[St. John's] The Official Project Thread

[IronMan]

Originally Posted by Townie709

Thanks for the update Signal! I've been out of town for a few months now, so I haven't been able to appreciate the progress.

Star of the Sea is looking fantastic — definitely one of my favourite additions to our downtown in quite some time. It goes to show that a modern development of scale can, in fact, embrace the colourful elements of our heritage without:

• sticking out like a sore thumb;
• looking like a cheap imitation.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can say the same for the Hilton. Those red panels really cheapen the look of the building. In this area of downtown, I think the modern design with more glass and less colour would have been a better fit. That being said, I haven't seen it in person so I will reserve final judgement. With any luck, it'll soon be obscured from the important angles by the new Jag extension and concert hall!

I agree. Unfortunately the original design of the Hilton was considered too plain and there were complaints re the design. Then there was a redesign that was ridiculous, and then this actual design was at least the third one. Between the heritage and NIMBYS it's a wonder that anything is built here.

I totally agree with your comments re the Star of the Sea.

Also, I wish Council would consider the height restrictions. With every decent development our skyline looks more and more like someone ran a lawnmower over downtown to make everything even! Lol!

Love thew pics Signal! Your work is amazing!

[Horsell]

Great pics as usual. I particularly like the one with the three towers, a few more in that area in the coming years and it will start to look like a real Downtown.

[Engibeer]

Originally Posted by statbass

Do you know if that includes utilities? That's still seems pretty steep to me. I'm not sure we have a market here to sustain those prices. That's a lot of money to dish out for a rental. A few years ago with oil execs coming back and forth I'd say it was feasible. Given the current environment, I'm not so sure. I hope they can prove me wrong.

Martek has provided some follow-up remarks on their apartments @ Star of the Sea. Although the top floor units are quite expensive, I don't want to misrepresent the pricing structure.

"In our building as a whole, the average monthly rent (with parking including) across all floors is around $1,850. We have units starting at prices as low as $1,275 (again, including parking). A number of these units have already been committed - as have some of our higher priced units on the top floor. "

Also I agree, the building fits downtown quite nicely! Great pictures SHH.

[crackiedog]

Originally Posted by Townie709

Thanks for the update Signal! I've been out of town for a few months now, so I haven't been able to appreciate the progress.

Star of the Sea is looking fantastic — definitely one of my favourite additions to our downtown in quite some time. It goes to show that a modern development of scale can, in fact, embrace the colourful elements of our heritage without:

• sticking out like a sore thumb;
• looking like a cheap imitation.

Unfortunately, I don't think I can say the same for the Hilton. Those red panels really cheapen the look of the building. In this area of downtown, I think the modern design with more glass and less colour would have been a better fit. That being said, I haven't seen it in person so I will reserve final judgement. With any luck, it'll soon be obscured from the important angles by the new Jag extension and concert hall!

I was just home for a quick visit and I hate to say but the Hilton doesn't look any better in person. It is OK but definitely looks a little on the cheap side in my opinion. I agree that the slightly more modern design would have been a better fit. Not a lot of change would have been required. I don't know why they went with the design they have in place now.

http://i.imgur.com/8iEqBVih.png

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Engibeer

Martek has provided some follow-up remarks on their apartments @ Star of the Sea. Although the top floor units are quite expensive, I don't want to misrepresent the pricing structure.

"In our building as a whole, the average monthly rent (with parking including) across all floors is around $1,850. We have units starting at prices as low as $1,275 (again, including parking). A number of these units have already been committed - as have some of our higher priced units on the top floor. "

Also I agree, the building fits downtown quite nicely! Great pictures SHH.

Thanks for the update. So it looks like they have some interest already as some of the units are already spoken for. Good stuff!

[Marty_Mcfly]

Originally Posted by crackiedog

I was just home for a quick visit and I hate to say but the Hilton doesn't look any better in person. It is OK but definitely looks a little on the cheap side in my opinion. I agree that the slightly more modern design would have been a better fit. Not a lot of change would have been required. I don't know why they went with the design they have in place now.

http://i.imgur.com/8iEqBVih.png

The alternate design was....uh....infinitely worse. What's going up there now isn't too nice, but compared to what else was proposed when everyone kicked up a stink about the building it looks like a modern-day masterpiece.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by Marty_Mcfly

The alternate design was....uh....infinitely worse. What's going up there now isn't too nice, but compared to what else was proposed when everyone kicked up a stink about the building it looks like a modern-day masterpiece.

May be I'm a minority here, but I think it looks fine. It's not spectacular by any means but I also don't think it's hideous. I see nothing out of the ordinary - sometimes ordinary can be good.

