General Updates and News

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

The "HRM didn't follow their own policy" line is arguable at best.

My impression is that this is a somewhat weak argument and that it might all be moot because the groups who are now going after the city participated in and were aware of the process that actually was undertaken. As you say, council voted multiple times on this and has since rescinded the old policy, which by the way did not entitle these groups to the property. It is not nearly as sketchy as it is being portrayed.

Many of the other points about the HRM being biased or prejudiced seem difficult to prove.

Even if the judge does agree with the nonprofits, it does not seem obvious to me that the groups would be awarded the property. I am not sure what would happen. Would they be awarded negative damages because council's decision prevented them from gaining a big liability in the form of aging, unsuitable buildings?

[JET]

Originally Posted by someone123

My impression is that this is a somewhat weak argument and that it might all be moot because the groups who are now going after the city participated in and were aware of the process that actually was undertaken. As you say, council voted multiple times on this and has since rescinded the old policy, which by the way did not entitle these groups to the property. It is not nearly as sketchy as it is being portrayed.

Many of the other points about the HRM being biased or prejudiced seem difficult to prove.

Even if the judge does agree with the nonprofits, it does not seem obvious to me that the groups would be awarded the property. I am not sure what would happen. Would they be awarded negative damages because council's decision prevented them from gaining a big liability in the form of aging, unsuitable buildings?

Halifax sold an aging unsuitable school (Tower Road) to the Grammar School, and look at it now. This time Council did vote numerous times, but reversed itself twice within a short period of time. A policy cannot be changed retroactively, that's crazy. The community groups have a very good lawyer; it will be interesting to watch.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by JET

Halifax sold an aging unsuitable school (Tower Road) to the Grammar School, and look at it now.

The Grammar School is a cash-generating machine that has its hooks into the wealthiest families in the South End. It is the total opposite of these groups. It is not putting the arm on taxpayers to let it fulfill its pipe dreams.

This time Council did vote numerous times, but reversed itself twice within a short period of time. A policy cannot be changed retroactively, that's crazy. The community groups have a very good lawyer; it will be interesting to watch.

I hope the lawyer has advised these outfits that they can be found liable for damages should things not go their way. I wonder if he has committed to cover the risk for them.

Of course a policy can be changed retroactively. Things happen and a policy cannot be expected to anticipate all of them. My view is that the policy did not need to be changed at all - that was done on advice from HRM's lawyer which in my view was ill-advised. But it is done anyway now, and the wish of council is clear; I cannot see a court going against that. I only hope that HRM gets the best legal advice they can when arguing the case, and doesn't rely on Ms. Donovan.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

The Grammar School is a cash-generating machine that has its hooks into the wealthiest families in the South End. It is the total opposite of these groups. It is not putting the arm on taxpayers to let it fulfill its pipe dreams.



I hope the lawyer has advised these outfits that they can be found liable for damages should things not go their way. I wonder if he has committed to cover the risk for them.

Of course a policy can be changed retroactively. Things happen and a policy cannot be expected to anticipate all of them. My view is that the policy did not need to be changed at all - that was done on advice from HRM's lawyer which in my view was ill-advised. But it is done anyway now, and the wish of council is clear; I cannot see a court going against that. I only hope that HRM gets the best legal advice they can when arguing the case, and doesn't rely on Ms. Donovan.

Many non profits, although they tend to support lower income folks rather than the wealthier folks, have substantial land holdings and significant budgets. Overall they tend to make better financial decisions than HRM. It wiil be interesting to see the end result.

[Keith P.]

It seems to me that this case has already been undermined by the Micmac Friendship Center complaining that their existing building - I don't know if it was previously given to them or not - is unsuitable now because of maintenance issues. If they cannot maintain what they already have, giving them a bigger, maintenance-deprived structure will only make the problem worse and lead to deterioration on an even bigger scale. It seems clear that the strategy here was to get the buildings in order to them make the case for more public funding to keep them operating, the usual empire-building tactic of such groups.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

It seems to me that this case has already been undermined by the Micmac Friendship Center complaining that their existing building - I don't know if it was previously given to them or not - is unsuitable now because of maintenance issues. If they cannot maintain what they already have, giving them a bigger, maintenance-deprived structure will only make the problem worse and lead to deterioration on an even bigger scale. It seems clear that the strategy here was to get the buildings in order to them make the case for more public funding to keep them operating, the usual empire-building tactic of such groups.

