[Halifax] The Bloom (5511 Bloomfield) | 26 m | 8 fl | Completed
 

Rendering:

[None Available]

Name: Gottingen & Bloomfield
Height: 25m
Floors: 8 floors
Status: Proposed
Location: 2776 Gottingen Street (at Bloomfield Street)
Approval Date: N/A
Developer(s): Beaufort Investments Inc.
Architect(s): Paul Skerry Inc.
Uses: Residential + Ground Floor Commercial
HRM Case #: 18254
Timeline:

2013.01.23 - Public Information Meeting
2013
2013.09.23 - Development Agreement Final Approval

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The long awaited redevelopment of the North-End Diner is now in the approval process.

Public Information Meeting - Case 18254
Wed, 23 January 2013, 19:00 – 21:00
5389 Russell Street, Halifax, NS (St. Joseph's Alexander McKay Elementary (Gymnasium)
Case 18254 - Application by Cantwell & Company Ltd., for the lands of Beaufort Investments Inc., to consider amending the Land Use By-law for Halifax Peninsula to include 2777-2778 Gottingen Street within Schedule Q, and allow an 8 storey mixed use building by development agreement

The case details page is not online yet but they are normally made available 1-2 weeks before the PIM.

I remember the North End Diner. I was in there for lunch only about an hour before it burned down. I went back to work in the dockyard and everyone could smell the smoke all through our building not long after. I miss it but this replacement is obviously for the better.

Some before photos (both taken by me);

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8045/8...5f4e5481_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8...2ff2b204_z.jpg

Case Details 18254

Pretty standard North-End proposal. Can't say for sure without a colour rendering but I see no reason for the project not to go through.

Looks nice. The design is simple and it's a decent mid-sized building with a storefront on Gottingen. I think the North End would work a lot better as a neighbourhood with maybe 50 more residential buildings of approximately this scale. There would be enough density to support a good mix of amenities within walking distance of most of that end of town.

^Two storefronts actually. The Letter of Intent states one will become a more upscale pub/sit-down restaurant version of the North-End Diner. The other will be a smaller undefined space.

One thing I really like about the proposal is it has no direct parking access to Gottingen Street. If any road on the Peninsula should become a transit corridor its Gottingen Street and removing the parking accesses will make a dedicated transit R-O-W possible by removing turning movements and street crossings.

Would love to see a proper rendering, but it looks like it might be decent. And the proposal a couple blocks down at Bilby looks really promising. Taken together these could really change the feel of the area--really hope they both go through.

Isn't this where the North End Pub was before? There was an article in the herald that they want to go right back in on the site...so it seems to me (if I have the sites correct) the commercial ground floor has a tenant already! :)

Indeed - the plan of the first floor shows the two commercial spaces (one noted as "pub") separated by a space noted as "kitchen." Seems pretty specific for a layout that would otherwise be purely speculative.

Its great to see the North End Pub making its return. This will hopefully bring back a commercial tenant to the building beside it on the corner of Gottingen & Almon. The Needs Convenience shut it's doors a couple months ago.

This is a great design for this part of the North End. It's a safe design and will have a solid look unlike the building behind it. It's good to see no vinyl but we have to wait for the finished product to see how closely the building matches the proposal.

An extra bonus will be blocking the new building behind it.

I'd like to see less surface parking and more building, but I understand the rationale is to provide the pub/restaurant/commercial space with it's own defined parking area (versus residents who will have underground). But still, not a huge supporter of surface parking lots in established areas like this.

That said, I'm willing to deal with it and agree, no major reason to torpedo this.

They've added some perspective renderings to the project's details page. Theres no color but they look good so far;

http://www.halifax.ca/planning/docum...rspectives.pdf

Not bad at all. I'm a huge fan of using rounded balconies on corners - I think they are fantastic!

Looks promising. It seems to borrow major elements from the Vic design, although those oddly-shaped balconies remind me a bit more of the Lexington or that new-ish mid-rise on Morris.

I was going to say it reminds me of a cross between the Lexington and St. James Place on South St. Sort of meh...