Another thing to consider is that it's a Garden Inn. This Hilton brand is a step up from their economical brand - Hampton Inn. If you compare the look of the Garden Inn to other small/mid-size cities worldwide, the St. John's hotel is, in my mind, comparable.

Some may argue that it should've been built elsewhere. But it's current location close to Mile One and the convention centre makes it a very viable spot for Hilton.

I think (or at least I hope) as the west end DT continues to develop and we get more infill this hotel will blend in with the area and surrounding buildings.

[Arrakis]

Well it was bound to happen. The NIMBYS are out in full force to protest the proposed 10 story residential complex at Garrison Hill and Queens Road. Story is on front page of today’s Telegram.

[CBSNewbie]

It's all starting to get on my nerves. Don't build this, don't build that. Stop progress. Stop jobs in an economy that is desperate for them. Let's just keep things the way they always were. Boarded up with graffiti.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by CBSNewbie

It's all starting to get on my nerves. Don't build this, don't build that. Stop progress. Stop jobs in an economy that is desperate for them. Let's just keep things the way they always were. Boarded up with graffiti.

Starting to get on your nerves? Welcome to SSP St. John's my friend, lol! In all honesty, there's always a vocal minority stepping in to complain about development. Most others are just indifferent or apathetic to it so we hardly hear that side of the story. This is probably the only spot where pro-development is heard on a regular basis.

What I find strange is this concept that some think we are very different and unique to many other north american cities. We are different and unique to a certain degree, but not to extreme that some think. It's quite possible to blend old architecture will new and it doesn't take away from our heritage. Many European cities do this (they are much much older than us). Halifax does this better than us for goodness sake! Some have legitimate concerns about how this will maximize the benefit of the area and the public should have input in development. Process is important here.

The telegram article doesn't really help either, IMO. Putting 'Mammoth' in the title certainly brings some negative connotation to the forefront. To be honest, the development isn't mammoth and seems to fit well in the landscape. Some residents are complaining about green space, which is important to have. However (and please correct me if I'm wrong), but I don't think this is developed green space. Is this something a lot of people use or just a select few? I don't know.

There will always be NIMBYs and it's not unique to St. John's. I hope council sees the value in this and approves the development.

[CBSNewbie]

It does fit in very well. Also there are at least 4 NIMBY's on council.

[statbass]

Originally Posted by CBSNewbie

It does fit in very well. Also there are at least 4 NIMBY's on council.

Let's just hope there are more non-NIMBYs voting compared to the NIMBYs.

[Marty_Mcfly]

You will never please a NIMBY. This development sits really well into the large cliff/hill hanging off of Harvey Road, so this is honestly one of the best spots for a mid-rise development. There really isn't any green space at this location right now, it's sort of just nothing.

You can ask for the development to incorporate some (or more) green space. But vehemently opposing for the sake of doing so achieves nothing.

Also need to point out that forced-heritage designs can look just as bad as modern architecture. Just check out what they threw up on Harvey Road post-fire to see what tacky trash looks like.

[Vivid_Ascent]

Interesting article on the quality of renders we've been seeing from some of the recent development proposals

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/jim-case-on-architectural-drawings-1.5225971

[jjavman]

Originally Posted by Horsell

Great pics as usual. I particularly like the one with the three towers, a few more in that area in the coming years and it will start to look like a real Downtown.

Albeit ... a dwarf downtown ;-)

[Arrakis]

I see that the new Mary Browns on Water Sreet are painting a huge mural in the the side of their building. It’s weird how this got approved without any fanfare being in a historic area. Though from what I saw on the news, it looks like it’s gonna be very colourful and prob end being a tourist attraction.

[J_Murphy]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/mundy-pond-mews-centre-1.5230632

The latest in ridiculous NIMBY news...

The lady is concerned for this development because...."Small children will be tempted to cross the pond at the first sign that it appears solid,"

SMH

[J_Murphy]

Just came across this on Facebook...looks like they may be rebranding this building as “The Royal”.

http://www.facebook.com/The-Royal-on-Water-100971434586864/

[Engibeer]

Originally Posted by J_Murphy

Just came across this on Facebook...looks like they may be rebranding this building as “The Royal”.

http://www.facebook.com/The-Royal-on-Water-100971434586864/

Hoping for the best - pretty much any change has to be more aesthetically pleasing.

[J_Murphy]

Originally Posted by Engibeer

Hoping for the best - pretty much any change has to be more aesthetically pleasing.

Yes. It would be nice to see a render of what it's going to look like. Also, looks as though they are only doing the south side of the building this year. I wonder what the plans for the rest of the building are...