General Updates and News

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Is HRM now sawing off even their signature 7-storey box apartment development applications? Just 5 floors seems odd.

Next stop, 3 floors. But muh shadows! Muh wind!

[JET]

Excavators at the site of the old Tim’s on Ochterloney behind Queen Square.

[Musicman Halifax]

Originally Posted by JET

Excavators at the site of the old Tim’s on Ochterloney behind Queen Square.

Do we know what is going to be built there?

[Dmajackson]

^ 10 floors | 128 Units | Mixed Use | $22.7M | 10 Edward Street, Dartmouth | Ariana Developments

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

^ 10 floors | 128 Units | Mixed Use | $22.7M | 10 Edward Street, Dartmouth | Ariana Developments

Question maybe you know the answer to. When are 'housing starts' officially recorded? At permit issue? Groundbreaking? Some other point in the development?
There's been talk in the news lately of how the Atlantic provinces have been doing great year over year while Ontario is slumping. I imagine all these new large (some up to 1000 units) developments will really boost our starts when they hit.

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by JET

Excavators at the site of the old Tim’s on Ochterloney behind Queen Square.

Man, That tims almost escaped my memory even though I spent my teens and early 20s buying there. Glad to see the hole getting filled in.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

Man, That tims almost escaped my memory even though I spent my teens and early 20s buying there. Glad to see the hole getting filled in.

I remember when it was a Fina station (I bet Mark does too). But then a lot of folks here probably won't even know what Fina was...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

I remember when it was a Fina station (I bet Mark does too). But then a lot of folks here probably won't even know what Fina was...

lol… It was run by Roger Deveau, if I’m remembering it right. I recall my mother telling me that during WWII it was open space on which the soldiers practiced bayonet drills.

Nice to see it become useful land again. 🙂

[ns_kid]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

I remember when it was a Fina station (I bet Mark does too). But then a lot of folks here probably won't even know what Fina was...

I'm definitely old enough to remember Fina service stations; unfortunately I have no recall of that Ochterloney Street location and a quick search didn't find any photos of it. One wonders, if that former Tims was an old gas station conversion, if any site remediation met current standards. If not, that could be a careful and costly excavation.

My dad did his fill-ups further east on Ochterloney, at the Esso that still exists (although rebuilt) at the intersection with Prince Albert, and at the corner of Victoria Road, the former White Rose (Canadian Oil, taken over by Shell in 1962). He also patronized the Harbour Motors Fina at 168 Portland Street (he bought all his Fords from Harbour Motors). That location disappeared circa 1970 when Alderney Drive was built.


Harbour Motors Fina station at 168 Portland Street, 1967. Source: Halifax Municipal Archives

For those that don't remember, Fina was the brand of Petrofina Canada, a sub of the Belgian-owned multinational. Petro-Canada bought up Fina's 1100 service stations -- mostly in central and Atlantic Canada -- and its Montreal refinery and stake in the Alberta oil sands in 1981. It was part of the federal government's effort to restore Canadian control in the oil and gas sector after both Canadian Oil Companies (White Rose) and British-American Oil (B-A) fell to foreign ownership in the early sixties.

[kzt79]

Very cool history! I'm not the youngest person here, but never heard of this before.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

For those that don't remember, Fina was the brand of Petrofina Canada, a sub of the Belgian-owned multinational. Petro-Canada bought up Fina's 1100 service stations -- mostly in central and Atlantic Canada -- and its Montreal refinery and stake in the Alberta oil sands in 1981. It was part of the federal government's effort to restore Canadian control in the oil and gas sector after both Canadian Oil Companies (White Rose) and British-American Oil (B-A) fell to foreign ownership in the early sixties.

Oddly enough, for reasons that are lost to time, I never patronized Fina because I always felt that Fina stations were subpar, possibly because there were few that seemed new or modern and they all seemed old, dirty and rundown. Then when the Feds bought the company and turned it into Petro Canada they were permanently crossed off my list. Even now years later I avoid them even though they are no longer a govt entity.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Oddly enough, for reasons that are lost to time, I never patronized Fina because I always felt that Fina stations were subpar, possibly because there were few that seemed new or modern and they all seemed old, dirty and rundown. Then when the Feds bought the company and turned it into Petro Canada they were permanently crossed off my list. Even now years later I avoid them even though they are no longer a govt entity.

