View Single Post
  #99  
Old Posted Nov 19, 2007, 11:11 PM
DuffMan DuffMan is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Halifax
Posts: 149
"I'm not sure I'd be against some of the proposed height restrictions in parts of the downtown. One reason we see so little development in downtown is because most of the land is worth a small fortune. The reason it's worth so much is because everyone feels that if they are outside the viewplanes they can take a shot at a big project. If you think you can put a twenty storey tower on a piece of land than you'll pay a pretty good price for it. United Gulf wouldn't have put up $5 million plus for the Tex Park site if they could only have built to eight stories. The price of land in downtown Halifax is inflated because people are buying with the expectation of putting up towers."


I don't think I agree with this. All developers are aware of the risk of trying to have any building of any height approved in the downtown core. Look at the original Brewery proposal as well as the Midtown as recent examples. When United Gulf purchased the site for $5 million, they were well aware that their proposal was risky and not assured of being approved. If they thought that they had a good chance of being approved from the get go, they would have been willing to purchase it for much more than $5 mil. Same goes for any other site downtown. The more certainty you have of your proposal being approved, the less risk and therefore the more you would be willing to pay, all things being equal.

I think that the city is better off with the HRM by Design proposals than the status quo. I am frustrated with the city council. They spend months debating a cat bi-law, and when it is finally passed, one of the councillors (I think it was Sloan) proposes removing cats from the bilaw.. Meanwhile, Barrington Street Heritage designation is still in limbo - resulting in many properties not being renovated while they wait for funding, the Cogswell interchange, the lack of stadium, building height uncertainty, etc, etc. I hope that next year we get some decent contenders for the city election. Mayor Flanders, I mean Kelly, has got to go!
Reply With Quote