Development Rumours

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by HI6HRI5E

does any body know about a 21 story going up by bedford hwy on manor ln.

Yeah, here is the thread: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=164192&page=8

is it starting up?

[HI6HRI5E]

Its going up this fall.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by someone123

Hmm.. which building are you talking about?

This one?

http://consultpinto.com/projects/details/isl-web-marketing-office-building-halifax-ns

Yeah - that's the one. The location seems perfect for some kind of restaurant/cafe... there's not much on Agricola that's opened past 5pm, and with the new Q Condos going up, I would imagine the population density would support a cafe or small urban format grocery store... parking's a little difficult, but if it served only the community within walking distance, that wouldn't be so much of an issue.

[Wishblade]

Originally Posted by HI6HRI5E

Its going up this fall.

Awesome news!

I've really really wanted to see this one start up.

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by someone123

Interesting news. They might run into problems because of Carlton Street, but in principle that's a good spot for some new development. As Halifax grows and development pressure increases 30 storey residential buildings might become more routine. I'd like to see something like a 40 storey building around Young Street. Building up in areas like that is a good way to support more density on the Peninsula while leaving heritage buildings and residential areas relatively undisturbed.

This is interesting... it exceeds the limits proposed for the Centre Plan. The Centre Plan has been very much taking is cues from developers, trying to make it so that in most identified areas for upcoming development that they can get green lit in 60 days like HRMbD. I wonder why the discrepancy.

I'm thinking we need to talk about having mid rise, limited high rise, and then high rise as Centre Plan categories. Having just mid and high seems to limiting. Mid rise of 5 stories seems low to me for parts of Quinpool, I would think "limited" high rise of 8-10 is appropriate, and other places I can see arguments for limiting height to 15-20.

That said, the difference between 20-30-35 in a dense or institutional setting is minimal. I'd designate the whole Young and Kempt Road corridor, the brownfield sites there, at "build it as tall as you want." Why have a limit at all on true highrise development? As long as the builds met the other design criteria, 35-40 stories is no bigs.

Robie/Spring Garden - hard to go from R1/R2 with a two/three story max and put that hard up against 30 stories. I can't see that happening. What exact lot are we talking about? Between Embassy Towers and Spring Garden Terrace (the two Victorian's there could go, that is a large lot) or the other side, where that low brick is, the Medical Arts building?

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Waye Mason

This is interesting... it exceeds the limits proposed for the Centre Plan. The Centre Plan has been very much taking is cues from developers, trying to make it so that in most identified areas for upcoming development that they can get green lit in 60 days like HRMbD. I wonder why the discrepancy.

I'm thinking we need to talk about having mid rise, limited high rise, and then high rise as Centre Plan categories. Having just mid and high seems to limiting. Mid rise of 5 stories seems low to me for parts of Quinpool, I would think "limited" high rise of 8-10 is appropriate, and other places I can see arguments for limiting height to 15-20.

That said, the difference between 20-30-35 in a dense or institutional setting is minimal. I'd designate the whole Young and Kempt Road corridor, the brownfield sites there, at "build it as tall as you want." Why have a limit at all on true highrise development? As long as the builds met the other design criteria, 35-40 stories is no bigs.

Robie/Spring Garden - hard to go from R1/R2 with a two/three story max and put that hard up against 30 stories. I can't see that happening. What exact lot are we talking about? Between Embassy Towers and Spring Garden Terrace (the two Victorian's there could go, that is a large lot) or the other side, where that low brick is, the Medical Arts building?

Its grandfathered though right?

I find that this brownfield argument for that area is a huge cover by the anti-height folks to continuously push the height limits outward. I almost guarantee that there will be some bullshit excuse against height for that planning area once the other ones have been limited. Its a "migratory bird" path, viewplanes of the basin, blah blah blah.

[someone123]

There was an article in ANS tonight with the alarmist title "Schmidtville At Risk". It was mostly about the potential sale of the NSLC and the owner of the properties next door. Several properties could theoretically be redeveloped as one building site.

