General Updates and News

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

It does seem unlikely, but another rendering shows some type of restaurant or bar above.

By the way, another piece of news: it looks like Mickey MacDonald isn't going to move forward with his plans to redevelop Mills. I'm not sure what this means for the Chickenburger site. Is it going to sit as a parking lot for 5+ years now? If so, wow, what a waste..

So bizarre. I heard (though I have no idea if it's true) that he's now looking to sell the properties as well. What a bunch of abrupt reversals and switchbacks that was.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

So bizarre. I heard (though I have no idea if it's true) that he's now looking to sell the properties as well. What a bunch of abrupt reversals and switchbacks that was.

Hopefully the SGR buildings will stay and a residential building will go up on the former Chickenburger site (maybe with a new Chickenburger), covering all of the surface parking up to the Starbucks building.

[pblaauw]

There was some Salvador Dali-esque turquoise melted street lights art installation being, uh, installed on the old helipad at Bishop's Landing, across from The Bicycle Thief, this afternoon.

Too bad it's not in front of The Trillium.

[haligonia]

Originally Posted by someone123

It does seem unlikely, but another rendering shows some type of restaurant or bar above.

By the way, another piece of news: it looks like Mickey MacDonald isn't going to move forward with his plans to redevelop Mills. I'm not sure what this means for the Chickenburger site. Is it going to sit as a parking lot for 5+ years now? If so, wow, what a waste..

Good news, I think. I'd rather keep that bit of streetscape intact than let a careless businessman put up a cheap money-making apartment building. I hope the site gets what it deserves in the future.

[Jonovision]

A crane has gone up somewhere along Windmill Rd. Saw it from the bridge yesterday. I'm guessing it is for the new military building.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

Hopefully the SGR buildings will stay and a residential building will go up on the former Chickenburger site (maybe with a new Chickenburger), covering all of the surface parking up to the Starbucks building.

That'd be the ideal scenario.

Of course, the Mills store is supposed to be moving into Spring Garden Place, right? Which means new tenants will have to be found, since the Mills Store is no longer in the Mills Building, giving us a nice empty stretch of SGR with an uncertain future. Thanks, Mickey!

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

That'd be the ideal scenario.

Of course, the Mills store is supposed to be moving into Spring Garden Place, right? Which means new tenants will have to be found, since the Mills Store is no longer in the Mills Building, giving us a nice empty stretch of SGR with an uncertain future. Thanks, Mickey!

Didn't they just do a major renovation to the Mills store? Why move the business from a newly-renovated, streetside, familiar location to a place where it will likely see less customer traffic?

I must be missing something here, as this doesn't seem to make much sense to me on the surface.

Maybe the Chickenburger will move into the Mills store?

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Didn't they just do a major renovation to the Mills store? Why move the business from a newly-renovated, streetside, familiar location to a place where it will likely see less customer traffic?

McDonald sold the business but retained the building, which he planned on redeveloping (I assume demolishing and rebuilding on the site). The store's new owners then planned to move the business into SGR Place.

Then Mickey tore down the Chickenburger to accomodate phase 1 of the development.

But then he suddenly decided, for whatever reason, to cancel the whole thing. Which is good, in a way, since it hopefully means SGR won't lose one of its most intact historic stretches of street-facing retail to some poorly considered block-busting demolition. (It seems ridiculous that such a proposal would even have been approved, but I bet it would've.)

I must be missing something here, as this doesn't seem to make much sense to me on the surface.

Me neither!

[coolmillion]

I don't think it will be difficult to find new tenants for the Mills building, although it may need more renovations to create the right layout. It is my understanding that there are a number of retail chains that have been wanting to open on SGR for years but have been unable to find appropriately sized (ie large) vacant spaces. I imagine Mills is large enough to house a couple major stores. This block already has Lulu Lemon and American Apparel, plus others across the street and the library... good company!

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

McDonald sold the business but retained the building, which he planned on redeveloping (I assume demolishing and rebuilding on the site). The store's new owners then planned to move the business into SGR Place.

Then Mickey tore down the Chickenburger to accomodate phase 1 of the development.

But then he suddenly decided, for whatever reason, to cancel the whole thing. Which is good, in a way, since it hopefully means SGR won't lose one of its most intact historic stretches of street-facing retail to some poorly considered block-busting demolition. (It seems ridiculous that such a proposal would even have been approved, but I bet it would've.)



Me neither!

Thanks for the play by play, now I know the story. I agree that it's a good thing the original Mills building has a chance to survive... would be a great thing if a popular chain not currently in Halifax could find a home there. That building would be a really interesting space for the right retailer.

[someone123]

Yeah, my guess is that there will be interest from high-end tenants similar to Lululemon. A cynical view would be that it was actually convenient to get Mills to move.

In any case I hope something is done with the Chickenburger lot.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

...

But then he suddenly decided, for whatever reason, to cancel the whole thing...

His quote in AllNovaScotia was something along the lines of: I woke up at 3am on Monday and decided I was rushing this.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

His quote in AllNovaScotia was something along the lines of: I woke up at 3am on Monday and decided I was rushing this.

[Dmajackson]

Developer eyes Spring Garden project
March 28, 2013 - 7:58pm BY REMO ZACCAGNA BUSINESS REPORTER

A Halifax developer is working on plans for a new mixed-use development on Spring Garden Road that could include condominiums and a hotel.

Danny Chedrawe, who heads Westwood Developments Ltd., owns six properties on a block bounded by Doyle, Queen, and Brunswick streets and Spring Garden Road.

