General Updates and News

[JustinMacD]

Originally Posted by 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

There is no excuse for this building to not be at least the same height as the nearby Vic building.

[q12]

eastcoastal just posted the 40,000 post for SSP: Local Halifax! Impressive!



And Moncton's forum is about to hit 10,000, also impressive!

[Dmajackson]

$35m port terminal project nearing completion
February 13, 2012 - 5:23pm BY BILL POWER BUSINESS REPORTER

When the big ships start calling The Port of Halifax will be ready with a $35-million expansion of the South End Container Terminal nearing completion and on track to begin operations this spring.

“About 100 feet of deck remains to be laid at the pier extension, so it is about two-thirds complete,” Michele Peveril, with the Halifax Port Authority, said Monday in an interview.

The big ships Peveril referred to are those known in the industry as post-Panamax container ships that are much wider than traditional container ships and capable of carrying 10,000 and 15,000 containers or more.

At the south end terminal – operated by Halterm Ltd. – the enhancements that are cost-shared between the authority and the federal government are intended to allow the terminal to simultaneously berth and service two full-sized post-Panamax ships.

...

Read More Here; thechronicleherald.ca, February 14th, 2012

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

[I]$35m port terminal project nearing completion
February 13, 2012 - 5:23pm BY BILL POWER BUSINESS REPORTER



Read More Here; thechronicleherald.ca, February 14th, 2012

Does he mean post panamax or super post panamax? I ask because I was under the impression we could already handle ships of the post panamax class.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Wishblade

Does he mean post panamax or super post panamax? I ask because I was under the impression we could already handle ships of the post panamax class.

He means post-panamax. It's not in the short section I quoted but further down in the article he speaks about how Halterm can only handle one ship at a time. Something like 140 visited last year. This expansion allows two post-panamax ships to be docked and serviced at the same time.

[scooby074]

Im not going to criticize the investment in infrastructure.. I hope this is a case of "if you build it, they will come". But i am concerned that these cranes will go underutilized.

I understand the new cranes for Halterm will be Super Post Panamax..Thankfully, as mere Post Panamax are already becoming a generation behind. At least this will give future opportunities with the largest future ships.

The cargo lines seem to be dropping Halifax at an alarming rate. Some do to the changing economy and some due to bad service from CN. Things which the port has little control over.

I got a feeling were going to see even more consolidation in the shipping industry. Even larger ships (like Maersk' E and EEE class) That means less ships for Halifax to potentially get. Throw into the mix New York and other east coast US ports being dredged to handle the largest ships.. and the picture gets even worse.

I hope im wrong, and the lines come back and bring the biggest ships.. but its going to be an uphill fight. The port has been trying to replace lost lines as hard as they can, but there is only so many out there to go around.

[macgregor]

1. A section of concrete was torn up on the waterfront, at the base of Salter Street (the driveway for Svitzer Marine/Ectug). Workers are laying down wood boardwalk in place.

2. At the same time that WDCL had a tender out for the Bioscience building demolition, there was a tender out for a two-level bridge construction and seawall rebuild. I forget the exact words, but we might see some work resulting from that this year.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by scooby074

Im not going to criticize the investment in infrastructure.. I hope this is a case of "if you build it, they will come". But i am concerned that these cranes will go underutilized.

I understand the new cranes for Halterm will be Super Post Panamax..Thankfully, as mere Post Panamax are already becoming a generation behind. At least this will give future opportunities with the largest future ships.

The cargo lines seem to be dropping Halifax at an alarming rate. Some do to the changing economy and some due to bad service from CN. Things which the port has little control over.

I got a feeling were going to see even more consolidation in the shipping industry. Even larger ships (like Maersk' E and EEE class) That means less ships for Halifax to potentially get. Throw into the mix New York and other east coast US ports being dredged to handle the largest ships.. and the picture gets even worse.

I hope im wrong, and the lines come back and bring the biggest ships.. but its going to be an uphill fight. The port has been trying to replace lost lines as hard as they can, but there is only so many out there to go around.

You are correct about the Halterm cranes.
Halifax's Atlantic Gateway has been actively promoting the city for the past several years. Geographically, Halifax has the advantage for traffic coming from Europe and from Asia via the Suez Canal. The ships would save a full day coming to Halifax instead of any New England port; however, this advantage is deminished by the obsticles you've mentioned. Halifax is not overly close to the more populated areas, and the saved full day of travel for these ships may not be as important as Halifax is trying to promote.

I wish Canada would invest in a better rail system. It's not likely though, since Central Canada can't even build a high-speed rail line between Toronto and Montreal...

