Salter Street Block | 41 m | 12 fl | Cancelled

[q12]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Thanks for the link - it is too bad that the stands and volleyball courts can't be seen.

They haven't been constructed yet. It will be in the parking lot. They are having an "Incredible Picnic" there today. http://iselect.selectnovascotia.ca/picnic-locations/event/halifax-waterfront-picnic

What is the seating capacity for the tournament?

It says seating for 2,000. http://www.sandjamhalifax.ca/

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by q12

It says seating for 2,000. http://www.sandjamhalifax.ca/

Thank you, I should have read the link information.

[pblaauw]

Originally Posted by q12

Here is a new webcam for Sands at Salter:
http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/halifax/sands-at-salter.html

Currently pointed at the ugly parking lot. If I didn't know better, I'd say someone was trying to keep aspirations of the post-Sands development alive by keeping visions of the parking lot in cam-viewers minds.

[Jonovision]

A couple quick pics from my phone at the picnic yesterday.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Would have liked the development on the property to proceed, but at least its being utilized.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Would have liked the development on the property to proceed, but at least its being utilized.

It seems like a good sign that this happened relatively quickly. We might have just as easily been left with a parking lot for the summer.

It remains to be seen how quickly they move forward with the development of the Cunard block and that area around the tour buses and the little clock tower. The Salter development may not have been feasible but it's really hard to believe that there's no feasible waterfront development worth building -- in reality comes down to proper planning, design, and communication. Salter must have failed in one of those areas.

[-Harlington-]

According to CTV news the tons and tons of sand from the vollyball tourny here will be brought to a field in burnside and be made into HRM vollyball courts .

[Jstaleness]

Don't forget this link. Courts are being made as I post this.

http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/halifax/sands-at-salter.html

[Nifta]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

Don't forget this link. Courts are being made as I post this.

http://www.novascotiawebcams.com/halifax/sands-at-salter.html

Watching the time-lapse of the last 24 hours was quite fun

[halifaxboyns]

(not sure if this is the right thread but oh well!)

Cunard Block construction scheduled for spring
Work to develop the Cunard Block on the Halifax waterfront may begin as soon as spring 2013, says the president of Waterfront Development Corp. Ltd.

The head of the provincial Crown corporation unveiled a proposed timeline to the public at the Fusion Halifax Viva City Downtown Symposium on Tuesday night.

A final design for the mixed-use development planned for the vacant lot just south of Southwest Properties Ltd.’s Bishop’s Landing project will be worked on in the next few months after which time a pre-application will be submitted to HRMbyDesign.

“Our goal would be to do that this fall and winter. And as we go forward with that pre-application, we’ll simultaneously be issuing a proposal in the spring of 2012 for a development partner,” Colin MacLean said.

“That allows us to try and minimize the timeline from Waterfront Development’s perspective, but also provide the partner with enough flexibility so that the final application is something that brings our expertise to the table.”

The corporation had initially wanted to submit an application on its own before finding a development partner when initial designs for the project, which will include an 18-storey apartment tower and public and commercial space, were unveiled in June.

It changed its mind after some public consultations.

“What we realized is that it ran the risk of not giving the development partner enough flexibility with the end product, which is what we want to do,” MacLean said, noting that there has been a “considerable” amount of interest from local developers.

The rest of the story

[RyeJay]

Wonderful!

I enjoy turn-abouts. I would enjoy a domino effect more.

Let us see just how many more developers make noise--and which ones actually put a shovel in the ground.

I'm so thirsty for Halifax's success; a comforting scene of the downtown would be one involving many cranes.

[someone123]

I actually found that article pretty disappointing. It reminds me of an old criticism, I think from Turner and Drake, that complained about the "leisurely" pace of publicly-driven development.

The title says spring but actually it's spring of 2013, and this comes on the heels of several years of supposed planning. So they need another year and a half just to plan a development and get it approved?

The last significant WDC-driven development was Bishop's Landing, which was completed around 10 years ago. This is seriously messed up when you consider the dozens of successful private developments that have gone up on less desirable, non-waterfront lots during the same period. Something else to keep in mind is that the seawall area has seen far more development over the past few years: farmers' market, garrison, etc. As far as I know the WDC did not play a significant role in any of that.

What is the background of the people in charge at the WDC? Do they have experience with development, or is the WDC used as a way to reward bureaucrats? It does not feel like they are under any pressure to produce results.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by someone123

I actually found that article pretty disappointing. It reminds me of an old criticism, I think from Turner and Drake, that complained about the "leisurely" pace of publicly-driven development.

The title says spring but actually it's spring of 2013, and this comes on the heels of several years of supposed planning. So they need another year and a half just to plan a development and get it approved?

