[Halifax] The Winslow (2570 Windsor) | 20 m | 7 fl | U/C
 

Another church bites the dust ...

Saint John United Church at the corner of Willow and Windsor Streets is apparently going to be demolished to make way for a seven storey residential building.

I have no clue who is proposing the idea however there are renderings available to view at Michael Napier arcihtecutre's offices on Kaye Street adajacent to 5552 Kaye (just look at the window).

The surrounding neighbourhood is mostly older homes with large front lawns and commericial or office uses (along Windsor/North). There is a 3-storey residential building next door. Sobeys is the block kitty-corner North Street and Gladstone Ridge is nearby. Chebucto Mosque is about three blocks or so away.

That's Michael Napier's office.

Last I heard the church itself was redeveloping, and they wanted to stay on the site in one form or another.

^You are correct the church will relocate into the new building;

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4039/...db9ce1ac1f.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1286/...396bf78ce9.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/...134e23235f.jpg

Credit: Photos by me. Drawings by Michael Napier

It's definitely interesting looking. It looks like there is retail on one side too.

According to my sources this is now moving ahead to the proposed stage.

The plans have been submitted to HRM and zoning and MPS ammendments have been requested. The upper floors reportedly will be "assisted living" (retirement house).

And the project name is now SPIRIT PLACE

Project website: www.spiritplace.ca

The thread should be this now;

[Halifax] Spirit Place (Saint John United) | 22m | 7fl | Proposed

I am still torn... but it is quirky enough that it might actually be interesting (depends on the facade materials I think).

I am very glad to see that they are doing underground parking since I HATE how some of these developments just end up with a streetside that is parking lot. This at least has some streetscape to it (albeit a quirky one).

I like this design - hopefully it will look as good as the rendering. Thanks for the information Dmajackson.

(source: http://spiritplace.ca/redevelopment-plan-details )
http://spiritplace.ca/images/artist-rendering-large.jpg

This one looks great! Although, I notice the newer painting doesn't appear to have any obvious street-level retail.

I have always disliked the cheapo suburban-style apartment building next door.

I think this looks great. A bit quirky, but not enough to make it kitschy. lol
It looks like it will have some nice attention to detail and I really like the articulation of the massing. Hopefully it will turn out as nice as the latest rendering.

This looks very interesting. I don't know if I'd go for ground floor commercial here; although one could argue that the block it's in (because of the case occuring across the street with the houses as offices) and it's close proximity to Sobeys could support some support/local commercial.

I think the mixed use part of many of the programs that the church offers; at least that was the impression I got from the website.

Yeah, Business could still operate on the street level. It might be more non for profit programs as opposed to retail and wouldn't need the street front glass windows. I lot of Church's run kid programs like Cubs and Girl Guides as well.

Well it didn't take long for the NIMBY's to get out. There is a story on CBC (either from Thursday or Friday) saying that the building is way too high and they are setting up a petition to stop the development.

Wonderful...

It is interesting which stories CBC chooses to make newsworthy. A petition against a 7 storey building within the city shouldn't be considered to be newsworthy of a legitimate news organization. It is because of organizations like the CBC that these fringe groups get so much attention.

This seems just... ridiculous. 7 storeys seems completely rational to me - it's on a major street. I understand that there's a residential neighbourhood surrounding this, but come on.... it's pretty respectful. So far, it looks like Napier's office has done a great job of articulating this at street level, and I feel like it's a solid piece of urban design.

It's not a major showstopping piece of architectural importance, but it looks like quality. It looks supportive of active streetscapes. It supports a variety of uses.

I have to wonder how people can view this thing as bad. Even if they're neighbours to it, I can only think it will increase property values. I'd love to have this project as a neighbour.

Lol, they will even screw over a church. Hilarious.

I'm pretty sure these people would scream foul over a plan to build a Regional Heritage Museum that is three stories tall and in a shape of a traditional brick building on Barrington Street. :haha:

I'm sure council has enough sense to approve this project.

I wonder if this is a case of nimby-ism, rather than a challenge from the heritage preservation community. I think there are probably a lot of people who are interested in preserving neighbourhood character in their own backyards that aren't necessarily fighting heritage battles downtown. For the record, if I lived in this area I wouldn't be opposed to development of this size, but I would want it to be really well designed. The renderings for this place look ok, but I think it could be better.

What don't you like about the design? IMO it's really cool.

I don't love the street level two-storey facades. I sense they're intended to mimic neighbouring homes, but I think they'll probably just look like knock offs (kinda like the ugly apartment next to the Cathedral across from Park Vic). I also think they'll look out of context with the rest of the building. I think that it could be very complementary to the existing fabric without trying to replicate it. That said, it's still way better than most!

Not everyone is motivated by what a potential project might do to their property values. Homes are emotional places for most, so it's not all about dollars and cents. The area around this site is a very well established and coherent residential neighbourhood of 2 storey homes. Windsor is a major street, but in the area there really aren't any "tall" buildings and most the homes are owner occupied. I can perfectly understand why people on the other side of the street are upset and worried. Their view of a quaint old brick chuch is going to be replaced with a view of a 7 storey building. If this were proposed for directly across from my home (I live in Dartmouth in an area of 2 storey old homes), I would be upset too! The architect has taken some good steps to minimize the impact by putting the low-rise church portion at the back to transition into the neighbourhood, but 3-4 homeowners directly across from the site will no doubt be impacted. None of this is to say they should have a veto on the project since they don't own the property and there is no right to a view, but a little thought and understanding would go a long way. I'm so sick of the constant demonizing of opponents that both sides engage in. It's not helpful.