[Halifax] Fortuna on Lucknow (1055 Lucknow) | 54 m | 18 Fl | U/C

[Dmajackson]

Southwest Properties has submitted permits to start construction on the expansion of their PARK PLAZA property in South End Halifax.

GOOGLE STREETVIEW - 1037 LUCKNOW STREET, HALIFAX

Existing buildings at 1027 Lucknow and 1037 Lucknow will be removed, and a 16 story (plus penthouse) addition will be added to 1055 Lucknow Street in their place

[Keith P.]

Those two buildings are real veterans of the postwar style Halifax box apartment of the day. I’ve been in a few of them. Units ranged from tiny to surprisingly large. Few amenities of course.

The fact that this is being described as an addition to the classic Park Plaza building next door makes me wonder if it too will be in a similar style and clad in red-brick. I don't know when it was built nor what it is like inside but it has always fascinated me for its 1950s big-city style and all that brick on the outside. Rare for such a large building, though maybe less so given its era.

[mleblanc]

Southwest has a page for this one: Fortuna on Lucknow. Showing a 3 storey podium, 18 storey tower above with 174 units. Ground floor townhouses, no retail. Nice to see some more height come to this end of downtown/south end.

[Dmajackson]

^Thanks. I did check their website but I didn't see anything listed.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Great for the area. Looking forward to seeing how the tower portion integrates.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Found this: https://fathomstudio.ca/our-work/fortuna-lucknow-street

The images on the Southwest site must be old.

[someone123]

It will be interesting to see a rendering for the 18 storey version.

That part of town is nice with some attractive heritage buildings and pretty good geography but it was always too low density to be a full service neighbourhood, and it has a lot of lackluster infill from the 50's-90's. This project seems to be fixing both issues, at least along that block. With a mix of new projects and renos to the Victorian buildings it could be much much nicer than it is. An overhaul of the Queen/Fenwick area would also be a big improvement.

[CallaRivers]

Urban expansion discussions highlight evolving cityscapes, blending historical charm with modernity.

[someone123]

There is a house for sale nearby and it happens to have a shot of this site: https://www.remaxnova.com/residentia...-mls-202510900

You really see the mix of development of different eras here. Victorian housing, then some 50's-70's apartment block, then it got dialed back to almost nothing by the 80's/90's (heavy NIMBY) era. You even see some generic 80's style vinyl suburban homes mixed in with 1800's townhouses and apartment blocks. Now it is possible to build towers around here again.

I hope there's some strong heritage preservation and a good mix of development, but I think the ideal mix does include towers. You see some urban fabric that is really quite appealing looking in the foreground and it includes thoughtful new development and additions.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by someone123

There is a house for sale nearby and it happens to have a shot of this site: https://www.remaxnova.com/residentia...-mls-202510900

You really see the mix of development of different eras here. Victorian housing, then some 50's-70's apartment block, then it got dialed back to almost nothing by the 80's/90's (heavy NIMBY) era. You even see some generic 80's style vinyl suburban homes mixed in with 1800's townhouses and apartment blocks. Now it is possible to build towers around here again.

I hope there's some strong heritage preservation and a good mix of development, but I think the ideal mix does include towers. You see some urban fabric that is really quite appealing looking in the foreground and it includes thoughtful new development and additions.

I agree. It has the potential to be something quite special. Maybe with more towers, some of the old homes can become family homes again instead of run-down student housing. Some gems in there.

[Insigne]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I agree. It has the potential to be something quite special. Maybe with more towers, some of the old homes can become family homes again instead of run-down student housing. Some gems in there.

Or more incentive to let them get more run down to eventually build more towers. Just saying.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Insigne

Or more incentive to let them get more run down to eventually build more towers. Just saying.

I wonder if there are good solutions to this and the goal of having a mix of developments rather than a binary choice between stifling development in an area and making it a sea of modern buildings.

I think the inner parts of Halifax would be a lot more appealing if a comparatively small number of properties were renovated. I suspect the costs aren't really that significant in the scheme of things.

Easiest is probably more heritage registration (or districts) and better, more prescriptive standards for heritage buildings. This is per property rather than block or neighbourhood level. If there is 1 ugly vinyl clad box on a nice block in a historic district, the municipality should be able to compel the owners to bring it to a standard in line with the area.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I agree that it’s not rocket science, yet none of these solutions seem to have any traction in Halifax (and other cities, as it’s not a Halifax-only issue). Halifax has one of the more interesting (and long) histories in Canada, yet it’s historic structures have long been treated as though they are an impediment to progress, rather than a potential part of an attractive and interesting neighbourhood. Even some local SSP members appear to harbour that point of view at times, astonishingly enough.

I think, though, that it will always be an uphill battle as long as the municipal and provincial governments stay in the shadows and let things go as they always have. The business case is almost always the case that wins out, even though it could probably be shown that with proper planning and execution you could have your cake and eat it too. There have been some decent projects that respect heritage buildings that seem to work out just fine, but perhaps the profit margin is not quite as lucrative, or maybe the timeline is a little longer. IMHO, that’s where the government needs to take on the role of caretaker of our city. There has been more attention to heritage districts and such lately, so maybe things are tipping in the right direction?

[Dmajackson]

Building permit has been submitted! It is considered an extension of the existing building so the site will have 17 Floors - 174 Units Total (133 more units than currently exists).

[IMontoya]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I agree. It has the potential to be something quite special. Maybe with more towers, some of the old homes can become family homes again instead of run-down student housing. Some gems in there.

Long time, first time!

I'm in one of those lovely Victorians and my neighbour has just started a conversion to return student flats to a single family home. Don't think he was aware that this was happening!

I'm busy watching the deconstruction and am a little surprised at the careful wrapping and packing of the material. These things must have been made of pure asbestos! Thought there would be more "knock em down" and get on with it. Probably shouldn't be encouraging the next phase of 7 months of blasting and excavation...

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by IMontoya

Long time, first time!

I'm in one of those lovely Victorians and my neighbour has just started a conversion to return student flats to a single family home. Don't think he was aware that this was happening!

I'm busy watching the deconstruction and am a little surprised at the careful wrapping and packing of the material. These things must have been made of pure asbestos! Thought there would be more "knock em down" and get on with it. Probably shouldn't be encouraging the next phase of 7 months of blasting and excavation...

Nice! Great to hear that about the conversion. That has happened multiple times on my own block in the last few years.

I too live in an older home and have been shocked at where we have found asbestos! Places like the vermiculite in the attic and wraps around the heating pipes were expected. But one time a contractor was doing a different job in the furnace room, and he looked up between the old hand planed floor joints and told us to make sure to never pull up the hardwood because there was asbestos paper between the joists and the hardwood. It is all through the house! But, these old homes have their charm too.

[connect2source]

Demolition progress from Oct 13th :
Photo by Me :

[Jonovision]

I saw on instagram this morning that Southwest hosted an official ground breaking for this project today.

[Dmajackson]

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PLAN has been posted for this development. It includes what should be the current renderings and floor plans.

Photo from my blog from a couple of weeks ago. As per usual I plan to cross-post some photos onto this forum but most of my regular visits will be kept on there.


HalifaxDevelopments.ca (Photo by David Jackson)