General Updates and News

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by someone123

If and when Piercey's is redeveloped I hope it's done properly. The Shoppers on the corner of that block is awful -- what a wasted opportunity.

I know of no new Shoppers that help a corner. Robie, Dutch Village and now even the Portland St. Portland at least being the worst offender of the three.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

I know of no new Shoppers that help a corner. Robie, Dutch Village and now even the Portland St. Portland at least being the worst offender of the three.

This is really the fault of the city. If you don't have regulations the chains will build the same suburban garbage they do everywhere else.

It's actually even worse because there are plenty of HRM regulations that encourage sprawl -- parking requirements, setbacks and angle control, etc.

[HalifaxRetales]

the Pierceys land as well as pretty much the entire block across the street including those apartment buildings and the old Ultramar land is all owned by the Bragg's

They should build themselves a new Eastlink HQ on the Pierceys land and develop something massive on the Macara Block

[ILoveHalifax]

I understand that the old ultramar property on the corner of Bilby is one of the locations for a 19 story apartment. Would be great to see somme great highrise on the Piercey's site as well possibly with retail/mixed use at ground level. It would be great to widen Robie St on that section to allow a small boulevard in the centre of the street, safe for pedestrians.

[Northend Guy]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

That was supposed to be a new Harvey's.

I know about the Harvey's too. I just realized that the work that I am seeing must be related to the new armoury. Looks like they must be connecting the sewer services to the little street behind McDonald's.

[Northend Nerd]

There was a great 2-3 minute segment on downtown Halifax development on CTV last night. Mentioning the Citadel redevelopment, Nova Centre, TD Building, Barrington St projects and the Cunard block.

Skip to 11:33

http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=711726

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by Northend Nerd

There was a great 2-3 minute segment on downtown Halifax development on CTV last night. Mentioning the Citadel redevelopment, Nova Centre, TD Building, Barrington St projects and the Cunard block.

Skip to 11:33

http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=711726

Thanks for the link. I appreciate this optimistic news segment about Halifax's downtown.

"Two hotels being built at the same time, by two different chains, on the same block" is music to my ears!!

[worldlyhaligonian]

How long before some wingnut recommends that the land be turned into a park or urban farm or some other outlandish statement.

A small park as a part of a multiple tower development would be nice.

[Jstaleness]

That was a very positive news story. Finally some big things happening right downtown.

[fenwick16]

The following story was in the Chronicle Herald. It is good to see a Halifax developer being recognized for his service to the community.

Wadih Fares, Silver Donald Cameron awarded Order of Canada
June 29, 2012 - 5:00pm By PAUL McLEOD Ottawa Bureau


OTTAWA — A business titan and a prolific author are the newest Nova Scotians to be named as members of the Order of Canada.

Wadih Fares, 55, a Halifax developer and philanthropist, will be inducted “for his contributions to Nova Scotia as an entrepreneur, community leader and committed volunteer,” a release said.

Silver Donald Cameron, 75, a Halifax writer and environmentalist, is being inducted “for his contributions as a journalist, writer, educator, consultant and dedicated community activist,” the release said.

Fares is president of WM Fares Group, which among other things is completing work on the $41-million, 19-storey Trillium condo project on South Park Street in Halifax.

Fares sits on the boards of directors of many community-shaping organizations ranging from Dalhousie University to the Halifax International Airport Authority to the QEII Foundation.

“I’m honoured and really humbled with this whole thing,” Fares told The Chronicle Herald about his Order of Canada induction.

“You’re at a loss for words to describe how great that is.”

Fares came to Nova Scotia from Lebanon at age 18 to go to university. His home country was in the midst of civil war, and his mother did not want him to stay there. Fares spoke almost no English but thought he would be fine in Canada. After all, he figured, he spoke French and it’s a bilingual country.
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Full Story and source - http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/...r-donald-cameron-awarded-order-of-canada

[SekishikiMeikaiHa]

The former Cafe Chianti corner:

[Copes]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

The following story was in the Chronicle Herald. It is good to see a Halifax developer being recognized for his service to the community.

Fares is a great man. He was willing to sit down with me earlier this year and provide me with some career advice regarding how to enter the development industry. I messaged him completely out of the blue on LinkedIn, simply looking for an email response, and instead he booked a meeting with me the next time I was home in Halifax. Sure enough, I took his advice to heart and ended up with a job in the industry upon my graduation.

It's great to see him recognized with such an honour.

[SekishikiMeikaiHa]

Delta Barrington Renovations:

[someone123]

Nice to see renderings of the renovations. I remember visiting relatives staying in that hotel when I was little, sometime in the early-mid 90's. Back then the hotel itself seemed pretty nice and the mall in behind was quite busy and full of stores, including a toy store that was interesting to me at the time. Today there doesn't seem to be much in that mall or in Scotia Square other than stores that cater to office workers. I think it was a bit of a mistake to build such inwardly-focused retail space downtown. The newer City Centre Atlantic seems like a much better model -- there are some spaces inside but they're opened to a major tenant, Pete's, which has a big street presence. On top of that they have a lot of residents nearby, not just office workers.

A couple years ago I stayed at the Delta Halifax and it was pretty nice. The bar and restaurant was packed and loud, but before I stayed there I didn't really know it existed. That's one of the problems with giant bunker type developments I guess. It's okay if they're a destination that a lot of people know about but without the street visibility and traffic (vehicle and pedestrian), it must be harder for many types of businesses to establish themselves.

[Keith P.]

Those corrugated metal-clad bay windows have been ugly from day one. I wish they could address that some day.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Those corrugated metal-clad bay windows have been ugly from day one. I wish they could address that some day.

I guess that awful stuff was in vogue around 1980. In a way it's better than the teal faux copper sheeting on some more recent buildings.

I have a feeling it was considered necessary to build a square four storey building with faux historic elements to complement the real heritage facades on the other side of the block. It's too bad, because had they gone a bit taller on the Barrington side they could have had a nice tall lobby level and more architectural interest. With a setback from the eastern side of the block the Barrington side would not have been visible from Granville.

Hopefully the TD renovation will demonstrate what can be done with these older buildings.

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by someone123

...I remember visiting relatives staying in that hotel when I was little, sometime in the early-mid 90's. ...

I worked there in a few departments in 1991! Mostly banquets but also night audit/front desk, the occasional room service runs. Even did a month long stint in the laundry room during the quiet season.

It was a nice hotel then. Small and showing a little age at that time, but a fun experience working there, I must say. You meet a lot of interesting people working in a hotel.

[Dmajackson]

THE QUINN CONDOMINIUMS (Viridian Drive (near Woodland Avenue), Dartmouth);



www.quinncondo.com

[haligonia]

Ugh. They even used the quintessential "happy woman riding the happy man" picture.

[cormiermax]

Could be worse I guess, although it looks pretty awful.