The redevelopment could be positive for the area, and you'd think residents would be in favour of the NSLC moving out of the residential area.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by someone123

There was an article in ANS tonight with the alarmist title "Schmidtville At Risk". It was mostly about the potential sale of the NSLC and the owner of the properties next door. Several properties could theoretically be redeveloped as one building site.

The redevelopment could be positive for the area, and you'd think residents would be in favour of the NSLC moving out of the residential area.

By several properties, could this imply that entire block, or most of it?

A redevelopment for this area could mean more height than we are getting out of the Sister Sites.

[someone123]

The properties they talked about are 1342 and 1364 Dresden Row, which appear to be some small rowhouses behind the NSLC. They look very plain but plenty of other houses like that have been restored in the area.

I doubt that anything tall would be approved on that block since it is mostly rowhouses. If and when the heritage district is created it might not really be possible to build much at all.

I'd be perfectly happy if the NSLC property were redeveloped into a small apartment building or maybe some townhouse condos or something like that. Here's a small development along those lines that I used to live next to:

http://goo.gl/maps/XBpX

Here's another one a block down: http://goo.gl/maps/gXTl

[Waye Mason]

Since the NSLC is just moving across the road, it's not that big a change.

I do think that people in that neighbourhood are worried that the slow pace (3-5 years from now) of getting the heritage district established is pushing that developer to try and build something now that would not be allowed then.

[Waye Mason]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Its grandfathered though right?

What's grandfathered?

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Waye Mason

What's grandfathered?

Oops, I guess I thought you were talking about Bayview at the start.

[someone123]

There was an article tonight about Southwest Properties potentially developing a 21 storey residential tower at the corner of Hollis and Sackville. I believe they own both the parking lot and the Bank of Canada building. It's not really clear if they'd just be building on the lot, just redeveloping the Bank of Canada building, or both. Because 21 storeys are permitted under HbD they could theoretically get a new development approved very quickly.

It would be huge if a good building went up on that prominent corner parking lot. The parking lot by the Bank of Canada building is definitely one of the worst downtown, and presently Sackville is a lot worse looking than other street like Prince or George.

As I've pointed out before, we could see some really impressive changes along Sackville Street over the next few years. Hollis Street will be impressive too if the Sackville/Salter stretch is improved. Hollis already has a pretty strong "canyon effect" going.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by someone123

There was an article tonight about Southwest Properties potentially developing a 21 storey residential tower at the corner of Hollis and Sackville. I believe they own both the parking lot and the Bank of Canada building. It's not really clear if they'd just be building on the lot, just redeveloping the Bank of Canada building, or both. Because 21 storeys are permitted under HbD they could theoretically get a new development approved very quickly.

It would be huge if a good building went up on that prominent corner parking lot. The parking lot by the Bank of Canada building is definitely one of the worst downtown, and presently Sackville is a lot worse looking than other street like Prince or George.

As I've pointed out before, we could see some really impressive changes along Sackville Street over the next few years. Hollis Street will be impressive too if the Sackville/Salter stretch is improved. Hollis already has a pretty strong "canyon effect" going.

My understanding the "new building" would include the site where the bank of canada building is located along with frontage to the corner on sackville.

There is a large parking lot on sackville and lower water, however this is owned by the province.

love the idea of this happening.

[someone123]

The Bank of Canada Building itself is pretty interesting, and Halifax only has a few buildings in that 1950's style. Hopefully they will leave that building mostly in tact. Maybe they could put underground parking under a new building next door and link it up with the Bank of Canada instead of having that parking deck.

The city should also bury the utilities in this area. I guess that might go along with the developments. It is very strange how most of Hollis is buried but then the poles pop up right around Sackville, stop, then start up again after the Maritime Centre.

