[Halifax] Story of Home (210 Willett) | ? M | 2X17 FL | U/C

[bartekci]

Loving this one. Renderings look good, the size is right, and it's going to be great for the area.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Design looks good in this rendering!

[bartekci]

This is looking great. Much improved from the tower behind the brush prior.

[Dmajackson]

HalifaxDevelopments.ca (Photo by David Jackson)

[OldDartmouthMark]

Story of Home? What's the story with that name?

[LikesBikes]

Story of Home sounds like a christian rock band name

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by LikesBikes

Story of Home sounds like a christian rock band name

Yes it does!

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Story of Home? What's the story with that name?

It's a weird one. I did a little online search, and Hazelton Investments has a bit of wording posted on LinkedIn. Seems to be an exercise in branding... Story of Home appears to be trademarked (LOL)?

Hazelton says "Story of Home™ is a collection of elevated rental residences across Canada that are carefully crafted and artfully composed. Each community in the series is told through striking architecture and thoughtful interior design."

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

It's a weird one. I did a little online search, and Hazelton Investments has a bit of wording posted on LinkedIn. Seems to be an exercise in branding... Story of Home appears to be trademarked (LOL)?

Hazelton says "Story of Home™ is a collection of elevated rental residences across Canada that are carefully crafted and artfully composed. Each community in the series is told through striking architecture and thoughtful interior design."

I assume a double entendre - both figuratively a 'story' or tale told by the design of the buildings and literally as people living in what I assume are units on different 'stories' of the buildings.

It's not the best (what do you say for the short name - SoH?... it would be confusing to refer to this name if someone asked you where you live). All will be forgiven if its clad nicely.

Sort of funny: Some recent Halifax developments seem like they are actually riffing off the South Park 'SoDaSoPa' joke.

[eastcoastal]

Looks like there are a few in the works... with two opened recently in Brampton and Ottawa: Story of Home's website

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

It's a weird one. I did a little online search, and Hazelton Investments has a bit of wording posted on LinkedIn. Seems to be an exercise in branding... Story of Home appears to be trademarked (LOL)?

Hazelton says "Story of Home™ is a collection of elevated rental residences across Canada that are carefully crafted and artfully composed. Each community in the series is told through striking architecture and thoughtful interior design."

That’s actually a little more strange than I had imagined. They are branding like a hotel chain?

“I was planning on moving to Ottawa and didn’t know where I wanted to live, but once I saw that they had Story of Home™ apartments, there were no more decisions to be made. Thanks Hazelton!”

None of the characters in the above depiction are real. This was only an imaginary event portrayed by actors. Any similarities to actual people or events are purely coincidental…

[kph06]

The south crane is stripped of its rigging and a mobile crane is on site. I’d say this will be removed within days and the north crane will be raised at the same time.

[Musicman Halifax]

Crane on building A was raised today.

[Dmajackson]

HalifaxDevelopments.ca (Photo by David Jackson)

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

Recent pic... my thinking is that this is a nice project overall though I'm disappointed that there appears to be no services or retail on the street level.

PXL_20250814_214253490.MP by A.J. Forsythe, on Flickr

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Arrdeeharharharbour

Recent pic... my thinking is that this is a nice project overall though I'm disappointed that there appears to be no services or retail on the street level.

The urban planning dogma is hard to shake. This is in no way a commercial street. No businesses exist anywhere along it nearby. There is no street parking, and little to no pedestrian activity. Any business foolish enough to locate there (if they even could and zoning allowed it) would be totally dependent upon residents of the building to survive. Their chances would not be good.

I still am baffled by the name bestowed on this place.

[someone123]

Looking at the map, there's already pretty decent density around here but apparently no convenience store between Lacewood and Main Ave, a bit over 1 km. It doesn't seem unreasonable to have something here. This development itself has over 500 units.

Halifax suburbs always seemed to me to have oddly low amenities sprinkled throughout with long travel distances and relatively large blobs of single-use retail.

[bartekci]

I find this discussion odd, given that the Sobey's is just shy of 1km away from this development. I know 1km is not a possible walk for everyone, but it is for most. And, they are another 1km from the Canada Games centre, mainland commons trail system, various outdoor pitches, etc.

Yeah, a little convenience store at the base of the building would be great but I don't think this development can be framed as poor in amenities.

What I'd like to see next is improved safety on Willet St. The walk to the plaza will be much more attractive if the sidewalks are wider, or there is a buffer between vehicles and pedestrians (a bike lane perhaps )

[someone123]

Well, it is subjective whether that area is convenient or not. Some people will find it adequate and others won't. But it's a bit unusual to live in a 500+ unit highrise development built up to the street yet have to walk 500 m+ to get to any business, and this is probably related to zoning restrictions and hostile pedestrian environments rather than a lack of demand in some instances.

It seems like the worst of both worlds to me in some ways. Low convenience but you still don't get private outdoor space and you have to live with elevators. Sure, it's cheaper than living on the Peninsula but it could be closer in conveniences with some comparatively minor adjustments that just don't seem to be on the radar.

Around Wentworth Dr there's some relatively new development that is rows of midrise but there appears to be almost no mixed use. Maybe you can walk to a restaurant or shop, and there isn't much in the way of more than basic local recreational amenities like a soccer field.

In the lower density areas of Halifax it can be 2-3 km to get to shops and there are subdivisions where you have to drive 5-10 minutes to escape. That was a drawback in the Hammonds Plains forest fires for example. People from other parts of Canada often find this a bit strange and notable.

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

When I took the pic posted above from my friend's condo balcony across the street, I was thinking how nicely urban the area was beginning to look. My friend commented that it would be nice to have a coffee shop in the area. I suspect a small independent coffee shop might do just fine in the area. I wasn't thinking of a Walmart or anything that would require substantial parking. My friend finds the area to be convenient. It's a short walk to groceries though perhaps an Uber back depending on how much you might buy. He also uses transit with complaints mainly surrounding the poor behavior of other passengers.