November 8th, 2019
BURLINGTON, ON
During a walking tour led by staff from the Planning department one of the group asked what was happening to the Bridgewater development.
The small crowd of 40 people were at the foot of Elizabeth Street at Lakeshore; it was evident there wasn’t anything going on at the site.
The planners leading the tour said “you can get an update on the city web site.
The Gazette had been told earlier in October that there had been an HVAC worked strike which slowed things down and also that the hotel operation that was going to go into the north west building had asked for a design change with the windows.
We went to the city web site and copied the information posted there on what the current schedule is supposed to be.
Then we arranged for a photograph to be taken from the condo directly across the street.
The data provided and the picture don’t appear to tell the same story.
Construction lives by the weather – and is managed by people who understand the demands of the markets.
The path to the public area is said to be ready in October – it is now November. The pictures were taken on the 5th of November.
People who bought into the development and sold their homes expecting the builder to meet the schedule are more than disappointed.
When approved the development was referred to as The Legacy building. It was at one point going to soar 30 storeys into the sky. The hotel was going to be ready for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
There were issues before New Horizons took over the construction of the development site which at one point was home for a small motel.
At this rate the Adi brothers will have the Nautique built and occupied before people will be able to walk though the dream that the Bridgewater was supposed to be.
Could the delay possibly mean they have not sold enough units to pay for completion?
Stephen, I live right across the street from the Bridgewater Development. Before purchasing my unit I was told by the developer that there were plans to build across the street. The developer also angled our building to provide a better view for the owners. I made the decision to purchase my unit.
So much more could have been done to make the Bridgewater more aesthetically pleasing. There could have been some terracing instead of a tall, straight building with both the owners of that building and the one I live in to be able to look into each others units. Some of the prospective owners of the Bridgewater units will be looking into the concrete wall of the hotel.
If the Bridgewater developers attempted to make any changes to the original plan this development might not have gone forward. This project had been grandfathered by Conservation Halton. Today no development would take place so close to the water’s edge, and the fact that there is a 10 metre opening between the tower and the hotel, instead of the 25 metre required to avoid wind tunnels.
Why are projects that were planned years previously and grandfathered not have to be built to the standards of the day?
At the end of the day, owners purchase a unit, it is not possible to ever guarantee a view.
I moved to Burlington 6 years ago, and I have to say this development has not looked much different in all that time. Lakeshore half blocked, empty windows, equipment parked everywhere, and usually no sign of workers. I’ve always assumed the developer needs to sell another unit In order to pay the workers for another few days of construction. Instead of this travesty being used as a precedent to justify other nearby giant towers, it should be an object lesson in what can go wrong when over-development is permitted (or imposed against all logic — see OMB/LPAT).
With precedents now established and with the Ontario government’s Bill 108…we have just more of the same to look forward to…pity..
I feel sorry for all those people in the condo across the road who bought a unit expecting to have a beautiful vista, but instead are now are treated to staring at another sterile, ugly, concrete edifice.
This is why we should all be highly suspicious of developers. They market their wonderful creations, and in isolated relief the architect’s models look spectacular. However, drop them into an increasingly congested downtown and what you end up with is an agglomeration of ugly, mundane buildings which, in the aggregate, are neither distinctive nor appealing.
The city has been telling us about “Windows to the Lake”. For many years residents were led to believe that this would provide a wide of expanse of the water.
Take a look at the opening between the two buildings in the current photo – would you call this a “Window to the Lake”? It’s more of a quick glance at the lake. This development has a 10 metre opening between the 2 buildings. It has been determined to avoid having a wind tunnel the opening between buildings should be a minimum of 25 metres.
Approval for a development on this site was granted years ago, at a time when perhaps this information was not available, and prior to when Conservation Halton declared that building so close to the Lake should not take place.
My question. Is there a minimum size requirement for a developer to call something a “Window to the Lake”? Does this window have to provide an unobstructed view to the lake?