Developers behind a proposal for a three-building, mixed-use project at the corner of Fort and Quadra streets will have to work with city staff to bring the ­project in line with city ­guidelines.

City of Victoria staff had ­recommended outright rejection of the project, which includes buildings ranging in height from 10 storeys to 27, but council voted 7-2 to keep the proposal alive.

It asked staff to work with Pacific Arbour Six, which is affiliated with PARC Retirement Living, to revise the proposal to better align with city policy, and referred the project to its ­advisory design panel.

Coun. Matt Dell said he didn’t mind the size of the project and suggested it represented a vote of confidence in the city’s ­downtown.

“Any building that’s going to put people downtown to ­support our coffee shops, to support our stores downtown is badly needed,” he said.

“I don’t think work-from-home workers are coming back, so this is the kind of thing that’s going to solve that problem.”

Mayor Marianne Alto said there is an appetite for a ­landmark project on the site.

“My only real hope is that it does not take a very long time,” she said, noting an earlier and much smaller version of the ­project went to council in 2017.

https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/developer-told-to-revise-fort-street-tower-plan-12312328

Councillors Marg Gardiner and Stephen Hammond voted against the motion to have staff work with PARC on revisions.

Hammond initially wanted to decline the project outright, and when that motion was defeated, he voted against having the city work with the developers, saying they were being given too much latitude.

Gardiner said there was much to like about the project, from the seniors housing to the ­child-care facility and mixed use, but it involved too much density and height for the site.

“Breaking form with the OCP in this extreme way will not be acceptable to the general ­public,” she said.

“Breaking form with the OCP in this extreme way will not be acceptable to the general ­public,” she said.

You mean like plunking missing middle housing anywhere you feel like?

Sounds about right, actually.

For purposes of comparison:

-a 2017 CBC article claimed "past estimates" had put the seismic retrofit of BC's provincial legislature at "somewhere between $700 million and $900 million"

-Pasadena city hall's retrofit back in 2008 cost north of $120 million USD

-in a 2016-17 report, BC's provincial government put the following price tags on seismic upgrades to various schools:

Wellington Secondary – Nanaimo – ($22.6 million) seismic upgrade
Dunsmuir Middle – Sooke – ($11.8 million) seismic upgrade
Cloverdale Elementary – Greater Victoria – ($3.1 million) seismic upgrade
Cortes Elementary Junior Secondary – Cortes Island – ($2.3 million) seismic upgrade
Pinecrest Elementary – Campbell River – ($2.8 million) seismic upgrade
Lochside Elementary – Victoria – ($1.6 million) seismic upgrade

Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith – ($11.6 million) seismic upgrade
Lord Strathcona Elementary – ($25.6 million) seismic upgrade
Queen Mary Elementary – ($19.1 million) seismic upgrade
Dr. Annie B. Jamieson Elementary – ($13.1 million) seismic upgrade
Windsor Secondary – North Vancouver – ($5 million) seismic upgrade
Alpha Secondary – Burnaby – ($27.2 million) seismic upgrade
Montecito Elementary – Burnaby – ($3.8 million) seismic upgrade
l’École Côte-du-soleil – Powell River – ($2.8 million) seismic upgrade
Langley Secondary – ($26.2 million) – seismic upgrade
Yale Secondary – Abbotsford – ($9.8 million) seismic upgrade

^Apparently Salt Lake City LDS temple just completed a $125 million USD seismic upgrade.

Christ Church Cathedral at Burrard and Georgia: multi-year work completed in 2016 to the tune of more than $20 million for seismic upgrades, new roof, etc.

St. Andrews-Wesley United Church at Burrard and Nelson: full seismic upgrade, roofing replacement, etc. to the tune of $30 million in 2021.

~$50 million for future work on Victoria's Christ Church Cathedral in the 2030s would seem to be an extremely hopeful and optimistic rock-bottom estimate, fingers and toes crossed, etc.