I'm not that familiar with the friendship centre, but i think that they rent their building ( I could be wrong about that). I'm more familiar with the North end clinic. They own and maintain their properties very well. I see them as the main drivers of the community proposal. I think that they are well resourced and understandably have a lot of community support. I was surprised that the developer said that the community groups have less support than he has. I think that he underestimates these groups, as does HRM.

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

It seems to me that this case has already been undermined by the Micmac Friendship Center complaining that their existing building - I don't know if it was previously given to them or not - is unsuitable now because of maintenance issues. If they cannot maintain what they already have, giving them a bigger, maintenance-deprived structure will only make the problem worse and lead to deterioration on an even bigger scale. It seems clear that the strategy here was to get the buildings in order to them make the case for more public funding to keep them operating, the usual empire-building tactic of such groups.

The MFC own two buildings on Gottingen as well as the Direction 180 building I believe. They want to consolidate all services in one building and sell off two prime lots on Gottingen to fund the move. Doesn't seem like such a crazy plan or attempt at "empire-building" as you suggest. Both buildings that they currently have are teardowns and money generated from the sale of the properties will go a lot further in renovating a space in the school than it would if they try and work with what the currently have. Bottom line is their current properties don't work for them and are potentially worth a lot of money to someone else.

[cormiermax]

Does anyone even really use the MFC? I don't really understand it's purpose.

[JET]

Originally Posted by cormiermax

Does anyone even really use the MFC? I don't really understand it's purpose.

http://www.danielnpaul.com/Col/1999/MicmacNativeFriendshipCentre-26YearsOfVitalService.html

[someone123]

Originally Posted by planarchy

The MFC own two buildings on Gottingen as well as the Direction 180 building I believe. They want to consolidate all services in one building and sell off two prime lots on Gottingen to fund the move. Doesn't seem like such a crazy plan or attempt at "empire-building" as you suggest. Both buildings that they currently have are teardowns and money generated from the sale of the properties will go a lot further in renovating a space in the school than it would if they try and work with what the currently have. Bottom line is their current properties don't work for them and are potentially worth a lot of money to someone else.

What is the size of these Gottingen properties compared to the St. Pat's-A site? The school site is approximately the size of two whole blocks along Gottingen while the MFC itself appears to take up perhaps 1/10 of the block it's on.

I would argue that sites like the MFC are far from "prime". Their assessed value is likely a small fraction of the speculated ~$5M sale price of the St. Pat's-A land.

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by someone123

What is the size of these Gottingen properties compared to the St. Pat's-A site? The school site is approximately the size of two whole blocks along Gottingen while the MFC itself appears to take up perhaps 1/10 of the block it's on.

I would argue that sites like the MFC are far from "prime". Their assessed value is likely a small fraction of the speculated ~$5M sale price of the St. Pat's-A land.

THe MFC was only a part of the proposal. They would only take up a portion of the newest building on the site. My understanding is that they had no interest on the oldest building on the site or much of the open space areas. MFC owns three parcels on Gottingen - two are large parcels - some of the largest on the street, with Direction 180 as an additional third smaller parcel.

Does anyone even really use the MFC? I don't really understand it's purpose.

JET's link is good, but as far as the reach of MFC, it's really quite extraordinary. They have a membership in the hundreds and host events and programs that regularly attract a large majority of its membership. They offer subsidized day care, out of one of the buildings, and a lot of support programs for parents, as well as providing regular meals, classes. etc. They are arguably one of the most active organizations in the Halifax region. As the majority of programs are aimed at the highest risk, unless you are involved you may not hear a lot about it.

[cormiermax]

Thanks for the info guys! Had no idea the place served so many. Every time iv passed by it looked semi-abandoned.

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by cormiermax

Thanks for the info guys! Had no idea the place served so many. Every time iv passed by it looked semi-abandoned.

Definitely. It's got one-glass in the Child Care building and the street frontage on the Friendship building is terrible. And well, Direction 180 is definitely an uninviting building. The redevelopment of these lots would be huge for this block of Gottingen.

[Empire]

Does anyone know if they plan to replace the hideous zamboni shack at the oval with something a bit more palatable??

Green tin shack in the centre of the cam shot with HRM written all over it..........Glorified Garden shed or zamboni hut?
http://halifax.ca/skatehrm/webcamera/index.html

[Keith P.]

It is consistent with the hideousness of the rest of that debacle. Just another bottomless pit to pour tax dollars into, like the palatial library down the street.

I'm sure they have plans for a faux-Victorian red-brick structure to replace it next year. Probably with foam cornices. Either that, or a split-face concrete block structure like the washrooms across the way.