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by RyeJay

You are correct about the Halterm cranes.
Halifax's Atlantic Gateway has been actively promoting the city for the past several years. Geographically, Halifax has the advantage for traffic coming from Europe and from Asia via the Suez Canal. The ships would save a full day coming to Halifax instead of any New England port; however, this advantage is deminished by the obsticles you've mentioned. Halifax is not overly close to the more populated areas, and the saved full day of travel for these ships may not be as important as Halifax is trying to promote.

I wish Canada would invest in a better rail system. It's not likely though, since Central Canada can't even build a high-speed rail line between Toronto and Montreal...

Id settle for a bit of deregulation in the rails.. or anything that would make CN (or even better a competitor running on CN's lines) pay as much attention to Halifax's customers as Montreal's.

[johnny_boy]

VIA has a hard enough time keeping its schedule running on CN owned track. I'd hate to see how a competing freight service would fare on CN owned track.

[Jonovision]

WDCL is conducting a large week long public engagement session next week for their lands in Dartmouth Cove. Should be really interesting. More info here: http://my-waterfront.ca/dartmouth/events-dartmouth?event=30 And there is a facebook event for it as well.

[hollistreet]

Did anyone read the article on Peter Kelly in the Coast today?

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by hollistreet

Did anyone read the article on Peter Kelly in the Coast today?

Interesting, though you have to consider the source. If it was written by anyone other than Bousquet I would imagine the other media outlets would be all over it. Because it is from him, though, you will note nearly none have touched it. He does not have much credibility and gets sued/forced to retract stories frequently.

[spaustin]

I don't know, it looks pretty bad. If true, Kelly took $160,000 out of the estate, then underestimated the value of the estate by exactly that amount in his report to the court. Had the other heirs not gotten tired of his footdragging and hired their own lawyer, the bank records may have been lost and the $160,000 could have just vanished into Kelly's own pocket. It's either incompetence or outright theft/fraud and either scenario doesn't reflect well on him!

[johnny_boy]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Interesting, though you have to consider the source. If it was written by anyone other than Bousquet I would imagine the other media outlets would be all over it. Because it is from him, though, you will note nearly none have touched it. He does not have much credibility and gets sued/forced to retract stories frequently.

I wouldn't say that the fact no other news outlet published anything about it means Bousquet is full of crap. I think it points to lazy journalism on the part of the Herald and CBC. Have you read the Herald recently? I think they're probably one of the biggest customers of the Canadian Press - most of their stories are from wire services. Then there is the whole thing of AllNS cancelling the Herald's and CBC's subscriptions because they were sick of them taking their stories (http://halifax.openfile.ca/blog/curator-blog/curated-news/2011/allnovascotia-shedding-subscribers). A great example is the whole Apple Store thing. I read about that first in an AllNS article, complete with comments (or declined comments) from all the relevant parties. Only after that does the Herald business section write anything about it.

I certainly don't agree with everything Tim Bousquet writes, in fact some of the stuff makes me angry, but he writes a good article and puts effort into it and seems to be willing to stick his name on the line for a story. Good journalism causes emotion, debate, and hopefully change. You don't see that with the other guys.

[haligonia]

This piece is exactly why I respect Tim so much. I don't agree with everything he says (although we do agree on some things) but he puts so much effort into the work that he does. He is passionate about what he does. The Herald could learn something from him.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by haligonia

This piece is exactly why I respect Tim so much. I don't agree with everything he says (although we do agree on some things) but he puts so much effort into the work that he does. He is passionate about what he does. The Herald could learn something from him.

I could admire him more if he didn't take a leftist slant on everything he writes. His coverage of the bus strike has been nothing short of ridiculous in terms of its bias and slanted pro-union perspective. As a result one must question everything he purports to be factual. I realize journalistic integrity is pretty much a pipe dream these days, but he is so out to lunch as a lefty wacko that I cannot take him seriously.

[haligonia]

I agree that most things he writes have to be taken with a grain of salt, but this one has some pretty hard data in it. Sure, he is decidedly anti-Kelly, but facts are facts.

[fenwick16]

I think it is a legitimate question as to whether "facts are facts" in Tim Bousquet's stories.

Tim Bousquet wrote one story on the convention centre on November 25, 2010 which was completely absurd. Here is the link - http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/the-convention-centre-tower-play/Content?oid=2027217. This story was almost entirely a work of an over-active imagination. An unbiased review of public documents available at the time was all that was necessary to realize that his chronological order was completely wrong. In spite of Tim Bousquet blowing the whistle on this imaginary scandal, both the provincial NDP and federal Tories committed to funding the convention centre after the story was written.

It is important to read Tim Bousquet's stories with a grain of salt, since he can create scandals and try to ruin reputations simply for the sake of creating a story. In my opinion, that isn't something to be taken lightly.

[haligonia]

My facts are facts statement was directed towards Tim's most recent piece, which is excellent and well-researched.