General Updates and News

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by bluenoser

Megaprojects brighten outlook
September 18, 2012 - 8:50pm BY BILL POWER BUSINESS REPORTER

Nova Centre, Skye Halifax developments compensate for sluggish construction, says economist


Rank Inc. president and CEO Joe Ramia stands in July where the Chronicle Herald once stood on Argyle Street in Halifax. Rank Inc. is building Nova Centre, a one million square foot mixed-use development on the site.

A couple of megaprojects in downtown Halifax are beacons of economic growth next year in the metropolitan area, a Conference Board of Canada economist said Tuesday.

Nova Centre and Skye Halifax will help compensate for some sluggishness in the construction sector expected next year after completion of some large multi-unit residential complexes this year, said the board’s Jane McIntyre.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/137165-megaprojects-brighten-outlook

This article matches United Gulf's apparent confidence in Skye Halifax. The rejection of the proposal is more likely than not. In any event, I want this approval process to hurry along so we can move forward with either this development or some other.

[Dmajackson]

Dartmouth apartments to rise again
September 19, 2012 - 8:40pm BY REMO ZACCAGNA BUSINESS REPORTER

Firefighters battle a blaze at an Arthur Street apartment building in Dartmouth in December 2011. (TED PRITCHARD / Staff / File)
An apartment building destroyed in a New Year’s Eve fire will be rebuilt, although specific details won’t be released until next week.

A fire ripped through a four-storey, 64-unit building at 25 Arthur St. in the Woodside area of Dartmouth on Dec. 31, forcing 70 tenants on the street.

...

Read More Here: thechronicleherald.ca

[musicman]

15 million dollar addition to the cancer society building on south street was announced at pier 21 tonight. I don't know what form it will take but it will be to provide rooms for out of town patients that are getting cancer treatments in town. They are at 11.25 million raised right now so they are nearing their goal.

[someone123]

I guess that's this one? http://www.halifax.ca/planning/Case17198Details.html

[Nilan8888]

This article matches United Gulf's apparent confidence in Skye Halifax. The rejection of the proposal is more likely than not. In any event, I want this approval process to hurry along so we can move forward with either this development or some other.

Given the legal situation, I'm not sure it I'd WANT UG to be approved for any significant development right now. Something is fishy with those guys.

But I hope Ramia gets that Convention Centre built ASAP.

[Jstaleness]

Do we have a thread for this one? Called The Quinn. To be built in the area of Lancaster Dr. in Dartmouth.

http://www.quinncondo.com/index.html

[haligonia]

I'm not sure if there's a thread, but I do remember seeing (and subsequently trashing) this development. I think it's been posted in the Suburban Developments thread.

[Nilan8888]

Y'know... thinking about that article some more, why would anyone think that construction next year would be sluggish?

There's a few projects that might be closer to complete than not, like the Library, Waterton Tower II, Waterside Center, etc... but with only 3 months left in the year:

- As stated, the Convention Center is starting
- The Sister Sites will probably begin soon
- The TD tower extension is gearing up
- The Citadel Hotel rework will probably reach its peak sometime next year
- Most of the work on Craigmore will be going on during 2013

Add on top of that the Young St. Development and King's Wharf showing no signs of backing off the signature tower, and I'm not sure why you even need Skye to carry Halifax through 'stagnating construction'.

If they were talking about 2014, maybe then I'd understand... I could see all these developments satiating the local demand. But it seems that there's too much stuff already either breaking ground or on the verge of breaking ground to say that 2013 is going to have stagnant construction.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nilan8888

Y'know... thinking about that article some more, why would anyone think that construction next year would be sluggish?

The accounting is normally done in terms of construction starts, so anything starting up in 2012 does not count for 2013 even though the actual work itself might continue. Halifax is a smaller city so this number is particularly meaningless; the Nova Centre will by itself be a huge part of the total. A project like that can make or break the numbers depending on whether it starts up in December or January. In a bigger city, individual projects are probably normally a smaller part of the total.

Another factor is that urban projects only make up part of the total. A lot of suburban stuff started up in 2012.

In any case, I think there will be tons of construction happening in the city centre through the end of 2012 and into 2013. I don't think it's been this busy since the 1980s.

[halifaxboyns]

I wonder if we'll see a situation that was similar to Alberta in 2007 where it was a struggle to find cranes? That happened in the Fort Mac, Calgary and Edmonton in 2007 and they were all pilfering from each other...

Should be interesting.

[musicman]

Sitting at the fireside a friend and i were going through current and upcoming developments and it is not much of a streatch if we see 30 cranes in hrm at one time. And it could be as high as 35. We should see mid to high 20's no problem if things keep on going the way they are going right now.

[Nilan8888]

Mayoral race underway. Check out the comments section here:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/editorials/138422-halifax-elections-leadership-questions

To quote an individual dubbed Quiet Comment:

Who made up these question, the Ecology Action Center or The group that wants Tax reform?
The people of this city don't know what traffic is as we do not have the huge problem it is being made out to be. Ask someone who has come here from a large center like Toronto and spent some time and they will tell you we have a pretty good system of moving people. No it is not perfect but it is not as bad as it has been made out to be. The continued references to "Sprawl" are a joke too. Yes you have development outside the core. We have a geographic layout that will do that. Density could be increased but with it come high priced housing and not everyone wants to live in these areas. Tax reform may be something to look at but the ideas of tying taxes to income will never fly. The middle class will take the brunt on that so hopefully they get out and vote against whoever has this one on their agenda.

[NewBalearic]

I'm not sure if this has been posted anywhere (I don't remember seeing it), but there is a new cafe planned for the corner of Agricola and Woodill (2347 Agricola).

Case 17885



It is subject to a development agreement process, but I like the the building, and I'd be pumped to have a new cafe in my neighbourhood!

[coolmillion]

^ shocking that a development agreement is required for this. A cafe is a non-conforming use on Agricola?! What a waste of resources.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

[I]Dartmouth apartments to rise again
September 19, 2012 - 8:40pm BY REMO ZACCAGNA BUSINESS REPORTER



Read More Here: thechronicleherald.ca

I really hope that they do a re-design with this, and not just a re-build;
the old building was butt-ugly!

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by coolmillion

^ shocking that a development agreement is required for this. A cafe is a non-conforming use on Agricola?! What a waste of resources.

Status quo in Halifax as far as I can see... the place seems legislated to death.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by someone123

They're not going to get a developer to pay the city $5M to demolish a large building and then use half of the land for townhouses. I suspect they don't care much if their plan isn't viable for a private developer because they'd probably be happy to turn this into a public project bankrolled by the city.

The judge handed down his decision today - in favor of the community groups. It is over 40 pages long (available for now on the Herald site) and I have skimmed through it. The judge totally failed to grasp the arguments about market value versus other approaches to value and used that to decide against HRM. I have no doubt they will appeal.

If they do not, the derelict school buildings will stay there for many years and continue to decay while the community groups scrounge various public sources for funding to let them build their clinic and daycare. What a dark day for the area.

[fenwick16]

Here is a link to the story - http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/13924...exandra-school-to-developer#stpatsruling

Court nixes sale of St. Pat's-Alexandra school to developer
September 24, 2012 - 11:09am BY KELLY SHIERS STAFF REPORTER

The fate of a former inner-city school property is up in the air today, after the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia sided with three community groups and halted its sale to a private developer.
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[SekishikiMeikaiHa]

Central Common Tennis Court Renovations:

[Keith P.]

What are "progressive" tennis courts? Do they all lean to the left?