I think it is an fantastic design. :tup:

Ha, I was just gonna say I really dislike rounded balconies.

Overall, I'm on the meh side. Not ugly, but not too exciting either, and not very contemporary. But full colour renderings will probably give a better sense. The podium is way better than the rest, which is good—there seems to be a lot more attention paid to the street level of projects lately.

I'm waiting for someone to propose something really excellent and modern for the 'hood, like this. (Or even just the brick podium of that.)

It's an OK design. Nothing really new architecturally but it should work out just fine. I am mostly happy to see that this neighbourhood might get some decent density in the future. Buildings like this make areas like the Hydrostone Market more vibrant. They might also make better transit service to this area viable (which in turn helps strengthen the downtown, much more than an apartment building in Sackville would). The North End would be a great neighbourhood with about 50 of these and some higher order form of transit.

Here's one of the renderings from the PDF above:

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/8...bloomfield.png

I think it looks good! A bit of Vic influence with that more traditional facade section at the corner/along Gottingen?

As always, the materials will make or break this.

If contemporary means modern then most modern buildings aren't obtrusive. I am not sure why a building that is so obtrusive as the one that you posted the link to should be considered to be contemporary.

I think the Bloomfield building is contemporary; it is a modern design but not obtrusively so. I especially like the perspective below (source: http://www.halifax.ca/planning/docum...rspectives.pdf )

http://imageshack.us/a/img90/4171/go...mfieldprop.jpg

Yeah, you could definitely argue that the top of it is. The bottom podium level is really solid though. I love that kind of simple, stark, but warm contemporary design. (The Vic has it, largely thanks to the brick at street level.)

I really like this, for example, in Toronto, but only the first five floors. The tower is bland, but the bottom, simple though it is, is really well proportioned and, most importantly, not cheap-looking.

As far as what Someone123 said about getting 50 of these things in the North End, I haven't compiled a list, but tallying up all the proposals, there's got to be five or six now, and a bunch of smaller townhouse projects. Another one seems to come along every few months. (Of course, none of the larger ones have yet been built, so...).

Yes, I agree that is contemporary and appealing, in my opinion.


PS: I just noticed the building across the street from your posted link - 25 The Esplanade - http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=toronto...,0,-12.05&z=20 . That is the sort of design that I would like to see in Halifax. I like the arches and triangular shape. Here is a Wikipedia link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25_The_Esplanade . Even though I live close to Toronto, I tend to take the architecture for granted. Buildings just seem to pop up overnight with hardly anyone even noticing (or at least that is my impression).

I don't know what it cost to build that podium but my guess is that it's a lot easier to justify higher quality ground floor materials when you have more floors above -- yet another reason why it doesn't always make sense to ask for less height.

It would be interesting to create a rendering of the North End with all of these new buildings. My guess is that there are maybe 15-20 buildings that were either built during the past 5-7 years or are proposed/under construction. Keep in mind that Gladstone Ridge for example has 3 major buildings, then along Barrington Street there are several (like Spice), then there are a few around the Hydrostone Market. Gottingen has the Theatre Lofts and 5505 Falkland. There are quite a lot when you think about it.

One nice proposal from a few years ago was the McCully Worklofts. The website is still up: http://mccullyworklofts.ca

It was considered a tough sell (as specialized work/live units) back in 2007 or whenever it was proposed and I think a 5 year lease was signed for the property that was going to be developed. I wonder if it might someday still be built.

First reading for this is on Monday (July 22nd, 2013) night! If all goes well the public hearing will likely be in September and final approval will be in November/December.

Case 18254 – LUB Amendment and Development Agreement – 2776-2778 Gottingen Street, Halifax

The community comments in that document are leagues better than they tend to be for developments in the South End. Even the criticisms are productive (lacklustre architecture, etc), but not condos-are-killing-the-community hysteria.

I agree, these comments weren't too bad. I think the remarks of Fred Connors kinda hit the nail on the head - where another development went through with ease because it was well designed.

