Article in today's Herald. Not much new in it, basically just an interview with Andy Filmore. There was one little nugget though. In listing projects on the go or in the planning phase Filmore referenced a condo project for the Green Lantern Building on Barrington. Up until now I hadn't heard of any plans for that building. If true, that would be a big plus as the Green Lantern is a beautiful building, but it's in real bad shape and from what I gather has been really under used ever since Hurricane Juan took the roof off.
Bringing people back downtown, by design
HRM strategy involves revitalizing peninsular Halifax while maintaining the 260-year-old city’s historic character
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Sun. Jan 17 - 4:45 AM
PLANNED AND PROPOSED downtown developments will bring Halifax into the 21st century while retaining the city’s historic character, says the municipality’s urban design project manager.
"We’re looking at downtown as the next suburb," Andy Fillmore said Tuesday in an interview.
Mr. Fillmore led the Halifax by Design process, which streamlined development applications in Halifax Regional Municipality and established a precinct mechanism to manage downtown projects.
He said developments on the books or in the works will bring people back to the downtown to work, live and play.
"If you accept the premise, as I do and as (municipal) council did, that there aren’t enough people living and working downtown to make it viable, I’ve got to say this is fantastic," Mr. Fillmore said.
He said the population of peninsular Halifax shrank by 34 per cent, from 92,511 to 60,628, between 1961 and 2006.
A number of developments underway or planned for downtown focus on Barrington Street, which recently was designated a heritage precinct under Halifax by Design.
The designation offers building owners in the area matching financial incentives of up to $100,000 and tax breaks of 15 per cent for expenditures above $100,000 to maintain the historic facades of their properties.
Developments on Barrington include: rebuilding the Roy Building and adding a tower above it; transforming the Sam the Record Man and adjacent Granite Brewery properties into retail and commercial space; turning the Green Lantern building into condominiums; converting the National Film Board building into apartments; renovating the former Revenue Canada building; adding an apartment or office tower to the Discovery Centre; expanding the TD Bank; and turning the Freemason’s building into offices.
Rob Landry, property manager for Starfish Properties, which owns the Roy, Sam and Granite Brewery properties, said in a recent interview that the Barrington Street heritage designation and associated incentives would be an "important consideration" for any property owner.
Other planned or projected downtown developments include: a convention centre on Argyle Street; a central library on Queen Street at Spring Garden Road; a condominium tower at the old Keith’s Brewery; the Twisted Sisters towers at Hollis and Sackville streets; expansion of Fenwick Tower and City Centre Atlantic; Armour Group’s Waterside Centre and Queen’s Landing projects; Dexel Developments’ residential-commercial project at Morris and Hollis streets; Centennial Properties’ waterfront hotel project; and ECL Properties’ 22-storey office tower at the end of Granville Mall.
While there are no set timelines for many of the projects, Mr. Fillmore said there is a market for downtown apartments and condominiums that aren’t high-end, while office developers are taking an "if they build, people will come" approach.
"I see a lot of the projects moving ahead," he said.
Mr. Fillmore suggested that the only office developer who may hesitate is Sobey-controlled ECL, which would likely need a 60 per cent occupancy guarantee before proceeding.
Halifax by Design, which includes non-negotiable downtown building height limits ranging from 16.5 metres to 64.5 metres to address harbour view planes from Citadel Hill, replaces an outdated planning strategy that didn’t capitalize on the city’s strengths, said Mr. Fillmore.
"The community vision is a city that balances heritage and dynamic change and growth."
He said increasing downtown population density is environmentally sound and saves on expensive suburban infrastructure costs.
Christine Macy, dean of the faculty of architecture at Dalhousie University, said Halifax by Design is similar to planning strategies used successfully in cities like Boston. "The model is tested."
Ms. Macy said building skyward while maintaining pedestrian friendly streetscapes is a sensible way to balance the community’s desire for livable space with business demands for large floor plans.
"Halifax is catching up with the last part of the 20th century," she said, calling the municipality’s old planning strategy "scattershot" and subject to political pressures.
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Well done, lets see more of this.
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