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-   -   [Halifax] The Keep | 27 m | 8 fl | Completed (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=201358)

halifaxboyns Jun 26, 2013 5:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waye Mason (Post 6144741)
This was moved and passed today at Council for a joint Regional Council/Halifax & West Community council public hearing in June.

Good first step. Lets get the DA approved and repeat this about 20 times down the street. Alan Ruffman's comment in the CBC article is just precious. He wants the right to appeal plan amendments. What's next? Appeal Hiring of planners? He and these nimbys will end up being the ones who buy these units. There is the irony...

Wishblade Jun 26, 2013 6:08 PM

My question is why on earth would you buy property next to Quinpool road and not expect buildings of at least this height to go up? Hell, if I were buying in that area I would have the expectation of proposals 3x this high to be possible. I personally think this building is quite a bit shorter than what we should be aiming for for this street.

terrynorthend Jun 26, 2013 7:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmcclassic (Post 6178325)
Council apparently approved this one last night - creating lots of anger for the local NIMBYs.

Article link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...-building.html

I don't think these people realize that Quinpool Tower is right across the street...

No surprise here. Not the NIMBYs so much, you get them everywhere. What is no surprise is that the Mother-Ship, CBC, jumps straight to Public Outcry (which is probably between 2 and a dozen neighbours) and zero mention of the potential benefits of this development especially regarding recent news on the future costs of sprawl to the municipality.

I'm lefty as anyone on this board, and love the Mother-Ship, it has great programming and beats the hell out of local commercial radio, but come-on! Their newsroom is sounding like the Editorial department of The Coast.

As for the development, it is reasonable mid-rise infill on a transit corridor, and will add only up to 70 residents to the area, most, if I'd hazard a guess, without cars. The parking lot west of the current plaza opens straight through to Pepperell and is full everyday, with cars entering and exiting onto Pepperell frequently. This will be no worse, and depending on what becomes of the surface parking present now, may actually represent an improvement to the traffic volumes on Pepperell.

visualman57 Jun 26, 2013 8:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcmcclassic (Post 6178325)
Council apparently approved this one last night - creating lots of anger for the local NIMBYs.

Article link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...-building.html

I don't think these people realize that Quinpool Tower is right across the street...

To me, it seems that an entrance to an underground parking garage for an apartment building would be LESS busy than the entrance to a parking lot with a Tim Hortons and several other retail businesses. Obviously, I'm not thinking straight.

RyeJay Jun 26, 2013 8:39 PM

They should be grateful that 30-storeys isn't getting developed next to them. 8-storeys is tame.

It's time these people accepted the fact that Halifax is a city, and not their personal museum.

ILoveHalifax Jun 26, 2013 9:50 PM

Just imagine 30 plus stories, a great view and a prized address to attract residents to the peninsula.

Drybrain Jun 26, 2013 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyeJay (Post 6178834)
They should be grateful that 30-storeys isn't getting developed next to them. 8-storeys is tame.

It's time these people accepted the fact that Halifax is a city, and not their personal museum.

The NIMBYs will always be with us. If people in downtown Toronto are vehemently opposing six storey infill projects (which they are) and Vancouverites have a sky-is-falling meeting every time a condo is proposed outside of the downtown (and sometimes even then), Halifax will always have to deal with this too.

I think the best thing to do is sort through all the panic and hyperbole people spout and see if there are actually any genuinely good points being made in opposition to projects. If not, ignore them--city staff and council probably will, so no harm done.

someone123 Jun 27, 2013 2:48 AM

We always hear about the same old people are upset about the same old developments that have been going up without incident all around the peninsula for decades.

It would be interesting if one of the papers ran a story on aftermath of some of these devastating mid-sized residential buildings. I live in a lowrise condo next to some 25-30 storey apartment buildings. Most of the time I forget they're even there, and it took me a while to notice how close they are.

All of that aside, Quinpool needs new buildings exactly like this one to bring in new people and businesses and improve the feel of the area. Traditionally it has struggled a bit because of a lack of density and investment.

hollistreet Jun 27, 2013 4:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123 (Post 6179199)
We always hear about the same old people are upset about the same old developments that have been going up without incident all around the peninsula for decades.

It would be interesting if one of the papers ran a story on aftermath of some of these devastating mid-sized residential buildings. I live in a lowrise condo next to some 25-30 storey apartment buildings. Most of the time I forget they're even there, and it took me a while to notice how close they are

Yes. Look at how Bishop's Landing has destroyed that part of the waterfront! That development should never have been allowed!!!!

Dmajackson Oct 24, 2013 6:22 PM

The staff report regarding the Development Agreement will go before Halifax & West Community Council on Monday October 28th. This is the final step in the approval process.

Staff Report

Dmajackson Oct 29, 2013 7:50 PM

This project was APPROVED last night. :)

IanWatson Oct 29, 2013 8:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dmajackson (Post 6319741)
This project was APPROVED last night. :)

Awesome! I think this is the perfect scale of development for Quinpool. Just keep marching things like these all down the Road and you'll soon have a really great corridor.