It makes me wonder whether the design review process, if a clear expectation and process was setup, should apply outside of the HbD area? I wonder if the changes to the Regional Centre would include this? I would hope - because if you think about some of the area's in Dartmouth that could see intensification, I'd hope that they would be treated to higher level of quality design than something 'cheap'.

I think an effective design-review is a no-brainer for an area this central.

I'm cheered at least by the fact that there have been some really good designs proposed. This isn't bad, just not amazing. And the current generation of designs is vastly better than what was going up 5-10 years ago. (Some years from now, when it's getting difficult to find development sites in the neighbourhood that aren't already occupied, it might be nice to see spots like 5505 Falkland redeveloped. I know that building is brand new, but it's also SHIT.)

REMINDER!!

Public Hearing for this project is on Wednesday night (August 7th, 2013)!

H&WCC Agenda - August 7th, 2013

I've sent in my support email to the municipal clerk's office and I highly suggest the rest of the SSPer's do the same.

And to Councillor Mason I hope you take all the emails you receive into consideration and vote appropriately. :yes:

Well, based on the precedent of the Spirit Place denial, this is far too dense and far too tall to be comapatible with the neighborhood. So I wouldn't get your hopes up.

North End Pub won't resurrect

http://www.halifaxnewsnet.ca/News/Lo...nt-resurrect/1

Final approval for this project is scheduled for September 23rd, 2013.

Staff Report

Presumably this was approved last night along with the other projects (3065 Robie & 2814 Isleville).

Also I had to remind myself of what this project looks like (the sheer number in this area is confusing) and I noticed they had some new colour renderings;

http://www.halifax.ca/planning/docum...rspectives.pdf

It looks even better in colour.

http://imageshack.com/a/img32/7648/l4yv.jpg

LOVE THIS BUILDING!! I have lived on Bloomfield Street for 8 years but have recently moved out west, which is too bad, because I would have definitely considered moving into this building. I think this building is gorgeous and will spruce up the area and make it look nicer as will all the other new developments on Almon Street and Bilby/Gottigen Street. I think the North End Pub on the lower level is a great idea!

I think I heard that the North End Pub is no longer a part of this project.

Oh :( thats too bad

Anybody know what's happening with this one?

I can't find the thread for it, but the lot that was cleared and I thought approved for a development on the corner of Gottingen and Bloomfield is now for sale.

I think this is what was planned for the site.

https://67.media.tumblr.com/d52c1c3b...kjeo1_1280.jpg

There are some amendments proposed for this project. The rear parking lot will be removed and the building will be enlarged to have almost full lot coverage.

Case 20894 Details

There was a backhoe on site yesterday. Not sure if this is starting or if they were just doing some soil testing.

http://68.media.tumblr.com/f90ccfa66...dq8o1_1280.jpg
Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

http://68.media.tumblr.com/c23e91945...dq8o1_1280.jpg
Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

Anyone for a swim? :haha:

Construction permit has been issued for 70-units. There is an active Halifax Planning Case (#20894) which is seeking an increase to 90 units. The sidewalks have been relocated on-street and the old North End Pub foundation was removed this afternoon. Photo is from yesterday.

http://68.media.tumblr.com/211068802...jdq8o1_540.jpg
Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

Oddly enough about half of this site has been infilled since this photo. It looks like nice clean fill going back in place. Maybe it's just remediation at this point?

Looking foundation ready along Almon Street;

http://68.media.tumblr.com/c867f685a...jdq8o1_540.jpg
Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

On a side note across Gottingen Street the fed's are demolishing the first section of military housing (brick building). This is to allow for the realignment of CFB Stadacona's main entrance to match up with the Gottingen & Almon intersection. This project should help alleviate some safety and congestion issues in the area. Bicycle lanes are also proposed on Almon sometime in the next year or two.

Crane base is being installed today. :tup:

http://68.media.tumblr.com/dcd13f21b...jdq8o1_540.jpg
Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

Weekly photos will be available via the blog;

http://68.media.tumblr.com/fc9426f18...jdq8o1_540.jpg
Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

The crane from Rockingham South went up here today.