The last significant WDC-driven development was Bishop's Landing, which was completed around 10 years ago. This is seriously messed up when you consider the dozens of successful private developments that have gone up on less desirable, non-waterfront lots during the same period. Something else to keep in mind is that the seawall area has seen far more development over the past few years: farmers' market, garrison, etc. As far as I know the WDC did not play a significant role in any of that.

What is the background of the people in charge at the WDC? Do they have experience with development, or is the WDC used as a way to reward bureaucrats? It does not feel like they are under any pressure to produce results.

One of the staff members is a planner, I remember because I found him on the CIP member database.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

One of the staff members is a planner, I remember because I found him on the CIP member database.

I know very little about the organization, but it seems to me that something's not right about it because the pace of development is so much lower than it ought to be. My suspicion is that there's not much incentive for the WDC to develop sites in a timely manner. In fact they may prefer to indefinitely "manage" the sites and receive parking revenues.

Keep in mind that these are areas that were cleared out in the 1970s and supposedly ready for redevelopment back then. They shouldn't still be half parking lots almost 40 years later! And we shouldn't be impressed by a plan to start construction on one moderate-sized development on an 18-month timeframe when there are projects like King's Wharf happening.

[Jonovision]

They have two planners on staff and a relatively new president who is very engaged and excited about the future of development on these lots. I think we will see a big change in the future on the waterfront. We've already started to see some change with the public space improvements. 2 park renovations and 1 brand new park all in the space of a year.

18 months is reasonable for me. Think back to how long it too Kings Wharf to get off the ground. It was a lot more than 18 months from the time they acquired the parcel to when construction started.

I am personally very happy with Waterfront Development and the changes that are happening on the waterfront and I believe that in 5 years there will be a lot more that has changed.

[q12]

FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Junior World Championships return to Halifax

Halifax, Canada, December 8, 2011 – Halifax will become the first city to host back-to-back FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Junior World Championships after the sport’s governing body announced that the waterfront town will welcome the world’s best junior players once again in 2012.

The six day tournament will take place from August 28 to September 2 and features a Main Draw of 32 teams for the first time, as the competition for players under 21 continues to grow in both size and stature.

The 2011 edition of the tournament was deemed a great success, with over 14,000 fans travelling to the waterfront to take in the action, and those numbers are expected to grow again this year.

Read more here: http://www.sandjamhalifax.ca/

[pblaauw]

Let's make the temporary beach volleyball courts PERMANENT. Just like the oval.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Ugh, I honestly want all these type of lots developed with density... people talk about wind issues in this city, but its really because the wind can sweep over all these empty lots on the waterfront.

I'm pissed the approved proposal was dropped... it had its own public skating area... downtown! In fact, they could probably have volleyball on the space of where the rink was, and still have development!

[halifaxboyns]

Cunard lock application set for winter

The Cunard Block development project on the Halifax waterfront has now moved on to another phase.

Two conceptual designs for the property were unveiled by Waterfront Development Corp. Ltd. in June, when the provincial Crown corporation invited public feedback.

As of Dec. 1, the project moved forward into the design development phase.

“So what we’re going to be doing is taking the feedback that was received on the preliminary concepts, refining the concept further and then presenting it both to the development community, as well as the public at large, for further feedback and working with the municipality on a pre-application for the site,” said Eric Burchill, the corporation’s director of planning and development.

The plan is to submit a pre-application with the municipality sometime this winter.

“It’ll be basically in the first quarter of 2012, so probably somewhere in the February-March time frame,” Burchill said. “We’ll be working closely with the municipality in the design development phase, so that we make sure that what comes out the other end meets the terms of the (municipal planning strategy). That’s the objective and defines the best use for the site.”

The corporation wants to see a mixed-use project built on the property, located on Lower Water Street north of the new Nova Scotia Power headquarters by Marginal Road, that will include an 18-storey apartment tower housing 275 units. The project would incorporate public spaces and have anywhere from 20,000 and 40,000 square feet of commercial space.

Lydon Lynch Architects of Halifax led a team that worked on the two initial conceptual designs. The next phase will move forward with a new team of experts led by Michael Napier Architecture and Ekistics Planning & Design.

New visuals for the property will be made public as early as January, Burchill said. It is unclear at this point what it will look like or how much of the two previous conceptual designs it will incorporate.

“It will actually be a refinement of both,” he said. “I really don’t know what the detailed design phase will yield at this point. We’re just entering into that, but it’s using those as a baseline, and then sort of building on them from there.”

A request for proposals is expected to be issued sometime in the spring, when developers will be able to make their pitch for a long-term lease on the land, worth about $8 million.

The rest of the story is here. (From the CH online)

[someone123]

Here's a new thread for the Cunard block: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=196109