He said his plans for that block include a project that could be as high as seven storeys, that could possibly house retail, condominium, and hotel space.

A transaction that saw Chedrawe purchase the building at 1478 Queen St. from DHX Media Ltd. closed on Feb. 28, more than a month after a bidding period for the property was launched.

...

([email protected])

Read More: thechronicleherald.ca

[Drybrain]

Great, Chedrawe. The man who plans to tear down the OTHER jewel of a block on Spring Garden, right across the street, who doesn't seem to get that redevelopment doesn't necessitate demolition, and whose developments are among the most awful-looking in town.

Forget Schmidtville. We need a Spring Garden heritage-conservation district, pronto, or there won't be anything much left to conserve in a couple of years. There's so much land ripe for development in this vicinity, and these two want to knock down some of the best existing structures. Small-town developers with no vision.

At least the projects don't appear imminent. Still--really unfortunate that these two guys own so much of the street. This is a marquee area, and deserves developers who can operate on a more sophisticated, big-city level than these amateurs.

[someone123]

I don't think it's a big town/small town thing. There are developers in NYC who would tear down anything to make a buck. Really this comes down to public planning and incentives. The city as a whole has to decide what's worth saving and has to build those constraints into an economic model that works.

For Spring Garden Road the economic model would be pretty simple because buildings like Mills/Lululemon are already enormous cash cows.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

I don't think it's a big town/small town thing. There are developers in NYC who would tear down anything to make a buck. Really this comes down to public planning and incentives. The city as a whole has to decide what's worth saving and has to build those constraints into an economic model that works.

For Spring Garden Road the economic model would be pretty simple because buildings like Mills/Lululemon are already enormous cash cows.

Yeah, I'm just thinking of T.O./Van. I can't imagine a developer proposing to tear down a whole block of Queen West, say, which SGR is probably the closest analogue to. It just would never fly; they wouldn't even bother trying.

(In case it wasn't clear, i wasn't accusing Hali of being a small town, but Chedrawe of being a small-thinking developer. Though he does seem to be into the infill/mixed-use...just too bad his projects are so bad.)

[someone123]

They tear down unique historic buildings in Toronto and Vancouver all the time. Queen Street itself is full of mangled old buildings and ugly newer ones. Yonge is another disaster zone of questionable urban planning. Halifax is analogous to Toronto in terms of how it has developed post-WWII and how it has (mis)handled heritage preservation. The unfortunate difference is that Toronto has grown into a major city whereas Halifax's heritage buildings are still one of its strongest assets (and it was more historic to begin with).

Vancouver's heritage preservation as far as I can tell is largely NIMBY-oriented. In other words, people fight to preserve their neighbourhood streets while commercial buildings are torn down. Halifax has the same problem.

Some Boston neighbourhoods like the North End or Back Bay seem to have working preservation rules. They are not exactly affordable (part of why you know the rules work -- developers would love to build tons of condos in these places) but they're on a level beyond anything in Canada: http://goo.gl/maps/UxvmW

Cities like Boston make it clear just how dumpy most Canadian cities are.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

They tear down unique historic buildings in Toronto and Vancouver all the time. Queen Street itself is full of mangled old buildings and ugly newer ones. Yonge is another disaster zone of questionable urban planning.

That's totally true, but I think most of that mangling is a legacy of decades past. Honestly, I can't recall a single major tear down (excepting facadectomies and fires) in the past several years in T.O, not since Y-D Square was built. Certainly nothing on the magnitude of eliminating an entire block from the landscape. I'm not a huge fan of the way Toronto's developing with ultra-density downtown and little elsewhere, but looking at the arterial avenues in the inner city, developers are largely working around the Victorian structures, or incorporating them, even for modestly scaled projects.

I honestly think that if someone came along and said he was gonna knock down everything on the block between, say, Spadina and Soho streets along Queen, people would be outraged. (Or even a chunk similar in size to the stretch of SGR under discussion.) The Star would have it on the front page the next day along with a big feature about the city's built heritage. The Chronicle-Herald, by contrast, would have a puff piece about Spring Garden's impending facelift.

Cities like Boston make it clear just how dumpy most Canadian cities are.

Oh boy, that's true.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I honestly think that if someone came along and said he was gonna knock down everything on the block between, say, Spadina and Soho streets along Queen, people would be outraged. (Or even a chunk similar in size to the stretch of SGR under discussion.) The Star would have it on the front page the next day along with a big feature about the city's built heritage. The Chronicle-Herald, by contrast, would have a puff piece about Spring Garden's impending facelift.

I have lived in the Toronto area for 30 years now and I can honestly say that I have never heard heritage being discussed on the radio or in the newspaper. Overall, it seems to be a non-issue in the Toronto area. Torontonians like to think big and big projects get the most positive press. I won't say that it has had all positive results - negative examples are high taxes in Toronto, cost over-runs for the Skydome, the Gardiner Expressway, and others. The positive effect is national and international attention as a major city.

I think that heritage protection is important in the Halifax area but only if it is balanced; not everything old should be saved, and areas surrounding heritage buildings should marked for development. Regarding the Doyle, Queen, Brunswick, Spring Garden Road block, I hope the plan isn't to demolish all of these buildings - http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=rf6jzw9...sty=b&where1=Halifax%2C%20NS&form=LMLTCC. However, developers must make money whereas heritage protection is a municipal and civic responsibility. Tax credits and grants can be allocated to developers to encourage heritage restoration as is being done on Barrington Street.