General Updates and News

[someone123]

Outside of the HbD area these are approved as of right and there is no real design review.

Hopefully the rules across the rest of the peninsula will be amended so it's easier to build well-designed mid-sized buildings.

[Jonovision]

Small new development for Agricola.

http://www.halifax.ca/planning/Case17885Details.html

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

Small new development for Agricola.

http://www.halifax.ca/planning/Case17885Details.html

Finally.... the old laundromat that's been vacant for a long time now.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

Finally.... the old laundromat that's been vacant for a long time now.

Big improvement. Simple, graceful design. It would be nice to see these kind of little projects bump up the density a bit though (i.e., three storeys instead of two).

[Keith P.]

Better than what's there, but not all that much. The upstairs residence seems rather odd - 3 small bedrooms, one with no closet (so how can it be a bedroom?). It might be better with 2 larger bedrooms and a second bath.

[Ziobrop]

BuildHFX has started a series on the History of some of halifax's 1960's landmarks, to help understand how we got there. - things like the Cogswell interchange, Scotia Square, and Africville were products of a history of thought.

You can begin the series at http://blog.builthalifax.ca/2013/06/the-60s-halifax-thinks-big.html
History of 20th Centrury Planning and Part 2

there is also a look at the 1946 Master Plan and the section on traffic

New Posts will apper at the top of this page

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Better than what's there, but not all that much. The upstairs residence seems rather odd - 3 small bedrooms, one with no closet (so how can it be a bedroom?). It might be better with 2 larger bedrooms and a second bath.

I agree - though, from what I could tell, based on the drawing title/description, the second storey interior is pretty much maintaining its current layout.

[Northend Guy]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

I agree - though, from what I could tell, based on the drawing title/description, the second storey interior is pretty much maintaining its current layout.

It's hard to say what is going on with the 2nd floor. I wonder if they maybe just submitted the existing plan just to expedite getting this thru the approval process. If you compare the 2nd floor plan with the elevations, nothing lines up - the window arrangements are completely different.

[Dmajackson]

The Design Review Committee has this on their agenda for Thursday.

"7.1 Introduction to Development Proposal for 5447 Rainnie Drive, Halifax"

There's no link and the address doen't exist on Explore HRM but it would put it at or near this ugly building next to the police station.

Google Maps Streetview

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

The Design Review Committee has this on their agenda for Thursday.

"7.1 Introduction to Development Proposal for 5447 Rainnie Drive, Halifax"

There's no link and the address doen't exist on Explore HRM but it would put it at or near this ugly building next to the police station.

Google Maps Streetview

could it be the barf-tastic drum condos?

[BravoZulu]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

could it be the barf-tastic drum condos?

I don't think so, 5445 is the H&R Block building down the hill, I think the legion that was up near the corner had an address of 5621 so this should be just up the hill from H&R block.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

The Design Review Committee has this on their agenda for Thursday.

"7.1 Introduction to Development Proposal for 5447 Rainnie Drive, Halifax"

There's no link and the address doen't exist on Explore HRM but it would put it at or near this ugly building next to the police station.

Google Maps Streetview

I wonder if they just stated the wrong address? There was a story in the allnovascotia.com on December 31, 2012, "Nassim Ghosn Plans Downtown Rental" by Andrew MacDonald. It states that:

Nassim Ghosn is preparing plans for an eight-storey residental rental building for 5445 Rainnie Drive in downtown Halifax adjacent to the HRM Police Department.

The property, at the base of Citadel Hill, houses a two-storey office building, which is home to an H&R Block office. The lease there expires in May.

"After they are gone, I'll be demolishing that building and applying for a permit to build a residential building with commercial on the ground level", says the developer.

The 60-unit building will need HRM by Design approval.
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Here is the Google map link - https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=5445+rainn...8&t=h&z=17&panoid=ZMZsaoCFYetM5cxQixiVgQ

[BravoZulu]

I think you may be on to something there Fenwick, makes the most sense to me.