[Dmajackson]

Wilson eyes car charging sites
February 7, 2012 - 9:04pm BY CHRIS LAMBIE BUSINESS EDITOR

WILSON FUEL CO. LTD. is looking at the idea of setting up chargers for electric cars.

The company, which owns and operates 55 gas stations and supplies another 200 in the Atlantic provinces, is talking to Nova Scotia Power about the possibility.

“We’re just in the energy business,” Dave Collins, vice-president of Wilson Fuel, said Tuesday.

“I’ll sell you liquid fuel or I’ll sell you electrons. I don’t really care, because basically we’re in some convenient spots where that might make some sense.”

Some of the charging sites could be in Halifax, Elmsdale or Enfield.

“If you plug it into your 110-volt block heater outdoor outlet, it takes 20 hours to refill a car. If you can get a 220-volt fast charge, that’s eight hours to refill a car,” Collins said.

“What we’d be talking about is 440-volt DC fast charges, which is 30 minutes.”

He’s hoping the charging stations, which cost as much as $15,000 a pop, could be located at stations with nearby food outlets.

“If you had a Tim Hortons or McDonald’s or Robin’s Donuts or one of the other fast-food partners that we have adjacent to where we are, then they could come, plug in, (get something to eat) and then come back to their car,” Collins said.

“And obviously there would be a fee to do that. But it would extend the viable range.”

Wilson Fuel doesn’t know yet what it would charge for the charge.

“That’s all part of what we’re going to explore with Nova Scotia Power,” Collins said.

Setting up charging stations is at least six months off.

“For us, it’s: Is it a potential threat on the horizon from a strategic point of view? Yeah. How do we plan to make money at it? Not sure, but we’re going to try and figure it out ..... so it doesn’t overwhelm our business.”

Wilson is trying to husband its business along by investigating the potential of the electric car, Collins said.

“It would be irresponsible of us not to consider it and not to understand it.”

...

([email protected])

Read More Here - TheChronicleHerald.ca; February 8th, 2012

[kph06]

Here's a shot of the new Chickenburger I got today. They have the porch glassed in, but not much has changed on the exterior, there were a few guys inside doing interior work.

[cormiermax]

I wont give this place long, sooner or later a developer will want to build here.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Its going to be interesting to see how they fit a restaurant in there.

[Haliguy]

Galaxy eyes Taj Mahal property for seven-storey project

February 10, 2012 - 6:47pm By REMO ZACCAGNA Business Reporter


The property where the Taj Mahal restaurant stands in Halifax is likely to change hands and possibly become part of a new South Street redevelopment.

Tony Metlej, executive director of Galaxy Properties Ltd., said talks to purchase the 4,000-square-foot property at 5175 South St. from Banc Properties Ltd. are ongoing. The deal is expected to close in the next 30 days, he said.

Metlej said he is unsure if the restaurant property would be part of his plan to build a seven-storey mixed-use building on the lot next door, which was destroyed by fire in January 2010.

“Right now, we’re just looking at different options, whether we could include it in our development or not, but whereas it abuts my property it’s just more suitable for you to be the owner of the next-door property than to be not the owner,” he said.

“We’re going to see what’s in our best interests, whether to include that in the development.”

The three-floor brick buildings at 5161 to 5167 South Street were torn down in November.

A January 2010 blaze forced tenants out of the building, which had 21 apartments and housed Cafe Chianti restaurant, which moved around the corner to Barrington Street.

The building dated from 1870 and was once the home of Malachy Bowes Daly, Nova Scotia’s lieutenant-governor from 1890 to 1900. Other early residents included Judge Mortimer Jackson, the United States consul in Halifax.

Metlej plans to build a seven-storey building, with commercial space on the ground floor and from 45 to 55 rental units above.

He knows the area well. Galaxy owns the Southampton, an apartment building around the corner on Hollis Street, across from the recently opened Victoria Suites.

“I’m sort of a reluctant developer, because I originally bought the old building because I liked it,” Metlej said.

“I wasn’t planning on redeveloping in this area. However, because of the fire, I’ve been put in that position. So from that point of view, we’d like to do something that complements the area.”

As far as commercial tenants, he said he would like to see a mix of restaurants and retail, with a sidewalk-style café on the property.

Construction costs are still unknown and designs or renderings have not been finalized.

“We’re in the very, very early stages,” Metlej said.

Work could realistically begin next year, but “optimistically, by September or October.”

([email protected])


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By REMO ZACCAGNA Business Reporter