Halifax Crane Talk

[TheGreenBastard]

Originally Posted by hoser111

Impressive! I was reading an article today stating that the average number of cranes in Boston has dropped from 12 a few years ago to 9 in the first quarter of ‘22. Punching above our weight class in this respect.

Sorry, you can’t compare the quality and scale of Boston’s builds to Halifax’s

Sure, we have 32 cranes up, how many of them are constructing buildings greater than 7–10 floors? We are punching below where we should.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by TheGreenBastard

Sorry, you can’t compare the quality and scale of Boston’s builds to Halifax’s

Sure, we have 32 cranes up, how many of them are constructing buildings greater than 7–10 floors? We are punching below where we should.

It is interesting and somewhat complicated though.

Some people say Halifax is a mini-Boston and that would imply similar buildings but fewer and smaller. But that's not really what we see. The building style is substantially different, with a lot more medium-sized multi-unit buildings in Halifax that use cranes for construction (or not). I think these days Halifax has diverged a lot from New England cities and seems to be drifting farther away, not closer.

Boston is much larger but the quality of some Halifax projects is good too. I would say that Halifax has nothing comparable to the major office towers (like Prudential tower) but it has projects comparable to the tier below that. Richmond Yards is the kind of thing that could be built in a major city. It will have 600 units.

[DZH22]

Originally Posted by someone123

Boston is much larger but the quality of some Halifax projects is good too. I would say that Halifax has nothing comparable to the major office towers (like Prudential tower) but it has projects comparable to the tier below that. Richmond Yards is the kind of thing that could be built in a major city. It will have 600 units.

Just for scale/relativity, if the 339' I see listed for Richmond Yards is correct it would be just outside Boston's top 60. If it fully doubled its height it would just miss Boston's top 5.

As an outsider I think Halifax punches well above its weight class and I hope to visit one day.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by DZH22

Just for scale/relativity, if the 339' I see listed for Richmond Yards is correct it would be just outside Boston's top 60. If it fully doubled its height it would just miss Boston's top 5.

That should be correct. However there are a lot of buildings in the 30 storey range planned. It will likely be a fairly "standard" height for new construction in Halifax in the coming years (assuming no economic collapse; nobody can predict the future).

Halifax tends to have a lot of buildings of similar height due to height restrictions, with the tallest being residential, rather than a few signature larger office towers as in most American cities. Hence the large crane count.

[q12]

Halifax is 2nd in North America (per capita)!



Source Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/skyscrapers...t=share_button

[Drybrain]

For a while now, whenever I've heard anyone decry Halifax's small skyline, or lack of tall buildings, I've wondered if they're just not paying attention--for a city of half a million people it's actually thick with highrises, and clearly growing moreso.

[Keith P.]

You still need a crane to construct the prototypical HRM 7-story box apartment.

[Drybrain]

The above is not a count of cranes though, it's a count of buildings U/C of ten storeys or more.

[fatscat]

This image shows the build out happening in Canada. It's great to see how much we are building, and yes, we need much more .. lots to catch up on.

I am surprised at the relatively less amount in the US. I wonder if they are going through a "missing middle" build period?

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

You still need a crane to construct the prototypical HRM 7-story box apartment.

It's not a crane-count map.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

The above is not a count of cranes though, it's a count of buildings U/C of ten storeys or more.

It seems there must be more than that many 10 storey buildings under construction around metro Halifax? Lots of suburban apartments are 10-12.

For a while now, whenever I've heard anyone decry Halifax's small skyline, or lack of tall buildings, I've wondered if they're just not paying attention--for a city of half a million people it's actually thick with highrises, and clearly growing moreso.

I thought the peninsula looked pretty built up in this photo: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...ostcount=10310

There aren't that many Canadian cities with a more substantial urban core than that, and that is missing Dartmouth. Some million plus US metros look less built up too, with fewer highrises and more parking lots.

It's been noted before on here that some people don't know that much about cities and compare Halifax to major metro areas. Maybe that's where some of that sentiment comes from. It's much smaller than Toronto or NYC, yes, but lots of construction and infill happens there.

[HarbingerDe]

Originally Posted by someone123

That should be correct. However there are a lot of buildings in the 30 storey range planned. It will likely be a fairly "standard" height for new construction in Halifax in the coming years (assuming no economic collapse; nobody can predict the future).

Halifax tends to have a lot of buildings of similar height due to height restrictions, with the tallest being residential, rather than a few signature larger office towers as in most American cities. Hence the large crane count.

I'm not so sure 30 floors as a standard height is a reasonable expectation. Sure there are quite a few buildings planned at that height, but the combination of ramparts, viewplanes, and FARs mean there are scarely few lots where you can actually build as high as 30-40 stories. The number of lots where you can build this high in the HRM is borderline hand-countable.

There are maybe a dozen or so buildings at this scale that can be built. We will then have nearly run out of lots where such height is permissible until further rezoning occurs and/or lots are combined for FAR maximization.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by HarbingerDe

There are maybe a dozen or so buildings at this scale that can be built. We will then have nearly run out of lots where such height is permissible until further rezoning occurs and/or lots are combined for FAR maximization.

Doesn't the West End Mall plan alone include many 30 storey buildings? That's one growth node, then there's around Almon St, then Dartmouth.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by HarbingerDe

I'm not so sure 30 floors as a standard height is a reasonable expectation. Sure there are quite a few buildings planned at that height, but the combination of ramparts, viewplanes, and FARs mean there are scarely few lots where you can actually build as high as 30-40 stories. The number of lots where you can build this high in the HRM is borderline hand-countable.

There are maybe a dozen or so buildings at this scale that can be built. We will then have nearly run out of lots where such height is permissible until further rezoning occurs and/or lots are combined for FAR maximization.

The obvious answer given that our esteemed Council has already thrown out much of the much-vaunted Centre Plan to allow for more density in existing residential areas in exchange for a small bag of JT’s gold is to eliminate the provisions involving ramparts and view planes, and to adjust the arbitrary FAR formula to allow more height.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

Doesn't the West End Mall plan alone include many 30 storey buildings? That's one growth node, then there's around Almon St, then Dartmouth.

There's also comprehensive development district identified between Joseph Howe and the rail tracks, from the Bedford Highway all the way down to Bayers Road. I don't think there's been any discussion about it (development is likely a long ways off) but it's another area likely to be earmarked for major density.

Dartmouth has a bunch: one adjacent to downtown and King's Wharf, Mic Mac Mall area, Shannon Park, etc. Plus Centre zones (though much of that is limited in height due to FAR or in at least one case a proposed heritage district). All in all there's a lot of room for new tall buildings in the medium term.