[someone123]

Sounds like a good development. The Cogswell/Rainnie area is a great spot for infill. It doesn't have heritage buildings and it's surrounded by neighbourhoods that could really use the added density. Gottingen for example has a lot of potential to support new shops that would serve these new buildings. It's also important to have better buildings around the Cogswell interchange area. A development there won't be as successful if it's surrounded by parking lots and concrete bunkers.

[kph06]

More details here.

Looks interesting, might be a bit of a mish-mash of designs though. It will be interesting what ends up actually getting built, I could see the inverted curved roof turning out angular.

[FuzzyWuz]

Originally Posted by kph06

More details here.

Looks interesting, might be a bit of a mish-mash of designs though. It will be interesting what ends up actually getting built, I could see the inverted curved roof turning out angular.

Room on the roof for skateboarders. Nice.

[Fischbob]

I really like the design, even if it is a bit noisy. The coloured glass and the lighter front facade and top are particularly nice touches. I wonder what the DRC will say about it though?

This and the Citadel Hotel project are really going to transform the density and character of this block. That police station is looking more and more attractive as a site for redevelopment...

[coolmillion]

I was in the Barrington Place Mall today and saw extensive renovations underway. All of the shops and offices on the Barrington Street level have closed except Tempo (which opened not long ago), Plaid Place, Adecco and maybe one other. They have put up a temporary wall the entire length of the hall and it has been narrowed to half its original width. I get the sense that the place is being gutted behind the wall. There are signs saying "reopening September 2013". There have been rumours that the focus is shifting from shops to offices. This makes sense given plans to change and expand Scotia Square which is much better suited to shopping.

[JET]

Originally Posted by coolmillion

I was in the Barrington Place Mall today and saw extensive renovations underway. All of the shops and offices on the Barrington Street level have closed except Tempo (which opened not long ago), Plaid Place, Adecco and maybe one other. They have put up a temporary wall the entire length of the hall and it has been narrowed to half its original width. I get the sense that the place is being gutted behind the wall. There are signs saying "reopening September 2013". There have been rumours that the focus is shifting from shops to offices. This makes sense given plans to change and expand Scotia Square which is much better suited to shopping.

"change and expand Scotia Square which is much better suited to shopping"

interesting; it is a ghost town for shopping given what it was originally.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by coolmillion

I was in the Barrington Place Mall today and saw extensive renovations underway. All of the shops and offices on the Barrington Street level have closed except Tempo (which opened not long ago), Plaid Place, Adecco and maybe one other. They have put up a temporary wall the entire length of the hall and it has been narrowed to half its original width. I get the sense that the place is being gutted behind the wall. There are signs saying "reopening September 2013". There have been rumours that the focus is shifting from shops to offices. This makes sense given plans to change and expand Scotia Square which is much better suited to shopping.

As I was swigging my beer from the outdoor patio of Brussels this past weekend I noticed that pretty much all of the ground floor of Barrington Place which fronts on Granville has been gutted. I believe I heard that a Good Life fitness centre is going in there.

I couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness, as I enjoyed an outdoor patio where I didn't have my eardrums popped by the passing of a troupe of Harleys with their exhaust baffles drilled out, or choked on the fumes of a diesel delivery truck as sits idling at curbside, not to mention the ever-present cigarette-smoking contingent standing on the temporary sidewalk... Why didn't this concept catch on? There were storefronts there at one time, a successful bar in Peddler's Pub... no traffic to deal with and an excellent area to "mull about" whilst sipping on your coffee or whatever. Now with pretty much the whole frontage being taken up with a fitness centre on one side, mostly empty frontage on the other side, there are only a couple of bars left to attract any kind of foot traffic other than those passing through, which I understand will all but be eliminated now because you can't even get to the Barrington Place escalator from Granville anymore since they removed the doors.

Too bad, because I fear the lack of success of the Granville Mall will pretty much rule out this sort of thing ever happening again.