[Northend Nerd]

Originally Posted by someone123

The city should also bury the utilities in this area. I guess that might go along with the developments. It is very strange how most of Hollis is buried but then the poles pop up right around Sackville, stop, then start up again after the Maritime Centre.

I've noticed this too. It starts up by Granville and goes down Sackville and then back down Hollis. I would assume if Skye was built, or whatever ends up going on that site, would lead to them being buried.

[cormiermax]

That may be due to the tunnels that are under those streets.

[spaustin]

The former City of Halifax had an agreement with Nova Scotia Power to share the costs, 50/50, of burying the powerlines in the Downtown core. It was inked in 1977 and the plan was to bury all the lines from Terminal Street (wherever that was, maybe Lower Water to Terminal Road?) up to Cunard/Cogswell and from the harbour to Brunswick. This was called the "Short-Term" Pole Free Zone because the idea was that it would actually get done. To HRM and NSP's credit, a lot of it did, but there is still about 1 km of wiring left to do. The Long-Term Pole Free Zone was to extend down to Morris and South, north to Cunard and west all the way to Robie. Almost none of that has happened. I recall reading that the City of Dartmouth also had a 50/50 deal for its Downtown core.

According to the last round of HRM studies, NSP is still willing to stand by the 1977 agreement to finish the Short-Term Pole Free Zone... That is if HRM can find the will to do it! Sadly, spending money on Downtown streetscapes hasn't been a big priority since amalgamation. Over in Dartmouth, they absolutely ripped up Ochterloney this past summer, but the lines stayed overhead. In Halifax, I don't know how the lines didn't end up buried in front of the Vic. I think it was part of the development agreement (burying the services was certainly discussed), but maybe it got axed as a "non-substantial" amendment or maybe NSP or HRM just wouldn't cooperate. Missed opportunities to complete what should be a no-brainer for the Downtowns.

[someone123]

I remember Dawn Sloane stating in an interview a while ago that it would cost 1 million dollars to bury the lines around Hollis Street.

It's one of the more pathetic HRM issues because it's been talked about for so long, is so visible, and yet would cost very little to deal with. You'd think it is Harbour Solutions II or something.

I'm also of the opinion that this is something the city should be either paying for or granting a density bonus if developers opt to pay for it. It's crazy that HRM picks up the tab for stuff like Washmill or other infrastructure to support Wal-Mart type businesses that pay very little in taxes but then cannot bury lines on blocks with office towers that pay millions in property taxes.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by spaustin

The former City of Halifax had an agreement with Nova Scotia Power to share the costs, 50/50, of burying the powerlines in the Downtown core. It was inked in 1977 and the plan was to bury all the lines from Terminal Street (wherever that was, maybe Lower Water to Terminal Road?) up to Cunard/Cogswell and from the harbour to Brunswick. This was called the "Short-Term" Pole Free Zone because the idea was that it would actually get done. To HRM and NSP's credit, a lot of it did, but there is still about 1 km of wiring left to do. The Long-Term Pole Free Zone was to extend down to Morris and South, north to Cunard and west all the way to Robie. Almost none of that has happened. I recall reading that the City of Dartmouth also had a 50/50 deal for its Downtown core.

According to the last round of HRM studies, NSP is still willing to stand by the 1977 agreement to finish the Short-Term Pole Free Zone... That is if HRM can find the will to do it! Sadly, spending money on Downtown streetscapes hasn't been a big priority since amalgamation. Over in Dartmouth, they absolutely ripped up Ochterloney this past summer, but the lines stayed overhead. In Halifax, I don't know how the lines didn't end up buried in front of the Vic. I think it was part of the development agreement (burying the services was certainly discussed), but maybe it got axed as a "non-substantial" amendment or maybe NSP or HRM just wouldn't cooperate. Missed opportunities to complete what should be a no-brainer for the Downtowns.

The lines around the VIC are being buried as we speak. The lower portion of Morris has been dug up and the pipes laid. I snapped this pic a few weeks ago when they dug up some of the old rails from the street cars.