Victoria Chinatown

Victoria Real Estate is Growing Taller.

Over the last few years there have been many new condo towers built in Victoria. It does look like real estate is growing taller. Or is it? The Westshore of Victoria has approved some very tall buildings up to over 40 stories high. What about downtown Victoria? Well there are some 20 plus story buildings. The question then is, should we allow real estate to grow taller? The taller the buildings, the more prestigious they seem to be.

This is a dilemma that our local Victoria government has to deal with, and it’s not an easy task to say the least. As much as we all want to preserve the look and feel of Victoria, we must also make it affordable for developers to build and for people to live. A recent article by Carolyn Heiman, Times Colonist looks at the role the Victoria government is taking. It reads:

Too-tall downtown condo tower rejected for third time

Proposal for Crystal Court site too tall, council tells developer.

A developer is going back to the drawing board a fourth time after Victoria city council rejected a proposal for an 17-storey condominium on the Crystal Court Motel site in the tourist district.

Architect Jim Cheng, a spokesman for Westbank Corporation, offered to return to the council before the end of summer with a new proposal that would take into consideration council’s concerns that the project not interfere with views from the Inner Harbour or overwhelm the historic Fairmont Empress hotel and legislature building.

Cheng said later the company wants to get the proposal to a public hearing before a new council is elected in November which could be less sympathetic to development proposals.

While city staff recommended to council that the Westbank application for a public hearing be declined, a divided council staved off a complete roadblock for the project by tabling the application, giving the developer time to return with revisions.

Staff said the building, which would rise up above distinctive heritage rooflines, would have an impact on the historic character of the Inner Harbour. As well, the project went counter to a recently adopted policy of not increasing allowable height in that area.

The zoning currently allows a 21.5-metre-high building, compared to the 53.1-metre proposal put forward by Westbank.

Westbank has been working on the project for two years, originally proposing a condominium tower along with a space for a satellite exhibition space for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

When that plan was turned down, the firm came back with a proposal for two 10-storey towers which also didn’t receive much community or staff support. The latest proposal called for a 112-unit residential tower on the east portion of the site and a two-storey pavilion for commercial use on the west side across from Thunderbird Park.

Several councillors — Geoff Young, Helen Hughes, Chris Coleman, Charlayne Thornton-Joe and Bea Holland — all prefer a single tower on the project, but said the proposed building was too high.

Cheng said council made some good points and the developer wants to return with a plan that will take them into account.

He noted the amenity package being offered to the city would also change, however.

The developer offered the city a cash contribution of $400,000, art on the site valued at $150,000, road work and traffic lights valued at $354,000 and $106,000 for right of way improvements along Belleville Street.

Chandler said she would be happy to give up the money in favour of the right project for the site. End of article.  Carolyn Heiman can be reached at cheiman@tc.canwest.com

Do you think the downtown Victoria real estate should be allowed to grow tall? We would love to hear from you.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill Ethier B.Sc - REALTOR®

Properties in Victoria Professionals- Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty

Bill has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 2006. Originally from the Vancouver area, Bill moved to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria where he received his Bachelor of Science. Not only does Bill have a wealth of real estate knowledge he is also an active member of the community. He is a member of Triple Shot Cycling Club, Island Road Racers and is the Race Director for the Sooke River 10K.

Victoria Real Estate Might Get Solar Powered Hot Water

Building green is certainly a hot topic in Victoria’s real estate market. Is anyone building green? Well there are some projects out there like the Dockside Green.

What can we do as individuals to save energy etc. Solar powered hot water is one of many ways to tap in to the green trend. Our beloved government has now started a new program called SolarBC. This program hopes to have 100,000 homes with solar powered hot water by 2020.  A recent article by Andrew A. Duffy, Victoria Times Colonist reads:

B.C. homeowners turning on to solar-powered hot water

SolarBC hoping provincial grants will turn the tide to green alternative.

The provincial government has invested $5 million in a new program that could quite literally drag the province out of the Dark Ages when it comes to solar power.

The investment, announced last week in Dawson Creek, will fund SolarBC — a program designed to stimulate the use of solar power for hot-water heating in homes and institutions.

And it’s about time, according to one local business which specializes in installing solar hot-water heating systems.

“It’s a surprise it’s taken so long,” said Johnny Thiessen of Victoria’s Ambient Source Energy Systems, noting the technology has been around and proven for decades.

“I guess it’s taken a long time to work though the bureaucratic process.” In much the same way, solar-power options have apparently taken a long time to trickle into the public consciousness.

“That’s down to a combination of cheap resources, comfy sofas and beautiful scenery,” said Guy Dauncey, president of the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, which came up with the idea of SolarBC and the goal of having 100,000 B.C. roofs sporting solar panels to heat hot water by 2020.

