[Halifax] Richmond Yards | 103-47-41-40-32 m | 31-13-12-10-8 fl | U/C

[Dmajackson]

HalifaxDevelopments.ca (Photo by David Jackson)

[Dmajackson]

The June 2026 Retail Listings new additions are Loosey Goosey Cocktail Bar, Wood Fired Pizza, Honey & Ginger (shown as "Health Store"), and Fia Fia Yarn.


HalifaxDevelopments.ca (Photo by David Jackson)

[Keith P.]

Better screenshot those pretty fast. I can't see retail here doing very well except for residents who might patronize those businesses.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Better screenshot those pretty fast. I can't see retail here doing very well except for residents who might patronize those businesses.

I've got to disagree. I've been here often this summer to patronize Espresso 46 and the Warehouse Market. Both have been quite busy, and the sidewalks around here are generally pretty active, and both the parking lot (excuse me, "King Square") and the bike-parking have been consistently full.

I think the curb appeal leaves something to be desired, at least facing Almon Street, but the whole development is getting a neighbourhood reputation as an unexepected hub of good retail. The population of this census tract and the census tract to the east have grown by something like 50 percent in the past few years, too.

[HalifaxRetales]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

The June 2026 Retail Listings new additions are Loosey Goosey Cocktail Bar, Wood Fired Pizza, Honey & Ginger (shown as "Health Store"), and Fia Fia Yarn.


HalifaxDevelopments.ca (Photo by David Jackson)

Loosy Goosey not until January, Fia Fia next Saturday

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Better screenshot those pretty fast. I can't see retail here doing very well except for residents who might patronize those businesses.

I hope they all do well - it feels like it's *this close* to becoming a really great collection of local shops/services. It seems like whomever is in charge of leasing is really going out of their way to attract local businesses - think about the speed of this filling up versus other developments with fewer spots. I've not been since the latest crop opened, but have been a handful of times to shop for gifts at Frabjous Delights and Salt & Saffron.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Great news, and it’s been fantastic to observe the evolution of this neighbourhood. I can still recall a time when things were a little sketchy in north downtown and the north end, where places like the Agricola area would tend to not be a place that you would go for a walk, for example. It perhaps could be judged as gentrification to an extent, but it’s nice to see it become a vibrant and and family-friendly area. I love to see our fine city improve in such a manner.

[kzt79]

These shops should do fine. Lots of people living here and more to come.

I don't see why some try to portray "gentrification" as a negative. Converting crime ridden dilapidated areas into nice safe neighborhoods where normal people actually want to be? Sign me up for all dat dere gentrification.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by kzt79

I don't see why some try to portray "gentrification" as a negative. Converting crime ridden dilapidated areas into nice safe neighborhoods where normal people actually want to be? Sign me up for all dat dere gentrification.

One could dispute how much this development fits the model of gentrification. Generally speaking, these units will be more affordable than houses in the area. Fisherman's Market is a normal business useful to a wide variety of people, not a doggie yoga studio.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by kzt79

I don't see why some try to portray "gentrification" as a negative. Converting crime ridden dilapidated areas into nice safe neighborhoods where normal people actually want to be? Sign me up for all dat dere gentrification.

While it doesn't seem like this is an example of gentrification, I don't have any trouble understanding why actual gentrification is considered bad. The vast majority of people in those "crime ridden, dilapidated areas" aren't actually criminals, but are often too poor to live in other more desirable areas. So if the gentrification involves replacing lower cost housing and businesses with higher cost examples, the existing residents can easily get displaced. Often to another equally undesirable area (in which case they're going through the hassle of moving and losing whatever local community attachments they had) for no benefit to them. Or their new area may be even lower quality since it might be further from the city core or other destinations. Or there may not be another area they can afford in which case they can even risk being unhoused or having to leave the city entirely.

So the benefits of actual gentrification mostly go to people who are new to the area and have little to no connection to it but get housing and businesses that cater to them simply because they have more money, while the people who are attached to the area and need the lower costs it provided are pushed out rather than benefited.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by kzt79

These shops should do fine. Lots of people living here and more to come.

I don't see why some try to portray "gentrification" as a negative. Converting crime ridden dilapidated areas into nice safe neighborhoods where normal people actually want to be? Sign me up for all dat dere gentrification.

I don’t see why some cherry-pick small side comments on forums to attempt to turn them into contentious discussion points, but such is the territory, I suppose.

As mentioned, if this were to be considered gentrification by some, I still see what is happening as a net positive. As poster(s) have mentioned, it’s becoming a busy retail area and a destination for locals that will probably draw in people from other parts of the city, if they like the experience or mix of shops.