The Coast is reporting that Cyclesmith is moving to the retail space in the new NSLC building on Agricola. Seems like a pretty good place for them.

Wishblade Oct 29, 2013 9:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IanWatson (Post 6319773)
Awesome! I think this is the perfect scale of development for Quinpool. Just keep marching things like these all down the Road and you'll soon have a really great corridor.

The Coast is reporting that Cyclesmith is moving to the retail space in the new NSLC building on Agricola. Seems like a pretty good place for them.

I think Quinpool needs far higher densities than developments of this scale bring. 25-30 stories would be great to see there someday.

RyeJay Oct 29, 2013 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wishblade (Post 6319923)
I think Quinpool needs far higher densities than developments of this scale bring. 25-30 stories would be great to see there someday.

I agree.

It would be great to see highrises become acceptable for this area; although, I think 30-storey buildings might be a challenge because Quinpool is sandwiched between two low-density residential neighbourhoods, filled by many residents who want to save as much of their sun exposure as possible and believe that Quinpool is 'developed enough'.

For now, 8-storey projects are consistent with what we're seeing throughout the North End as well. All of these low and midrise buildings that will be popping up over the next few years will gradually ease these residential communities into permitting higher densities, which will allow more amenities to flourish.

Drybrain Oct 29, 2013 11:42 PM

Mid-rise is idea along Quinpool to add density while maintaining the main-street charater--lining it with a good number of 6 to 12 storey buildings could add a huge amount of additional density.

Part of the reason developers aren't proposing loads of skyscrapers isn't just due to neighbourhood opposition. Halifax gets about 4,000 new residents a year, in half that many new households. There just isn't a market for more than a handful of tall projects at a time. I think if we're waiting to see any Halifax neighbourhoods turn into a mini version of Vancouver's west end or something, it's going to be a long, long time.

Nifta Oct 30, 2013 1:25 AM

I hope that Noble Grape are able to find a nearby location! My brewing will suffer otherwise :D

Dmajackson Oct 30, 2013 1:44 AM

^What about Tim Horton's! People will have to walk another block to find one (or however many the hospital has now) :P

But seriously I am very pleased to see this project get approved. A nice new urban pedestrian-oriented building like this will be a welcome addition to the bike route that is getting built on the Windsor-Vernon corridor.

IanWatson Oct 30, 2013 1:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drybrain (Post 6320084)
I think if we're waiting to see any Halifax neighbourhoods turn into a mini version of Vancouver's west end or something, it's going to be a long, long time.

And if that IS what we're waiting for, I think we have to ask ourselves: why?

Don't get me wrong, I like Vancouver. But we also have to keep in mind that Vancouver was really only built out in the last century or so. As a result, its blocks are larger and its roads wider. What's appropriate there is not necessarily the best fit for Halifax.

You could probably line the business area of Quinpool with another 20 or so similar sized buildings. At only one person per unit you'd still be gaining over a thousand new residents to that area. Quinpool is already very quirky, interesting, and successful as it is. A thousand extra people would be more than enough to really make that area alive.

someone123 Oct 30, 2013 2:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drybrain (Post 6320084)
I think if we're waiting to see any Halifax neighbourhoods turn into a mini version of Vancouver's west end or something, it's going to be a long, long time.

I understand what you are getting at but it is easy to overdo the smalltown-Halifax angle. If you were to transport Fenwick or Park Vic to Vancouver's West End they would still be prominent buildings. The Empire Landmark Hotel towers over the western end of Robson Street and it is less than 10 metres taller than what Fenwick will be once it is redeveloped.

In a similar vein, the Maritime Centre has about 500,000 square feet and some of the big office towers here are maybe 800,000 square feet. There are a lot more big office towers here but the difference is smaller than a lot of people would expect.

Spring Garden Road is already like a mini West End, and it is worth pointing that out because the city needs to have a reasonable perspective on what sort of buildings will be proposed and what kind of infrastructure will be needed to support the development.

The same thing goes with the city's growth rate. A lot of people in Halifax are under the impression that the city is not really growing and that there's no pressing need for new infrastructure like transit. Meanwhile, the reality is that the city's infrastructure today has to support about 20,000 more people than it did 5 years ago.

teddifax Oct 30, 2013 2:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drybrain (Post 6320084)
Mid-rise is idea along Quinpool to add density while maintaining the main-street charater--lining it with a good number of 6 to 12 storey buildings could add a huge amount of additional density.

Part of the reason developers aren't proposing loads of skyscrapers isn't just due to neighbourhood opposition. Halifax gets about 4,000 new residents a year, in half that many new households. There just isn't a market for more than a handful of tall projects at a time. I think if we're waiting to see any Halifax neighbourhoods turn into a mini version of Vancouver's west end or something, it's going to be a long, long time.

The original plan for what is now Quinpool Towers was to have 4, 40 storey towers in the corners on top of a huge pad. This of course was shot down. It would have been FAR better than the ugly tower that was eventually built.


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