Dauncey points out countries like Spain and Israel have made solar hot-water systems mandatory for new buildings, and China has seen the installation of 40 million of the systems.

B.C. is just now getting into the game, and Dauncey believes that’s due to the province having the luxury of inexpensive hydroelectric power and no sense of urgency to switch to sustainable energy-heating sources.

He’s hoping the SolarBC program will help change that thinking.

Before the end of 2010, SolarBC expects to spur the installation of more than 2,000 solar systems in homes around the province. At this point it’s estimated that fewer than 500 buildings in B.C. are currently using solar power for hot water.

SolarBC will provide a $1,000 point-of-sale discount to individuals for solar hot-water installations, a discount which can be combined with other government program discounts to take $1,625 off the estimated $5,000 to $8,000 cost of installing a system.

The SolarBC program will also include incentives for municipalities, social housing, First Nations and schools as it tries to break down the barrier to conversion.

“We will be establishing five solar communities that will take on a leadership role and act as flagship communities in the province,” said SolarBC executive director Nitya Harris in a release. “Together with these communities we will launch training and outreach programs that will build capacity and raise awareness of solar hot water.”

At this point SolarBC has applications from 19 communities to take one of the five spots, including Saanich, Colwood, North Saanich, Sooke First Nation, Ladysmith and Tofino. The five will be chosen in September.

According to Dauncey, those communities will get a $20,000 grant to work with plumbing inspectors and city staff to smooth the transition, as well as helping train more plumbers in using the technology.

“It is an industry that is tiny and now we are helping it go mainstream by getting that kind of stuff [plumbers and inspectors] lined up,” he said.

Thiessen estimates there is a minute fraction of homes in Greater Victoria currently using this kind of system, but he believes with a little exposure it will find a strong market.

“The implications are it could be really quite huge in B.C.,” he said, noting rate increases for B.C. Hydro are now the norm as are increases in gas prices. “When this project really gets underway and people see the systems in operation and they see they are paying less for electricity or gas I think you’ll see the demand.” Joe Van Belleghem agrees.

The man behind the Dockside Green development, which was recently awarded LEED Platinum designation for its first residential phase, installed a solar hot-water system in his family home last winter and says it’s the kind of technology that will mesh with the current public consciousness around climate change.

“In the last couple of years there’s been this provincial focus on climate-change initiatives and people are starting to understand the cost of new electrical generation — they really want to start promoting the installation of new renewable systems,” he said.

And while Canada may be lagging behind countries like Japan and Germany when it comes to solar power, Van Belleghem said there’s no point dwelling on who is first to the party.

“This is a never-too-late kind of thing,” he said. “I see [SolarBC] as a good thing — we need to reduce our reliance in society on oil and gas and reduce our carbon footprints.” End of Article. Andrew Duffy can be reached at aduffy@tc.canwest.com

If you have any thoughts alternative energy, we would love to hear from you.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill Ethier B.Sc - REALTOR®

Properties in Victoria Professionals- Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty

Bill has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 2006. Originally from the Vancouver area, Bill moved to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria where he received his Bachelor of Science. Not only does Bill have a wealth of real estate knowledge he is also an active member of the community. He is a member of Triple Shot Cycling Club, Island Road Racers and is the Race Director for the Sooke River 10K.

wow..... Chinese net users jump 50% in one year! No wonder opinions of the Chinese netizens are getting more attention from mainstream media as well as the communist government these days...

IHT - China said the number of Internet users in the country reached about 253 million last month, helping China overtake the United States as the world's biggest Internet market.

The estimate, released by the China Internet Network Information Centre in Beijing, shows a powerful surge in Internet adoption in this country over the past few years, particularly among teenagers.

The estimate, based on a national survey, shows that the number of Internet users jumped more than 50 percent, or by about 90 million, during the past year, suggesting that China could soon have more than 300 million people using the Internet for everything from news to online shopping.

The new estimate of Internet users from the information centre, which operates under the government-controlled Chinese Academy of Sciences, only represents about 19 percent of people in China, underscoring the potential for growth.

By contrast, the United States is estimated to have about 220 million Internet users, or about 70 percent of its population, according to the Nielsen Company, with similarly high percentages in Japan and South Korea.

Although Internet sites inside China are heavily censored of political content, and foreign Web sites operating here have faced restrictions, online gaming, blogs and social networking and other entertainment sites in China are incredibly popular among young people.

Indeed, the survey released Thursday found that nearly 70 percent of China's Internet users are 30 years old or under, and that in the first half of this year high school students were, by far, the fastest-growing segment of new users, accounting for 39 million of the 43 million new users in the first six months of 2008.

The biggest news covered by all Hong Kong media outlets today is the scuffle between a group of Hong Kong reporters and Beijing cops when the final batch of 250,000 Olympic tickets went on sale yesterday.

The footage is shocking.... as everything was captured on tape that clearly showed the ugly denial of free reporting by the cops.

