[Halifax] Navy Lane Condos (2183 Gottingen) | 24 m | 8 fl | Approved
 

This is the redevelopment of the former Diamonds Bar at Gottingen and Prince William:

http://www.housingtrust.ca/home/wp-media/diamonds3b.jpg

http://www.housingtrust.ca/home/wp-media/diamonds4b.jpg

More details and renderings can be found here: http://www.housingtrust.ca/projects/diamonds-bar/

Unfortunately, the start date has been delayed and now the developer expects to begin during the summer of 2013 at the earliest.

Looks like 'The Vic's' cousin.

Now the wait begins to hear from the "community oriented", anti-development crowd... unless this is approved already.

They'll want to lop off at least 8 stories. Welcome to Halifax folks.

My understanding is that this is 50/50 low-income and market-rate housing. I think it would be good for Gottingen and it will be difficult for people to argue that this is another condo development that offers nothing to locals. The renderings are basic but there are a few interesting architectural features like the tall windows on Gottingen that are far above the norm in terms of design for that area.

Most of the fighting so far has been with HRM staff, not the public. It is sad because this is exactly the sort of thing the city should be pushing through. Maybe plans do need to be amended, but that's not a good reason to make a developer wait for years.

Based on the atrocity across the street, it will probably end up with beige vinyl siding and wooden balconies.

This looks great! Hopefully I was right and the Vic becomes the new standard for mid-scale infill projects like this.

Halifax is definitely moving forward architecturally.

When cities experience lots of construction they seem to develop their own design idioms that are reused over and over. I would be quite happy to see this sort of thing become the norm. It is a huge step up from grey precast and lego-like faux copper roofs.

This looks like a good development, will have to wait and see if the developer actually sticks with the plans and uses the materials that are presented in the renderings. Doesn't seem to be something that most developments do now.

Totally agree, this looks like the VIC and I wouldn't be upset by that. If we had a whole bunch more of those on this street, could really make for a better area.

I definitely see the strong resemblance with the VIC. I'm even more fond of these blue balconies!! I concur that it would significantly brighten the city to see this quality of design and colour contrasting in more buildings, which may be the case for the apartment proposal beside the Citadel Hotel redevelopment.

This proposal will be met with the usual NIMBY opposition, so I would have felt better if the developer submitted something taller -- at least as tall as the Ocean Towers on Brunswick Street. Hopefully the number of storeys will not be reduced.

I like this one. Good place for it too.

I don't think there will be too much of an outcry. There are several residential buildings along Gottingen and its side streets that are around the same scale and height.

Not bad, but it could use some real tweaking on the Gottingen Street side. Why would they put the garage entrance off Gottingen? That should be off of Maitland. That parking entrance should be moved and that space that fronts the street should be retail. The best feature of the Vic is at street level it's interesting to look at and feels like several different buildings that match the human scale of the neighbourhood around it. The same approach would work well on Gottingen. I would like to see the front broken up into 3 different sections, or at least two (parking garage entrances don't count!).

Most of those were built in a different era though... before there was so much opposition.

I think this would look great on Gottingen. If developers keep bringing options like these forward, it will look like a very different street in 10 years or so.

This building is a great start for Gottingen Street. It would bring a lot of people to the area, has a good design, with just some minor issues. 12 stories is fine as a starting point - but there has to be a recognition that once a few buildings establish this as a context, that the height can increase to 15, then up.

Agree about the parking garage access on Gottingen though. Gottingen Street should slowly evolve so that there is no driveway access off the street at all. Maitland should be where the access should be - that or the adjacent side street.

I know it was posted in the general thread, I'm just adding it to the proper thread...

Gottingen projects ‘in holding pattern’
A date to begin construction on two Gottingen Street residential projects is unknown because they are in planning limbo, says the proponent.

Ross Cantwell, president of the Housing Trust of Nova Scotia, has proposed to build a 10-storey building at 2183 Gottingen, the former Met building, and a 10-storey building at the former Diamonds bar location at 2215 Gottingen.

The non-profit group purchased the sites in April 2010 for $3 million, money it received from the province under the Canada-Nova Scotia Co-operation Agreement on Economic Diversification because of its plan to offer half of the units as affordable housing.

The group demolished the old buildings in the spring of 2011 with the intention of beginning work later that year and, in the interim, submitted an application for a plan amendment and development agreement on both sites.

“We’ve done everything we can, developed our plans, and we’ve been sitting in a holding pattern for over a year with HRM,” Cantwell said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Cantwell said planners approached him early last year to help develop the Centre Plan, the third phase of the municipal HRM By Design document, which would include provisions relevant to his proposal.

That plan went “sideways” after the province tabled but did not pass legislation before the end of the fall session that would allow Halifax Regional Municipality to negotiate with developers outside of normal zoning rules in exchange for creating low-cost housing.

The rest of the story is here.

Now that the story is in the proper thread; a couple thoughts. When I briefly worked for HRM, I talked to the planners who did the zoning regulations along Gottingen Street. One thing I noticed, was that it was basically a free for all. So I asked if that was because there was a desire to encourage the area to grow and it was. That said; what I always found interesting and a bit puzzling was the height precincts for the area. It seemed to me that if you wanted to encourage a true free for all in this area (which by all measures was in desperate need of this growth) why would you then put such small height precincts on the two sides of the street?

The story shows me that HRM is in serious need of bulking up it's planning staff resources and building a better relationship with the Province. A Municipality is always going to exist at the grace of the Province, that's the way planning law works. But it seems to me that the resources to get the Regional Centre Plan done have come at the expense of every other visioning project - and that's still not enough. It says to me that HRM is still in this 'small city growth' mode and really needs to think about bulking up it's resources for policy planning. I do think there is likely enough planning resources for the various applications, but even then - that might need more staff too. My worry is that with all the policy resources focused on the Regional Centre and RP+5; what happens to all the other projects when these are done? Plus, RP+10 is likely just around the corner...does that mean all the visioning projects (like Mill Cove, Fairview and Main Street) just sit in a holding pattern and then just as the resources come available, oh...here's RP+10, so I guess they wait more?

It's pretty obvious that HRM has been falling behind on planning. HRM by Design has worked out okay but it only covers one small part of the municipality. The level of planning out in suburban areas is awful, and I don't think it's what anybody wants. It's just what was inherited from the 70's-90's.

I wonder if they will just forget about waiting for the Centre Plan for this one and ask for a DA from council. It's hard to predict how that would go; maybe it would be simple, or maybe it would be another "AFRICVILLE 2!!" shit show.

These buildings would be great for Gottingen so it's sad to see them held up like this.

Maybe the good Rev. Britton could wait until the application is about to be approved and then play the race card.