Anyone who was around here in the 1970s thru 1990s will probably remember when it felt not so friendly of a place to be. I would go through there often and rarely had what anybody might consider an “incident” but some might have been bothered by it. So gentrification or not, it’s nice to see that it has become a place where everyone feels safe to be, and wants to go there to enjoy what it has to offer.

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I don’t see why some cherry-pick small side comments on forums to attempt to turn them into contentious discussion points, but such is the territory, I suppose.

As mentioned, if this were to be considered gentrification by some, I still see what is happening as a net positive. As poster(s) have mentioned, it’s becoming a busy retail area and a destination for locals that will probably draw in people from other parts of the city, if they like the experience or mix of shops.

Anyone who was around here in the 1970s thru 1990s will probably remember when it felt not so friendly of a place to be. I would go through there often and rarely had what anybody might consider an “incident” but some might have been bothered by it. So gentrification or not, it’s nice to see that it has become a place where everyone feels safe to be, and wants to go there to enjoy what it has to offer.

I wasn't meaning to be combative. Per the comment above I can see how true gentrification may impact some negatively, and I also agree with the comments that this isn't really gentrification so much as a broad based improvement of the area. Whatever terms are used, I like to see this kind of positive development.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

So the benefits of actual gentrification mostly go to people who are new to the area and have little to no connection to it but get housing and businesses that cater to them simply because they have more money, while the people who are attached to the area and need the lower costs it provided are pushed out rather than benefited.

This is one theory, but I wonder how true this is in practice in Halifax. It's not obvious that it's how things normally go or the only way they can go.

In Halifax, some percent of people own their home, and they got a big financial boost from the run-up in property values. There's also significant public housing (e.g., Uniacke Square) and that hasn't gone anywhere. I'd guess that locals, if not displaced, tend to do better economically with more local employment options and businesses.

It's true that some private renters have gotten a raw deal lately, but helping them requires bringing apartment prices down which means more supply. Today's expensive apartment building will be tomorrow's affordable housing.

I'm skeptical of the idea that swathes of Halifax are so high-end that they have nothing to offer anyone but the wealthy. Likewise I'm skeptical of "poor" as an identity; people can become poor or become better off, and economic growth provides opportunity that can lift people out of poverty. I think Halifax is better opportunity-wise now than it was 30 years ago, although housing affordability is worse.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I've got to disagree. I've been here often this summer to patronize Espresso 46 and the Warehouse Market. Both have been quite busy, and the sidewalks around here are generally pretty active, and both the parking lot (excuse me, "King Square") and the bike-parking have been consistently full.

I think the curb appeal leaves something to be desired, at least facing Almon Street, but the whole development is getting a neighbourhood reputation as an unexepected hub of good retail. The population of this census tract and the census tract to the east have grown by something like 50 percent in the past few years, too.

My experience is only with the Almon St side, and it is very unappealing and not very accessible. Maybe you need to enter via the rear, I don't know. To me that seems a bit of a design fail. Of course HRM's moves to make Almon less of a thoroughfare and more of a local laneway did not help.

I would also take issue with the various comments that followed mine suggesting that this was an unsafe area full of criminal activity. I'm unsure what the basis of that would be. Prior to this development, that part of Almon was all low-end commercial - a transmission shop on the Robie corner, the old Acadian Lines depot which tried being repurposed as resto/retail, an old sort of business hub set back from the street with various small shops and repair depots, and if memory serves, a social club, and I think some institutional uses. Along the Robie side of the corner was a 1970s sort of business storefront mall which seemed stable for several decades. The backside along St. Albans and Clifton was auto body/car repair places and, famously, further down Clifton, historically the infamous Ada's brothel, patronized by many public figures over the years. None of those were particularly attractive uses, but hardly unsafe.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by kzt79

I wasn't meaning to be combative. Per the comment above I can see how true gentrification may impact some negatively, and I also agree with the comments that this isn't really gentrification so much as a broad based improvement of the area. Whatever terms are used, I like to see this kind of positive development.

I think we agree on most points, actually. The gentrification comment was me thinking that if somebody takes the long view, they might see it as that, though I see it more as a slow burn evolution, like this was always going to happen as this area evolved, but it took a housing crisis to provide the jump start that it needed.

I didn’t really think you were being combative, BTW, however often I’ve posted about something and included a side comment for context or whatever, only to have a poster ignore the main point and focus on the side comment. It seems weird sometimes, almost as though the poster had ulterior motives and had no interest in what I was actually intending to discuss. Or maybe not.

[gcaven]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

My experience is only with the Almon St side, and it is very unappealing and not very accessible. Maybe you need to enter via the rear, I don't know. To me that seems a bit of a design fail. Of course HRM's moves to make Almon less of a thoroughfare and more of a local laneway did not help.