While the reporters were shooting visuals of ticket buyers pushing against a line of police officers, a Hong Kong cameraman was suddenly pulled down from his stairs by the cops. Other HK reporters rushed up to capture the scuffle, a dozen cops and reporters began pushing each other.

From the TV clipping above, a TV camera hit a cop's head by accident, but the cop grabbed a newspaper photographer and claiming he hit him. The photographer was taken away. Another TV reporter was attacked by a cop, and when the reporter tried to read the cop's ID number from his uniform, he was attacked again to his throat, knocking him to the ground.

A uniformed officer later talked to the HK reporters after they were hurdled away from shooting the crowd of ticket buyers, denying the officials were preventing reporters from doing their jobs. When a reporter asked: "Aren't you stopping us [to reporting] right now?" He said: "No, no. We've been cooperating with you."

When asked why the reporters were being roughed up, the officer said: "No, no reason."

One officer reminded the HK reporters that they were in Beijing and they had to follow Beijing's laws. He told HK reporters to "formally apply to the propaganda department to do the coverage." HK reporters replied that they were all accredited Olympic reporters thus were ordained by the state department for free reporting. Nonetheless, the reporters were rushed away.

I think scenes like these would only increase as the big day nears.

Buying Presales in Victoria Real Estate Market.

Buying real estate can be very stressful for many people and buying real estate that has not yet been built can be even more stressful. It also come with some risks. The disclosure statement that the developer gives you, most of the time allows the developer to do changes, and even cancel the project if they do not get enough presales. We always recommend that you have your lawyer read the disclosure statement and discuss the details with you.

This applies to all types of real estate that is presold; from a small bachelor suite to a prestigious penthouse, so talk to us or your favourite lawyer before taking the plunge.

There is now a new tool that helps home buyers navigate presales. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA), the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of BC (CHBA BC) and the Urban Development Institute (UDI) are introducing a new tool to assist home buyers in the purchase of homes under development, also known as presales.

Over the years, thousands of British Columbians have entered into contracts to buy new homes before the construction of their homes had begun or during the construction period, The Presale Cross Reference List helps ensure home buyers are aware of the unique considerations involved in purchasing these properties.

The Presale Cross Reference List is intended as a starting point for home buyers to determine whether enquiries, advice or clarification is needed when navigating the purchase of a home in a multifamily development under construction. Buyers unfamiliar with such projects may require extensive consultation with knowledgeable professionals who have experience with presale investments.

Presales are an excellent vehicle for purchasers to buy a new home and often result in cost savings for the purchaser. However, as with any investment, consumers need to understand what the opportunities and risks are to make an informed decision.

CHBA BC has partner with BCREA and UDI to be a part of this great tool that will assist REALTORS® in disseminating reliable information about presales to consumers. This joint effort is the culmination of extensive work by industry to enhance consumer confidence and further raise the bar of professionalism within residential construction. In other word, good news for the consumer.

If you have any thoughts on buying presales or any other type of real estate, we would love to hear from you.

Cheers,
Bill

Bill Ethier B.Sc - REALTOR®

Properties in Victoria Professionals- Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty

Bill has been a REALTOR® in Victoria since 2006. Originally from the Vancouver area, Bill moved to Victoria to attend the University of Victoria where he received his Bachelor of Science. Not only does Bill have a wealth of real estate knowledge he is also an active member of the community. He is a member of Triple Shot Cycling Club, Island Road Racers and is the Race Director for the Sooke River 10K.

On a recent overnight trip to Whistler my husband and I decided we wanted to go for breakfast at a non chain-type restaurant. We left our hotel and headed to the Whistler Village. On the way we drove right by a small restaurant called the Southside Diner. The Diner is located below a Youth hostel and provides a riveting view of the Husky gas station so we drove by it without a second glance. After wandering around the village for a couple of hours we decided there wasn't an eatery there that fit the bill for what we wanted. We decided to head back towards Vancouver and see what we could find. As we approached the corner where the Southside Diner is I commented that it looked busy, and that was usually a good sign. Besides, at that point I could have eaten straw and been happy. We gave it a try. What a brilliant decision it was. The service was exceptional and the food was great. No one raised an eyebrow when we ordered breakfast at 1:15 in the afternoon. The place was packed with lots of locals so you know it had to be good food, good service, and good prices!  I think this restaurant is the hidden restaurant gem in Whistler. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and it is a perfect place to enjoy the local atmosphere.

 

Not again.....

Local Chinese radio "phone-in" programs are famous to be the castle of conservatism, especially on Christian values such as homosexuality and abortion. Hosts will try whatever chance to make an non-issue an issue, making the Chinese radio one of the most important activists for ultra-right, and sometimes hateful attitudes against people they don't like.

