General Updates and News

[halifaxboyns]

I can't remember what thread we were discussing the fact that both Dal and SMU had campus expansion plans; but I found this in the Edmonton thread.
This is the proposed campus expansion plan for Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton - I guess schools across the county are growing!

I love the iconic campus downtown - I always thought the big towers were Alberta's own weapon's silos lol.

[someone123]

Allnovascotia tonight makes it sound like the DQ building owner is simply looking for a new tenant.

[beyeas]

yeah I saw that... disappointing.
Especially given that, with the pizza place having burned down and the Daily Grind having closed that is 3 places in a row along avery prominent corner that are empty. Won't stay that way for long I am sure given that it is a desirable corner, but still sucks, plus it really sucks that it doesn't sound as if there is any move to consolidate for a larger development.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by beyeas

yeah I saw that... disappointing.
Especially given that, with the pizza place having burned down and the Daily Grind having closed that is 3 places in a row along avery prominent corner that are empty. Won't stay that way for long I am sure given that it is a desirable corner, but still sucks, plus it really sucks that it doesn't sound as if there is any move to consolidate for a larger development.

If people where able to build height/ density then i believe you would see the consolidation of the lots, but as it stands now the price to purchase these properties would be extremely challenging to make a new development economically feasible due lack of density/height. Simply put, a new development can only carry so much in the way of land costs within the development proforma before it proves to be uneconomical.

[Dmajackson]

Just in case people are wondering about the 5784 Charles proposal still I have added it to the Compilation Thread and the Halifax Developments Map. Right now it's listed as having the existing building demolished which is true but if it is for an expansion of Chapman's that will soon change.

[JustinMacD]

Originally Posted by beyeas

yeah I saw that... disappointing.
Especially given that, with the pizza place having burned down and the Daily Grind having closed that is 3 places in a row along avery prominent corner that are empty. Won't stay that way for long I am sure given that it is a desirable corner, but still sucks, plus it really sucks that it doesn't sound as if there is any move to consolidate for a larger development.

Bookmark is between the Daily Grind and DQ.

[hfxtradesman]

There will be another 4-pad rink put over at the Dartmouth Crossing area in the next litlle while. And the sportsplex is going to get a complete make over, once council approves the project, if anybody is keeping track.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by hfxtradesman

There will be another 4-pad rink put over at the Dartmouth Crossing area in the next litlle while. And the sportsplex is going to get a complete make over, once council approves the project, if anybody is keeping track.

really, well not sure your sources but if the following is the case i would like to see how they deal with it seeing there is a budget issue http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9018742.html

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by sdm

really, well not sure your sources but if the following is the case i would like to see how they deal with it seeing there is a budget issue http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9018742.html

No problem, they'll just fire up the dollar bill printing press in the basement of City Hall and spend, spend, spend!

Either that, or just raise taxes again, to crushing levels. HRM cannot help themselves. They live to spend our money on absolute waste.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

No problem, they'll just fire up the dollar bill printing press in the basement of City Hall and spend, spend, spend!

Either that, or just raise taxes again, to crushing levels. HRM cannot help themselves. They live to spend our money on absolute waste.

its truly sad as council has no idea that simply taxing the crap out of commerical it is making business rethink whether or not to be located here.

in 2011 commerical as an example (resturants, small business, large corporate) will see an increase of 11% on electricity, 40% in water fees and most likely 6% real estate taxes. All translates into higher prices and lower revenues.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by sdm

its truly sad as council has no idea that simply taxing the crap out of commerical it is making business rethink whether or not to be located here.

in 2011 commerical as an example (resturants, small business, large corporate) will see an increase of 11% on electricity, 40% in water fees and most likely 6% real estate taxes. All translates into higher prices and lower revenues.

I've always thought that this process seems very broken since councillors are largely elected by residential property owners who are only indirectly affected by commercial rates. Councillors do not have an incentive to set fair taxation levels across the board.

[JET]

Originally Posted by someone123

I've always thought that this process seems very broken since councillors are largely elected by residential property owners who are only indirectly affected by commercial rates. Councillors do not have an incentive to set fair taxation levels across the board.

Are not commercial property owners in most cases also residential property owners. Given that many people don't vote, if all the commercial owners turned out for the vote, would they not have significant sway. If they are also part of the mass that don't vote, then we all get what we vote for.

[Jstaleness]

I grabbed a picture of the new building on Agricola as I was driving by today. I really like the look of it personally.

[someone123]

Allnovascotia is reporting that Danny Chedrawe has purchased the TD building on Spring Garden Road between Brunswick and Queen, which means that he now owns the entire block and plans to move forward with a 7 storey development.

Not sure what to think as it's described as "traditional mixed with modern". Apparently there is no plan to incorporate the old buildings on this site. If that's true it would be a big mistake not to move them or preserve them in some way. There aren't a ton of brick rowhouses in Halifax and the former BMO building on the corner has a nice sandstone facade that is a landmark in the area. Maybe these could be relocated onto the Clyde Street lands?

Preservation issues aside, I can see this becoming quite the corner with both the new library and major new development across from it.

[beyeas]

yeah I had the same reaction. There is very little else worth saving on that block, but the BMO facade on the corner is very attractive and distinctive and well worth saving.

It sounds like it will be a great development for what is becoming a very prominent corner in Halifax... but destroying that facade is a sticking point for me. It is for times like this that I wish we had a credible advocate for heritage in this city, as opposed to groups who just want to save empty lots.

[bluenoser]

I would be very sad to see the BMO facade torn down, and to some extent, the brick buildings on the Brunswick corner as well. It is a fairly large lot and long frontage on Spring Garden so maybe it would even be desireable to incorporate these into the new development to break up the bulk of it and add some character, as opposed to having the whole block look the same? Presumably the new development will be stepped down to a similar height at street level anyway.

I guess it's the same old problem; I just can't get that excited about a new development that tears down beautiful old buildings while there are so many empty lots in the city, particularly the Clyde St. lands that are so close by.

[cormiermax]

Does anyone have any renders of this proposal?

[JET]

Originally Posted by beyeas

yeah I had the same reaction. There is very little else worth saving on that block, but the BMO facade on the corner is very attractive and distinctive and well worth saving.

It sounds like it will be a great development for what is becoming a very prominent corner in Halifax... but destroying that facade is a sticking point for me. It is for times like this that I wish we had a credible advocate for heritage in this city, as opposed to groups who just want to save empty lots.

It would be a shame to lose the Fat Franks building.

[beyeas]

Which one is Fat Franks?

[someone123]

To be honest even the old TD building is kind of interesting. Halifax is not a big city and doesn't have a huge stock of old architecture. It's going to quickly lose its historic character if another block goes down every few years.

Part of the issue here is that most of the empty lots are being held up for one reason or another.

And I agree that it would be infinitely more useful to have real heritage advocates who are practical and focus on saving architecture rather than opposing developers. I don't think it's a particularly tough sell or particularly unreasonable to save something like the BMO facade if you're doing a big development on an entire block.

I also have to wonder why there's so little money for heritage preservation in Halifax. That's probably what we should have instead of requiring developers to pay for public art, i.e. fake lighthouses. Imagine if there was a fund available for this kind of preservation and the city officially got "first dibs" on anything that was going to be torn down.