[Halifax] Navy Lane Condos (2183 Gottingen) | 24 m | 8 fl | U/C

[coastalkid]

100 of the 169 units in here have already sold. I think these are appealing to mostly investors rather than people intending to live in them. We don't have many pre-construction condos in the city (I think just this one and NRTH at the moment), and pre-construction can be appealing as buyers only have to pay a 15% deposit now, and don't start paying mortgage, taxes, etc. until the building is finished (scheduled fall 2026). In theory, the unit will have appreciated 5-10% over those 2 years (especially with the way the city is growing), and they will have an instant return on their initial investment. I think by 2026 if rents continue to grow the way they have been, it wouldn't be crazy to think an investor could break even by renting it out at that time. Amenities are pretty luxe - rooftop pool, gym, bar/lounge, etc.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by coastalkid

In theory, the unit will have appreciated 5-10% over those 2 years (especially with the way the city is growing), and they will have an instant return on their initial investment. I think by 2026 if rents continue to grow the way they have been, it wouldn't be crazy to think an investor could break even by renting it out at that time. Amenities are pretty luxe - rooftop pool, gym, bar/lounge, etc.

They seem somewhat expensive but who knows. It does allow for leveraged investing that people seem to think is lower risk.

To me the building looks quite nice and the area is likely to really start coming together with the next round of developments. It reminds me of the level of quality and amenities you'd see in a nicer development around here. The YMCA buildings are similar.

It would be nice if Urban Capital does a big development in Halifax sometime. Maybe a 40 storey tower?

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Wow, just about $7000/month for mortgage, taxes and condo fees for a place the size of a hotel room.

That’s with property-tax assessment at $51,000/year though, which obviously isn’t right, whatever the listing says. (Still very expensive, of course.)

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

That’s with property-tax assessment at $51,000/year though, which obviously isn’t right, whatever the listing says. (Still very expensive, of course.)

Maybe they took the assessed value for the entire development.

Obviously that is driving the monthly number into the stratosphere. Of course with HRM/PVSC nothing would surprise me.

[kzt79]

The assessment is old and/or reflects the entire property. Agree with the other comments, maybe this will be a part time “pied a terre” or something? Normal rooms at the Halifax Tower hotel are 1.5X the size.

[alps]

I personally wouldn't mind living in a small unit as a single person, but most single would-be first-time homebuyers wouldn't qualify for a mortgage that large nowadays.

[kijoma]

I'm actually surprised they wouldn't have sold almost all of the units by now with all the demand for housing. It seems like they're dividing up larger units into smaller ones, because I keep seeing things like units 804a and 804b, and I'm guessing most people are struggling to gain entry into the housing market and can barely afford a 1-bedroom, never mind a 2-bedroom condo. Even if it's wealthier people buying them to rent out, they know they can charge a lot more rent for two 1-bedrooms vs a 2-bedroom.

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by kijoma

I'm actually surprised they wouldn't have sold almost all of the units by now with all the demand for housing. It seems like they're dividing up larger units into smaller ones, because I keep seeing things like units 804a and 804b, and I'm guessing most people are struggling to gain entry into the housing market and can barely afford a 1-bedroom, never mind a 2-bedroom condo. Even if it's wealthier people buying them to rent out, they know they can charge a lot more rent for two 1-bedrooms vs a 2-bedroom.

I think it's almost all sold. Not many units left (single digits).

[Dmajackson]

This is now under construction!

[Dmajackson]

Navy Lane Condos - Construction Management Plan

No surprises in the document. AllNS did have an article this morning about the groundbreaking. 115 of the 175 units are presold.

[kph06]

This crane has been up for a couple weeks and is well branded as Synergy Cofferages, a Quebec based form work company. They seem pretty big, it’s hard to imagine a one-off building of this size is worth the travel. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them setup as the formwork contractor for the Hosipital work. 4 cranes from one of the local contractors would be a big add to what already seems like a nearly full deployment of existing resources.

