[Downtown Victoria] Emaar project | 17- & 11-storeys | Canceled

[aastra]

On a bad day the buses can cost me an hour of wasted waiting time.

[G-Man]

Yeah I am not saying that good efficient transit exists now but it can be created.

There are many cities in this world where people would laugh at the suggestion on driving into town to go to a meeting.

If we invest in a ton of buildings now that incorporate parking in the central structure of a building. What happens to that area when it stops being used? I don't know many people that want to have a room with a drainage slant.

[Mike K.]

If parking demands decrease inside our new buildings the spaces could be inexpensively converted to storage lockers. Plenty of folks living in condos need a bit of extra room to pack away their belongings and whatnot

Like I said though, we shouldn't pro-actively encourage vehicular use but we should at the very least allow the free market to provide services that are no doubt in demand. I just don't want tax payers to foot the bill for a multi-million dollar facility when councillors of the future realize there's a parking crunch. My sense is that is exactly what will happen.

[Baro]

Perhaps Pam's visionary "parking gardens" are the answer.

[Icebergalley]

Wonder if anyone knows how much use is being made of the existing parking spaces in downtown places like City Place, Belvedere, Astoria?

[G-Man]

I know at my 30 unit condo / townhouse place on the edge of town about 25 percent of our parking is either empty or being used for alternate storage.

However it would be interesting for someone to compile a survey of new residential units. Say built in the last five years and look at how many units / how many stalls were built / then how many are actually used.

Welcome to the forum by the way!

[Mike K.]

Parking gardens -- exactly! :lol: Or even better, parking gardens for the blind (...based on a request at a recent public hearing)

Iceberg, my understanding is that condo buyers snatch up parking very quickly. I would imagine Astoria and Belveder and City Place sold out of their parking spots as quick as every other development has.

[G-Man]

^ Ownership and use are very different though. Many people buy them with their unit even if they will not use it simply for the subsequent re-sale.

[VicHockeyFan]

63 units at my place (1/4 batchelor, 1/4 one, 1/4 one+den, 1/4 2-bed).

36 parking stalls. The waiting list has never been more than 3 peeps, and there has rarely been a surplus, with more than 2 available at any time.

They CANNOT be rented out to non-building residents. Only 5 are owned by suite-owners, the rest sit in the rental pool.

[G-Man]

Your building is pretty old to have less than 100% parking. In fact that is less than the mandatory amount now of 70%.

[Mike K.]

Originally Posted by G-Man

^ Ownership and use are very different though. Many people buy them with their unit even if they will not use it simply for the subsequent re-sale.

True, but resale with subsequent use by another resident.

VHF, I was under the impression that some peeps in your building park in nearby parkades or lots?

[Kapten Kapsell]

The Wave has approximately 55 parking spaces and 101 residential units.

[G-Man]

That doesn't seem right either there is supposed to be a car spot for 66% or 70% of the units... Weird

I guess it is hard to tell about usage yet on the Wave but does it seem quite full already?

[Icebergalley]

The Wave is in Harris Green?

Isn't the parking requirement reduced or waived?

[rayne_k]

Originally Posted by Icebergalley

The Wave is in Harris Green?

Isn't the parking requirement reduced or waived?

Hmmm..... I looked it up.. can you believe none? :smt017

http://http://www.victoria&#..._367_2.pdf

[G-Man]

Cool Thanks!

[Scaper]

I think it is great that a developer wants to give public parking as part of the amenity package. It's way better for the developer to pay for it that tax payers a few years down the road when all these surface parking lots are gone. And if we want to encourage people to come downtown parking is a huge part of making it easier for suburbians to so. Sure some can take the bus but most have familys and businesses. Take their kids to soccer, have family dinners, run businesses, etc. Most people like myself have no time to ride a bike downtown put my shopping purchases in a basket of my bike and ride back to Saanich. I do agree though that the parking would be best as underground....but then again we get into affordablility issues. Do we mind if we pass on the millions required to build multy level underground parking garages to the condo buyer? I guess it's all a choice.

Again the other thing that bothers me is the Mayor and friends were happy with an 18 story tower behind the Empress at 5.5 to one but a 20 story 5.5 to one building in Harris Green is too dense. Yet the Hudson at 24 stories looks good to the planning department and council! Yet the Mayor and Geoff Young and folks said that the clock tower building was too dense, and yet the 6.0 to 1 Juliet a block away from the Capital six building was good land use to these people. Is there any logic to any of this??? I think we have a bunch of people on council that have no rhyme or reason for there choice making except for public opion. When the public pressure get applied such as the Falls and the Juliet....things seem to work!

[rchauhan]

No, there is not any logic at all. I know what you mean because I don't get it either. The decisions of the Mayor and friends seem to go all over the place; yet, they want more people to live in the downtown core. I personally think that the proposal for the Capitol 6 parking lot is attractive (a lot better than what's there right now). Yet, a 20-storey is too dense, when in fact a 24 looks good.

[Rob Randall]

This is the revised version of this project. The previous stepped-wave slab was rejected for too many deviations from the site zoning.

South (View St.) elevation:



North (Yates St.) elevation:



East (St. Vincent de Paul side) elevation:



West (Capitol 6 theatre side) elevation:



South (interior courtyard) elev:



North (interior courtyard) elev:



Landscaping plan showing interior courtyard featuring a non-accessible "zen garden" between the towers and a mid-block walkthrough on the east side against the St. Vincent de Paul tower's blank wall:





The following streetscape views only show "massing models" (rough renderings showing the general shape of the project, not the fine details):

[Baro]

Two "slim" towers? not bad. I find the design a little boring though. Maybe they'll grow on me. I like the amount of glass. Victoria seems to think big edmonton style slab walls with small windows, that just happen to be covered in pastel stucco, as "herritage".

[gumgum]

Works for me. Would be a welcome addition.

[Holden West]

Yates and View streets are very different in size and character. I don't see why they should have identical towers.

[aastra]

Victoria seems to think big edmonton style slab walls with small windows, that just happen to be covered in pastel stucco, as "heritage".

I've said it before, if we're so afraid of looking like Vancouver that we're willing to look like Edmonton as the alternative then we've got a serious identity crisis.

I don't like perfect twins. I don't know anybody outside of Alberta who does. Any staggering of the heights at all would be most appreciated.

The esthetics have taken a major step backward, it would appear. Victoria city council strikes again!

Anybody else less than thrilled with the storefronts on the Yates Street side?

The through-block walkway should be eliminated. Absolutely stupid idea. I pity the developer for having to include it.

If the exteriors of these buildings are very glassy and contemporary then they could be okay. A strong contrast with the giant featureless orange brick that is the Capitol 6 is desperately needed.

[m0nkyman]

Aastra, besides your cheap shot at Alberta, I agree completely. I don't know anyone in Alberta who likes Edmonton architecture either. They just seem to have had it foisted on them. Not quite sure why.

[Nparker]

I see both pluses amd minuses in the latest vision for this lot. On the plus side I find the height of the Yates street tower a nice balance with The Wave at the other end of the block. The minus is the "twin-ness" of the towers, and the overall blockiness. I'd still rather see something a bit rounder, and some sort of variation in the design between the Yates tower and View tower would be nice.

And maybe it's just me, but I really don't hate the "orange-brick slab" that is the Empire Theatre complex. A little power-washing on the outside, and with the new towers behind it and the Empire might be quite nice. Bottom line is that it is quite representative of the 1978 - 1982 era in public structures (see Tillicum Mall for a similar approach).

I hold my breath that what ultimately gets built on this dreadful surface parking lot becomes something we can all appreciate for many years to come.