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Proposed project too high
Public will decide if YMCA/CBC redevelopment can break rules
By CHRIS LAMBIEBusiness Editor
Thu. May 6 - 4:53 AM

The development proposed for Sackville and South Park streets in Halifax is about 14-storeys high — more than twice as tall as city planning guidelines permit.

Drawings unveiled Wednesday show the YMCA and CBC/Radio-Canada properties topped with two towers that could hold about 200 condominiums or apartments. There are also plans for a boutique hotel.

"On the corner, the current (height) allowable is 23 metres; we’ve taken it to 49," said Jim Whitehead, project manager for the YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth.

"So the amendment that we’re going to be seeking is to increase it from 23 to 49 metres on the corner."

The height limitation is related to view planes from Citadel Hill, "which is predominantly, of course, to protect views of the harbour," he said.

"We’re not impacting on that at all on this side, so that’s part of why we’re going for the amendment on the assumption that, since we don’t impact on that, that it may be an acceptable thing to do to allow this development to go forward."

The YMCA hopes to make an application to the municipality before the summer to amend the height limitations.

Andy Fillmore, the municipality’s urban designer, said it will be up to the public to decide whether the corner building is too tall. Regional council can hold a public hearing to determine if the project has enough "significant public benefit" to justify breaking the height limitations, he said.

"The public hearing becomes almost like a referendum, in that way, on the project itself, and then council will make up its mind whether or not to permit the amendment," Fillmore said.

The tower proposed for just south of the corner will be 75 metres tall, or about 19 storeys. Modelling has shown the buildings "don’t block the view of very much because of the development that’s taken place further south," Whitehead said.

"If anything, we’re going to block views of other developments."

The proposed project won’t do much to stop sun from hitting the adjacent Public Gardens, he said.

"We’ve done some shadowing studies of that . . . (on) June 21, the longest day of the year, there’s a shadow that stretches out for about an extra half an hour and it just takes over a sliver of the corner, but nothing significant, and it’s over by nine o’clock in the morning."

Drawings on display Wednesday showed the broadcaster in a new building where the YMCA is now on South Park.

The CBC hasn’t decided yet whether it will have offices in the project, said Nadine Antle, a spokeswoman for the public broadcaster.

Under the new plan, the YMCA will take up about 71,000 square feet and sit on the corner now occupied by the CBC. If the CBC opts in, it will move to the spot now occupied by the YMCA. Should the broadcaster opt out, the 66,000 square foot space will be opened up for commercial development.

A 6,000 square foot, five-storey atrium will connect the two structures.

"The magic really is this atrium and how it connects and brings all these things together," Whitehead said. "That’s just going to be an amazing space."

The bottom two storeys of the new corner building will mimic the "iconic" art deco look of the present structure, said Bette Watson-Borg, president of the YMCA.

A swimming pool with lanes, a pool with a movable floor and warmer water and a hydro-therapy spa pool are in the plans.

"We’ve tried to create something here that we think has a wow factor," Watson-Borg said of the design created by Halifax architect Michael Napier.

Plans call for 375 underground parking spots and a covered bicycle storage area.

The overall cost will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Whitehead said.

"It will likely be in the neighbourhood of 400,000 square feet."

Building a new YMCA recreation and fitness centre where the CBC is now will cost about $22 million. The YMCA, which plans to issue a request for proposals from private developers, is hoping to realize about $10 million from the project, Whitehead said.

"It’s not simply a sell it and then rent back situation. We want to maintain some interest in what’s going on."

The CBC’s situation is similar, he said.

"Their revenue from that development will either be used to be a part of this development or it will be used elsewhere."

( clambie@herald.ca )