[bartekci]

This is an impressive and fun site to walk by. There's a little path just off Gottingen you can step through and connect into Maitland, and through the path you get a nice view of the pit. Just a bad phone photo but hopefully inspired one person to check it out!

Edit: Oops, pretty sure this is the development beside Navy Lane Condos, but I can't find that thread!

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

I believe the little pathway you speak of connecting Gottingen and Maitland is 'Navy Lane', the namesake of the new condo building. And I think the more distant construction site in your photo is Ocean Vista. It's a great phone pic...thanks for posting it.

[Keith P.]

It appears that some residents of this new building will unfortunately have a panoramic view of a few graffiti-vandalized old buildings. It seems only a matter of time until the new structures are similarly afflicted.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by fatscat

This is an impressive and fun site to walk by. There's a little path just off Gottingen you can step through and connect into Maitland, and through the path you get a nice view of the pit. Just a bad phone photo but hopefully inspired one person to check it out!

As the years have gone on and more has been built around this area I've appreciated its quirky features more and more. There are some mid-block rowhouses around here as well as lanes like this one. Some of these features were temporarily lost; a lane is barely meaningful when it exists between two parking lots. Pickard Lane is also "coming back" with the construction there, and there is the restoration of what is now referred to as Dr. Alfred Waddell Street (why has this shifted from shorter names like "Waddell Street"?).

The area a bit south of there used to be packed with character and irregular streets and buildings.

[Five Four]

Originally Posted by mleblanc

Saw another render on LinkedIn

This is a pretty damn good design! The brick looks great and the street frontage seems pretty good, along with other design elements. Unfortunate some other developers (especially in the HRM) can't seem to come up with anything quite so nice.

[kzt79]

Is this this building that suffered a "partial collapse" during the high winds on Sunday? I suspect/hope there's some exaggeration here.

https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/winds-cause-damage-across-nova-scotia

"On Gottingen Street in Halifax, firefighters were called about a partial building collapse in the 2200 block of the street.

District chief Dennis Pitts said some materials had blown off the building to the road below.

There were no injuries, he said. The department’s role, with its technical rescue team involved, was to stabilize the situation.

“It looks like some of the decking had blown off and that looks like what created the collapse of the section that came down,” Pitts said.

Photos from the scene show a section of the top floor that had collapsed."

[terrynorthend]

I believe it was the other one, the 20 story project next to the Y.
As far as "partial collapse" goes, it appeared to just be some of the formwork on part if the top floor. Nothing significant structurally.
More a case of falling debris risk than falling building risk.

Originally Posted by kzt79

Is this this building that suffered a "partial collapse" during the high winds on Sunday? I suspect/hope there's some exaggeration here.

https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/winds-cause-damage-across-nova-scotia

"On Gottingen Street in Halifax, firefighters were called about a partial building collapse in the 2200 block of the street.

District chief Dennis Pitts said some materials had blown off the building to the road below.

There were no injuries, he said. The department’s role, with its technical rescue team involved, was to stabilize the situation.

“It looks like some of the decking had blown off and that looks like what created the collapse of the section that came down,” Pitts said.

Photos from the scene show a section of the top floor that had collapsed."

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by terrynorthend

I believe it was the other one, the 20 story project next to the Y.
As far as "partial collapse" goes, it appeared to just be some of the formwork on part if the top floor. Nothing significant structurally.
More a case of falling debris risk than falling building risk.

That makes sense, thanks!

[Keith P.]

For whatever reason, the use of the terminolgy "collapse" in respect to incidents dealing with buildings and construction sites seems to have increased markedly in recent times. I suspect it is simply a change in how public entities like police and fire use it in their reports of calls, because I do not believe many buildings are collapsing suddenly. Perhaps they took a lesson from weather forecasters and news presenters in making use of the most alarming terms to get attention in the media.