unregistered user on August 18 2009:
I have to disagree. I lived in the building for 9 years and I never heard my neighbour. The only thing I could hear outside of my unit was the occasional door slam.

unregistered user on October 4 2009:
really? maybe you were next to stairwell or empty unit? i agree with the reviewer. i lived in the building for 2 years and was woken up every morning for 8 months at 6am by a neighbours alarm. could here it through the wall. could also see light from his apartment coming through the top of drywall. also had the neighbour on the other side complain of my late night 'partying' on a few occassions. i was talking to my mother on the phone. sound was a definite issue for me. as were the sirens.

unregistered user on November 16 2009:
Like the first comment, I also live in the building, and rarely hear neighbours, thanks to the steel/concrete consrtuction of the building and the excellent wall insulation and layout designs. There is some street noise, but such is the reality of living in such a central, downtown location. And no, I am not next to empty suites or stairwells. I have neighbours on both sides. Great building, great location.

unregistered user on November 27 2009:
It really depends where you are. This guy was probably in one of the ghetto suites on the 2nd floor. by getto i mean 300sq.ft. with murphy beds and ladders. I'm on the 5th and we've got big units and it's pretty quiet. and the view... Basically if you've got a bedroom in this building you're stoked.

unregistered user on December 8 2009:
i also currently live in the building, 3rd floor corner unit (about 500 Sqft). won't state the unit for strata purposes. I will be putting my unit up for sale this coming spring due to noise issues and simply to look for a better, more private space. While i haven't had the severity of sound issues the first reviewer did, i have certainly found insulation between units to be very subpar. yes it is a concrete construction EXTERIOR and floor to floor (up and down) concrete only exists on shared walls for the penthouses. best NOT to advertise this building as concrete construction as that is quite misleading.the steel/concrete construction on this building is not between units as one reviewer implies, a simple knock test on the interior walls will give you a quick answer on that one. maybe you're in a penthouse or some special unit. shared walls were constructed with dry wall and two by fours, no insulation in my unit either. the layouts are quite neat and imaginative, quite unique. a bedroom would be nice! the view is good once you get up there. Too small for me and while imaginative the new construction was done very cheaply and that and the sound, is why i'm moving! 5th floor larger unit would be nice. didn't know they had separate bedrooms though?

unregistered user on January 21 2010:
I think most people who have spent time looking at condos will have a sense of what "concrete and steel" refers to. Good seismic structure and no California design leaky condo syndrome here! I looked at many new condo buildings during my search, and haven't seen many new condos in Victoria with solid concrete walls between suites. Having said this, the Mosaic has proven remarkably quiet and private for ME, and since I moved in I don't think I've heard overt neighbour noises once. Others have noted location in the building, and I do think this is important. I own a corner suite on higher floor, so it feels like I only really have one neighbour. The Mosaic is minimalist living at its best. Fantastic location (I work downtown, so don't need a car), stylish building, imaginative interior designs that have a wonderful economy of space (they did really make the most of the available suite space when they built this place). I looked at a lot of propoerties before buying here, and the Mosaic truly was the best bang for the buck - by a longshot. I saw a lot of shoddy cardboard box condos in suburbia going for much higher price, although admittedly many of those do boast a bit more square footage and a bona fide bedroom. But for what I paid, nothing else in downtown came close when all factors are considered.

unregistered user on February 13 2010:
garbage building. sold after less than a year of ownership. was not impressed at all. probably best to take the opinion of people currently not living in the building as current owners/occupants have a significant bias (i would not be slamming it if i were still trying to sell or lived there).

unregistered user on April 4 2010:
I owned a condo in the Mosaic (sold it a couple years ago, cuz I took a job on the mainland) and it was great. My only regret is selling and moving out when I did. Seriously, this is a solid, quality building, with funky art-deco design, great location, and I really miss living there. I think this guy who posted above has an obvious axe to grind. Maybe he was one of the few renters (not owners) over the years who got evicted for being an asshole. Yep, no building is without its bad apples. My advice to anyone interested in this building is to ignore these anonymous comments, which are worth little if a name isn't attached. Have a realtor show you a unit - if one is available for show. I remember before I bought there I examined the council minutes going back right to the start, and they showed a virtually flawless history when it comes to structural and other issues. In the few years I lived there, I had no problems with anything or any noise in my unit, and when it came time to sell, I recall a bidding war in the first week it was listed, sold quickly. That tells how popular it is on the open market, unlike some of those MLS listings that seem to sit idle for months and months. I'm moving back to the island, and am considering buying back into the Mosaic if available, and renting out my current Vancouver condo as an investment property.

unregistered user on May 28 2010:
the guy/girl above doesn't seem to have an axe to grind. seems pretty honest. there seem to be a number of other OWNERS with similar and/or worse experiences. sound/insulation wouldn't be encompassed in structural issues. its interesting to read the opinions of posters/owners/renters