I would also take issue with the various comments that followed mine suggesting that this was an unsafe area full of criminal activity. I'm unsure what the basis of that would be. Prior to this development, that part of Almon was all low-end commercial - a transmission shop on the Robie corner, the old Acadian Lines depot which tried being repurposed as resto/retail, an old sort of business hub set back from the street with various small shops and repair depots, and if memory serves, a social club, and I think some institutional uses. Along the Robie side of the corner was a 1970s sort of business storefront mall which seemed stable for several decades. The backside along St. Albans and Clifton was auto body/car repair places and, famously, further down Clifton, historically the infamous Ada's brothel, patronized by many public figures over the years. None of those were particularly attractive uses, but hardly unsafe.

I grew up in the 90s/2000s on the other side of what is now the Wellington Court apartments/condos on Gladstone. Clifton St had a reputation for being rough and dangerous back then. Almon did not, but was definitely dumpy.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

My experience is only with the Almon St side, and it is very unappealing and not very accessible. Maybe you need to enter via the rear, I don't know. To me that seems a bit of a design fail. Of course HRM's moves to make Almon less of a thoroughfare and more of a local laneway did not help.

I would also take issue with the various comments that followed mine suggesting that this was an unsafe area full of criminal activity. I'm unsure what the basis of that would be. Prior to this development, that part of Almon was all low-end commercial - a transmission shop on the Robie corner, the old Acadian Lines depot which tried being repurposed as resto/retail, an old sort of business hub set back from the street with various small shops and repair depots, and if memory serves, a social club, and I think some institutional uses. Along the Robie side of the corner was a 1970s sort of business storefront mall which seemed stable for several decades. The backside along St. Albans and Clifton was auto body/car repair places and, famously, further down Clifton, historically the infamous Ada's brothel, patronized by many public figures over the years. None of those were particularly attractive uses, but hardly unsafe.

I was making a general statement about the area, though maybe further south and east of this particular area? I guess it speaks to how we all can have different impressions of the same thing depending upon our experiences and the experiences of people we know.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by someone123

This is one theory, but I wonder how true this is in practice in Halifax. It's not obvious that it's how things normally go or the only way they can go.

In Halifax, some percent of people own their home, and they got a big financial boost from the run-up in property values. There's also significant public housing (e.g., Uniacke Square) and that hasn't gone anywhere. I'd guess that locals, if not displaced, tend to do better economically with more local employment options and businesses.

It's true that some private renters have gotten a raw deal lately, but helping them requires bringing apartment prices down which means more supply. Today's expensive apartment building will be tomorrow's affordable housing.

I'm skeptical of the idea that swathes of Halifax are so high-end that they have nothing to offer anyone but the wealthy. Likewise I'm skeptical of "poor" as an identity; people can become poor or become better off, and economic growth provides opportunity that can lift people out of poverty. I think Halifax is better opportunity-wise now than it was 30 years ago, although housing affordability is worse.

Yeah sometimes people misuse terms and I'm sure gentrification is at times one of them. But the term really only applies when people are displaced by more affluent newcomers. The outsiders don't need to be "rich" and those displaced don't need to be "poor" but the key part is the affluence differential that causes displacement by the newcomers out bidding the established folk. And while it tends to affect renters the most (not surprising since property owners tend to be more affluent) but they can also affect home owners by causing the assessed value to increase which raises property taxes when based on assessed value. I'm not sure if that's ever happened in the HRM but it's definitely happened to people in other regions.

I will say though that while poor isn't necessarily an identity (although it certainly can be), discussions around gentrification very often have a racial and/or ethnic component. The existing residents often constitute a community based in solidarity or camaraderie around some type of shared circumstance or identity, and such community-making tends to be more important for them than for the general public because they often deal with greater struggles such as being less affluent or other types of marginalization. In other words, community can be harder for them to replace when lost since they aren't as accepted by wider society or they just don't have as much in common due to cultural differences.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I was making a general statement about the area, though maybe further south and east of this particular area? I guess it speaks to how we all can have different impressions of the same thing depending upon our experiences and the experiences of people we know.

It turns out I got my street names confused. I was thinking of King St where I used to patronize a tire/car repair place, now long gone. There were indeed parts of that which were quite sketchy, thankfully now gone, though I had no problems there. I really don’t know much about Clifton st.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

My experience is only with the Almon St side, and it is very unappealing and not very accessible. Maybe you need to enter via the rear, I don't know. To me that seems a bit of a design fail. Of course HRM's moves to make Almon less of a thoroughfare and more of a local laneway did not help.

Agreed, it doesn't have great street presence from Almon at all. It's better when you're in the internal street layout. It's still not spectacular or anything, but it's functional, with nice finishing materials and above-average design touches (for here).