Today, one phone-in program talks about gay tourism. Councillor Tim Stevenson threw the idea last week that Vancouver should support initiatives that promote lesbian tourism, which I believe is an non-issue and I believe so do the majority of the mainstream population. Here's the story from CKNW:

A Vancouver councilor wants to give tourism Vancouver a 25-thousand-dollar grant to launch a tourism campaign targeted at lesbians in the U.S.

Vision Vancouver’s Tim Stevenson says this would be one way to help out the tourism industry...

"This is the number one destination for American lesbians so we really need to promote what a beautiful city we have how safe it is how open it is and how welcoming it is."

Stevenson says in the US, lesbian tourism is a multi-billion-dollar industry and Vancouver needs to tap into that market.

The host is posting a very directional question to the audience: Should we use city money - taxpayers money - to promote gay tourism? Should we really support gay people and even spend money to attract them to come to Vancouver? Should we make Vancouver a paradise for gays?

Of course, questions like these naturally attract anti-gay comments from the active right wing Chinese audience. One caller thinks making Vancouver a gay-friendly destination would downgrade the city's taste. He says gays can visit "other cities" such as San Francisco or Amsterdam, not Vancouver.

One said Vancouver should become a "clean, civilized" city, and should not promote gay or gambling. The host and a couple of callers say making Vancouver a gay-friendly destination would deter tourists who don't like gays from visiting Vancouver.

One caller says whoever makes that suggestion (promoting gay tourism) will never get the Chinese votes.

More:

• does Vancouver have anything special to offer to gay tourists? If we do not have any special attractions that San Francisco doesn't have, why should we make so much effort to compete?
• promoting tourism is good but homosexuality is controversial. Why don't we promote something that all citizens welcome, such as the dragon boat festival, or the aboriginal art and culture?"
• one caller said he once accidentally entered a gay bar in downtown and was harassed by a guy within a few minutes. he said thing like this is completely tasteless and "why should we attract those people to our city?"
• Ladner has the vision of not promoting gay tourism.
• Only one caller thinks it's a good idea. "I support promoting Vancouver as a gay tourism destination; many great artists such as Elton John, George Michael or Leslie Cheung are talented gays who are loved by all of us; attracting gay tourists will not degrade the city's taste."

Sad.

Attitudes like these make me shameful to be a part of the Vancouver's Chinese media. The reason I write this article is to show English-speaking citizens how conservative the Chinese community can be (I bet this would mean inviting criticism from the Chinese community against myself :P)

Fortunately, the guest host was able to present a more tolerant view towards the end.

 

A trip up to Whistler is always busy busy busy. There is so much to do there. It is difficult to decide what to participate in when you are there for a short stay. One thing is for certain, you are guaranteed to be tired and hungry by the end of the day. After playing 18 holes of golf and then going out for dinner, I wanted some peace and quiet and some time to unwind. We found the perfect spot to do that at the Nita Lake Lodge. This boutique hotel is fairly new to the Whistler area and is a little oasis in an otherwise bustling town.  It offered all the amenities we were looking for including an upscale restaurant as well as a Bistro type coffee shop.  The hotel itself is situated across the street (highway 99) from Whistler’s Creekside gondola. It is right on Nita Lake so we woke up to a very calming lakeside view.  I would certainly agree with the staff when they say they have the best back yard in Whistler. For me this hotel had it all and more. The staff were great, very friendly and knowledgeable about the area and all there was to do.  You are situated close enough to the Whistler Village to enjoy all it has to offer, yet the hotel’s location is quiet and relaxing. The hotel offers a complimentary shuttle back and forth to the village so you can have that second glass of wine or if you like, take full advantage of Whistler’s night life. Then, when you are ready to call it a day, the shuttle will take you back to a little piece of hotel heaven. 

My wife and I just had the most fantastic time zip lining through the rainforest near Sooke at a place called Adrena Line Adventure Tours. With seven runs in total, (the longest being about 305 m (1,000 ft)  and 46 m (150 ft) above ground), it took about an hour and a half to zig zag our way down the hillside.

Our guides were great. They got us hooked up with all the necessary gear and took us on a training zip line (the bunny slope of the zip lining world). We then boarded the funkiest 4-wheel drive vehicles that drove us along an old logging road to the hilltop. Views of the Sooke Basin, Olympic Mountains and Juan de Fuca Strait were amazing. Do not forget your camera on this trip.

 As someone who gets a little uneasy after making it half way up a step ladder, I was a little leery of how I might make out on this adventure. But as soon as we had our introduction and trial run we both felt very safe and secure with the equipment and the experienced guides – I couldn’t believe that I was zipping upside down on my second line!

The last line before the end is the steepest and people have been clocked going 65 km/hr (40 mph)!

Adrena Line is approximately 40 minutes from downtown Victoria on Hwy 14. Sooke has a ton of other fun activities to do including whale watching, ocean kayaking and hiking.