Two projects in one shot:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8340/8...8485e89e_b.jpg

Waterfront project still at seaNovember 15, 2012 - 8:09pm By REMO ZACCAGNA Business Reporter Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on linkedinMore Sharing Services
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Demolition of a building to make way for the $190-million Queens Landing development project in Halifax is underway.

But it remains unclear when construction will begin.

Work to bring down the BioNova building at 1721 Lower Water St. began three weeks ago and is expected to be completed by Christmas, said Colin MacLean, president and chief executive officer of the provincial Crown agency Waterfront Development Corp.

The building was vacated by Innovacorp’s BioScience Enterprise Centre, which moved closer to Dalhousie University in the spring of last year. It sits on land that will be part of the $70-million private portion of the Queens Landing development on the waterfront between Sackville Landing and Cable Wharf.

The private component includes 100,000 square feet of new office space, a 200-room, four-star hotel with harbour views from every room, and underground parking. The Crown agency announced in 2010 that they had agreed on a conceptual plan for that portion with Armour Group Ltd.
“They’re currently going through the drawings and assessing the market, but there are no plans to move forward yet,” MacLean said Thursday. “But our responsibility is to make sure that we make the site ready so we can make it successful, and the first step in that is to bring down the building.”

Armour Group representatives could not be reached for comment Thursday.

MacLean said the company is in the midst of an economic feasibility test and, once completed, will determine when construction could begin.

“Which is essentially what’s the market looking like, when the market comes around and the developer can have some predictable revenues that justify the development costs, that’s when we’re going to build.”

The public portions of the project will see HMCS Sackville turned into a permanent naval memorial and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic transformed into a national memorial.

(rzaccagna@herald.ca)

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By REMO ZACCAGNA Business Reporter

This morning by me:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8345/8...6b152803_b.jpg

The BioNova demolition can be seen in the webcam - http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/hal...m-wharves.html , which is currently pointed directly at the site. The BioNova building is almost completely gone.

Also shown in the webcam is a good view of the RBC Waterside project.

Cool, The way the camera is angled the skyline appears higher in the left side of the image. Just gives it that big city feel.

Demo is done, they are sorting material now, photo by me:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8221/8...10570188_b.jpg

Landscaping:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8400/8...eccc0f5f_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8104/8...422a6596_b.jpg

The Armour Group is talking to the city. They intend to move forward with this project in 2014. It won't include the public component, which is now Battle of the Atlantic Place, and it'll cost around $60M.

Not sure if they plan to build on both lots to begin with. I think it's good news that the public piece was separated out so that the private component can proceed whether or not government funding happens. I would also guess that we're hearing about this now because Waterside Centre is winding down.

Excellent news. I bet this stuff is all Andy Filmore, now at Waterfront Dev Corp, getting these projects going.

So, just as Halifax gets a nice new boardwalk "market", it's going to be taken down so they can start QL? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Maybe all the huts can move to the Salter lot.

Is there not room for them to stay? I always assumed they would be staying. Most likely they'll spread out to other sections of the water front if they do move.

Are there any renderings for this, I thought I heard this was starting up this year.

Here's a revised rendering of the project's massing:

http://imageshack.com/a/img633/8186/trrWVt.png
Source

Not sure where this is in the approvals process. I like it though; the waterfront should have nooks and crannies, and the walkways under the buildings will restore a bit of the feel that the archways in this area once had. The only downside I see is that the views from the boardwalk to some historic buildings will be lost.

Not sure what's going on with the tall ship on the left in full sail while docked... :???:

Like the rest of the waterfront, it has been Disneyfied for tourists and local rubes. The sails are only a hologram.

Hey, those tourists will be bringing you dollahs. Eventually new hotels will be needed to accommodate those tourists, new bars/entertainment will be needed to entertain these tourists, new shopping centres will be needed to provide these tourists with an enhanced shopping experience, and new infrastructure will be needed to get these tourists moving around.... EVENTUALLY. All of this will create more jobs. Tourism is a powerful industry that can help catalyze the development of many other industries and developments such as food and beverage, retail, entertainment, and better infrastructure.

I agree tourism is important, but don't think Disneyfication is appropriate for a city. Make it a great place to be for its citizens and other folks will want to visit... spend time... spend $$$.

Although, hologram sails might be pretty cool! LOL

Then we need a hologram Captain Jack Sparrow® to accompany! ;)

Sails could be to on a calm day to let them dry. Though they look full of wind in the pic.

Obviously that's the result of the many wind tunnels created by all the new developments downtown that are over 3 stories. :D