- look what they've managed to accomplish in a year and a half, and look what their plans are. Bleh. I don't think it's "not valuable" to call out the abundant crapiness of this project, just like I don't think that it's "not constructive" to want better than... this.

[roryn1]

Then I’m going to stop posting updates in here. Telling me that i’m high isn’t constructive and they’ve never provided any valuable feedback. jesus this is why people don’t use these threads

[King Ralph]

This project is a complete mess and looks like it will be an eyesore in downtown for decades to come. Me wanting something better for the city is not "useless" information/debate as you say. Nor is taking a contrary view to you, as someone who has continually been a cheerleader for this awful project. I hate it. There are likely many others who feel the same way.

[mitchellk12]

Originally Posted by King Ralph

This project is a complete mess and looks like it will be an eyesore in downtown for decades to come. Me wanting something better for the city is not "useless" information/debate as you say. Nor is taking a contrary view to you, as someone who has continually been a cheerleader for this awful project. I hate it. There are likely many others who feel the same way.

Your right about this project. But you also crap on everything else too. Everything. I'm not sure if you hate all types of development in this city, or upset about saskatoon growing in general ( because there's folks who think it should've stayed 200,000ppl ) , but sometimes your opinions are garbage, and no one on here values them. There's been some great projects come along for this city and you've had nothing good to say about any of it.

Everyone's entitled to an opinion whether you agree with something or not. I respect that. But jeez....can you cheer up a little? I hope your not like this in real life.

And Roryn, walk it off to Starbucks. You'll still be posting here lol.

[FarmerHaight]

Originally Posted by King Ralph

This project is a complete mess and looks like it will be an eyesore in downtown for decades to come. Me wanting something better for the city is not "useless" information/debate as you say. Nor is taking a contrary view to you, as someone who has continually been a cheerleader for this awful project. I hate it. There are likely many others who feel the same way.

It will be less of an eyesore and generate more property tax revenues than a surface parking lot.

Not every development can be an architectural marvel; Saskatoon only has so many prime pieces of real estate that justify high-end finishes, and the local market can only buy so many two bedroom apartments for $500,000.

It seems like Roryn1's main excitement is because of the population this project will bring to his block. The increased density should be attractive for retailers, justify extra public services, make the area more vibrant, and potentially make it feel safer.

[Crisis]

roryn1, I'm sure you know better than to be concerned about what King Ralph posts. As completely non-productive as all of his posts seem to be, he does still have the right to post them and we all have the right (damn near a duty...) to ignore them.

Back to the matter at hand, your most recent photos show new structural reinforcement along the north part of the shoring on the west side of the excavation. Good thing that Baydo owns a structural steel fabrication company. I'm really curious to see how the construction is going to progress with all of the steel bracing that is in place in the hole. That's a busy area down there.