It's funny you should mention that, as I recall my friend's dad saying that Fina gas was bad, presumably after having bought a few tankfuls that didn't work well in his car. I never had experience with them as they were gone by the time I had my own car.

[Jstaleness]

I know, and remember Fina stations, but not well. What a nice piece of history shared above. Thank you for that. The only Fina sign that I know still exists (Outside of someone's garage) is the one at Bad Chad's garage outside of Canning.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

My dad did his fill-ups further east on Ochterloney, at the Esso that still exists (although rebuilt) at the intersection with Prince Albert, and at the corner of Victoria Road, the former White Rose (Canadian Oil, taken over by Shell in 1962).

The only other White Rose I can remember (there were probably more, but this is a very early little kid's memory) was in Rockingham, at the start of the Bedford Highway, near the old Rockingham fire station.

He also patronized the Harbour Motors Fina at 168 Portland Street (he bought all his Fords from Harbour Motors). That location disappeared circa 1970 when Alderney Drive was built.

Hmmm...my memory is that that dealership was actually a little further east, at 176, on the corner of Canal, where Marine House (the brick office building) is now. I believe the Harbour Motors building was converted to a medical center before finally being torn down and replaced by Marine House.

Granted, I'm old and forgetful, and stand to be corrected, but that's the way I remember it. Also, 168 would be west of 170, which still exists as the Bob's/Bluebell building at the corner of Alderney.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

I'm definitely old enough to remember Fina service stations; unfortunately I have no recall of that Ochterloney Street location and a quick search didn't find any photos of it. One wonders, if that former Tims was an old gas station conversion, if any site remediation met current standards. If not, that could be a careful and costly excavation.

My dad did his fill-ups further east on Ochterloney, at the Esso that still exists (although rebuilt) at the intersection with Prince Albert, and at the corner of Victoria Road, the former White Rose (Canadian Oil, taken over by Shell in 1962). He also patronized the Harbour Motors Fina at 168 Portland Street (he bought all his Fords from Harbour Motors). That location disappeared circa 1970 when Alderney Drive was built.


Harbour Motors Fina station at 168 Portland Street, 1967. Source: Halifax Municipal Archives

For those that don't remember, Fina was the brand of Petrofina Canada, a sub of the Belgian-owned multinational. Petro-Canada bought up Fina's 1100 service stations -- mostly in central and Atlantic Canada -- and its Montreal refinery and stake in the Alberta oil sands in 1981. It was part of the federal government's effort to restore Canadian control in the oil and gas sector after both Canadian Oil Companies (White Rose) and British-American Oil (B-A) fell to foreign ownership in the early sixties.

That purchase of the old Fina's actually created Petro Canada and led to my disdain for Liberal practices. A Friend of mine was getting married and the Father of the bride quietly asked me if I had partaken in the recent purchase.
I said I am still in University so no I did not. He said too bad as he had made $50,000 buying PetroFina shares before the Feds bought them out. He was the Liberal riding association President for a Halifax riding at the time.Suddenly Mortgage free and able to send his daughter to residence at Dal and pay for the Wedding.Bugger never bought me a beer.

[ns_kid]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Hmmm...my memory is that that dealership was actually a little further east, at 176, on the corner of Canal, where Marine House (the brick office building) is now. I believe the Harbour Motors building was converted to a medical center before finally being torn down and replaced by Marine House.

Granted, I'm old and forgetful, and stand to be corrected, but that's the way I remember it. Also, 168 would be west of 170, which still exists as the Bob's/Bluebell building at the corner of Alderney.

I'm not sure where the Harbour Motors new car lot was at that time. I only recall the old medical centre on that corner, and I believe that is what is visible (with the awnings) to the right of the picture. Like you, my memory has lots of holes from those days.

If you look at the other photos from the municipal archives link, there is a series of shots taken along that block of Portland Street, including a couple that include other parts of the Harbour Motors property. It appears that the numbers have been reversed and that main store front should in fact be number 170. (The property to the right -- i.e., closer to the harbour -- is labelled as 170.) In any event, the crosswalk and traffic lights visible in the photo would be the intersection with Prince Albert Road, which now connects to Alderney Drive. Clearly that would run straight through the Harbour Motors "showroom."

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

I only recall the old medical centre on that corner, and I believe that is what is visible (with the awnings) to the right of the picture. Like you, my memory has lots of holes from those days.

The building with the awnings was on the southeast corner of Canal and Portland, right next door to Moffatt’s Pharmacy and was not the medical center. I was in the medical center building several times and I'm 99% confident that it was a retrofit of the Harbour Motors building after the dealership moved. It was after most of the Harbour Motors/medical center lot was shorn off by the construction of Alderney Drive that Marine House was built on what was left of the site, set significantly further back from the street than the old building had been.

If you look at the other photos from the municipal archives link, there is a series of shots taken along that block of Portland Street, including a couple that include other parts of the Harbour Motors property. It appears that the numbers have been reversed and that main store front should in fact be number 170. (The property to the right -- i.e., closer to the harbour -- is labelled as 170.) In any event, the crosswalk and traffic lights visible in the photo would be the intersection with Prince Albert Road, which now connects to Alderney Drive. Clearly that would run straight through the Harbour Motors "showroom."

Agreed. Which necessitated the demolition of the old dealership/medical center building. As noted earlier, 170-168 Portland - the old Canada Permanent building) still exists and is occupied by Bob's and Bluebell Taxi (and probably other tenants).

[Colin May]

The bubble in real estate.... https://www.theglobeandmail.com/busi...els-of-global/

" Residential property developers are facing rising insolvencies as they struggle with higher borrowing and construction costs – and industry experts warn the trend is likely to worsen as interest expenses remain elevated.

The number of insolvent real estate companies and projects has been rapidly climbing over the past year and is now on track to surpass levels of the global financial crisis, according to data from the federal Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Colin Doran, head of development advisory for commercial real estate firm Altus Group, who has been providing advice on distressed real estate projects for 15 years.

“There are no doubt more real estate projects in distress but it’s hard to tell how many can be worked out before ending up in an insolvency position. We expect there will continue to be more unsophisticated developers in trouble,” he said.

From January to May this year, there was an average of 20 real estate, rental or leasing insolvencies in Canada every month. Companies either sought bankruptcy protection or filed creditor proposals to make it easier for them to manage their debts under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act.

At this pace, Canada is on track to reach about 240 real estate insolvencies this year, which would be 57-per-cent higher than 2023 and 13-per-cent higher than 2009, when a wide swath of businesses ran into problems owing to the financial crisis and global recession.

And that does not include the number of developers and projects that have been forced into receivership for not paying bills. The Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy does not include receiverships with its publicly available bankruptcy statistics. However, insolvency experts say they are seeing more projects go into receivership.

So far this year, the real estate sector accounts for 55 per cent of the receiverships recorded by Insolvency Insider Canada, a website that tracks the largest insolvencies in the country. That compares to 30 per cent last year and 33 per cent in 2022.

Sam Mizrahi’s luxury downtown Toronto condo tower The One has been one of the highest profile projects to default on its loans, with lenders owed $1.6-billion. And dozens of other developers have faced similar pressure from their lenders or have filed for bankruptcy protection.
“For the first time in a really long time in Canada, we are seeing some stress in the system,” said Syl Apps, who co-heads the Canadian operations of Hines Interests LP, a Houston-headquartered real estate firm that owns and manages about 850 properties in 30 countries.

[Summerville]

Originally Posted by Arrdeeharharharbour

Is anyone aware of what's being built here...behind buildings that face Windmill Road? I don't know that address but I'm pretty sure it's not one of the Windmill Road threads on the go here.

20240721_140726 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20240721_140824 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

The crane is going up

[Dmajackson]

The former home of John's Lunch at 352 PLEASANT STREET, DARTMOUTH has a development-only permit submitted for 7-floors and 34 units.