Development Rumours

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by ScovaNotian

I like the current look much better.

Seriously? No.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by spaustin

I actually wrote a little piece for Spacing on just this topic. Some back of the napkin calculations based on the hourly operating cost that Metro Transit intended on saving when they cut the evening ferry service back in 2012 says that we could run a ferry to McNab's every weekend and holiday from May through to September for about $500,000 http://spacing.ca/atlantic/2014/08/26/near-far-mcnabs-island/

I think McNab's is too far away and is not doable via ferry service. I think McNab's has to be connected by a bridge to Dartmouth, if anything. But that will never work.

However, I think it is an absolute travesty that George's Island remains a desolate grassland, with weeds growing up around For Charlotte what should be a provincial and national treasure, and a MAJOR tourist attraction.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/ns/georges/natcul/natcul1.aspx

I mean, the Fort was originally built in the 18th Century. It's hundreds of years old, and essential to the history of the City and Country, FFS.

If Provincial Tourism or Parks Canada had any brains, they would make this happen. Fix up Georges with a decent investment and then run a multi-level government subsidized ferry. The money made off of "tours" of Fort Charlotte could cover the ferry, or come close.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Waye Mason

The biggest thing that needs to be fixed is the entrance off of Barrington. They can put a podium that is I think 14.5 or 18 metres on that site, which would help catch wind and keep the building from assaulting passersby. I'd love to see someone buy this, apparently Fortis has it for sale. I keep hearing rumors of it going condo, but it would be a really expensive conversion, so I am not sure if those are remotely real.

Yes, there is a tonne of potential for that corner, for some public space and street level retail, etc, to offer a better entrance/connection from SGR to Barrington, in order to invite more people down onto Barrington from SGR.

[ns_kid]

Originally Posted by Waye Mason

The biggest thing that needs to be fixed is the entrance off of Barrington. They can put a podium that is I think 14.5 or 18 metres on that site, which would help catch wind and keep the building from assaulting passersby. I'd love to see someone buy this, apparently Fortis has it for sale. I keep hearing rumors of it going condo, but it would be a really expensive conversion, so I am not sure if those are remotely real.

I agree with Councillor Mason. The Maritime Centre property has a great deal of potential for a forward-thinking owner. AllNovaScotia reported on September 30 that Fortis is shopping it around; we can only hope they find a buyer willing to do more than sit on it and collect rent.

Unfortuntately, I think that Green Power Labs proposal for the tower was conceptual only but much could be done to enhance this property. And, as Waye points out, the building podium cries out for redevelopment.

The ground floor and two subgrade (former mall) floors are underutilized, and there are hundreds of square feet available for infill on the southwest corner (much as the northeast corner was redeveloped for the Four Points hotel).

I've often reflected, as ! ride the escalators between the uncrowded lower floors, that this would be a prime location for the return of an urban department store to Barrington Street.

At the very least, removing the blank, forbidding and inaccessible concrete walls and stairs along Barrington Street would do much to improve the streetscape and mitigate the extreme wind effects along this block.

[teddifax]

very well said

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by ns_kid

[B]I've often reflected, as ! ride the escalators between the uncrowded lower floors, that this would be a prime location for the return of an urban department store to Barrington Street.

At the very least, removing the blank, forbidding and inaccessible concrete walls and stairs along Barrington Street would do much to improve the streetscape and mitigate the extreme wind effects along this block.

The department store idea is brilliant, as this would a a PERFECT connector between "uptown" SGR and "downtown" Barrington.

[catherineb]

Does anyone know if there's a project on this lot?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.6580279,-...3m4!1e1!3m2!1sSqB1BqqCnAGwhmcG-0zwpw!2e0

It's at the 2859 Robie St, between Macara st. and Bilby, beside Eastlink.


Thank

[pblaauw]

Originally Posted by catherineb

Does anyone know if there's a project on this lot?

https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.6580279,-...3m4!1e1!3m2!1sSqB1BqqCnAGwhmcG-0zwpw!2e0

It's at the 2859 Robie St, between Macara st. and Bilby, beside Eastlink.


Thank

Other than the fact it's assessed at $1.0251 million (which seems like a large amount for a gravel lot that used to be a gas station and probably needs to be cleaned up), I can't find anything. Not even an owner.

EDIT: It still has a page on Profile Canada.

EDIT 2: It also shows up on canada411.ca ...?

[Dmajackson]

Re 2859 Robie:

The lot is/was owned by Banc Properties. It was bought a few years ago in the same deal as Bayers & Oxford. At the time they stated they were planning for a ~14-storey residential building that was going to be built following 3065 Robie (U/C now) and Bayers & Oxford (Approved in 2013). There were never any renderings or a planning application made public.

It is unfortunate that it is a vacant parcel in such a high visibility spot but considering the amount of projects under construction now in the immediate vicinity and the numerous more approved it may be best for Banc to wait a few years. Staggered construction is better for an area then all at once.

[hokus83]

That one and 6318 Quinpool Rd are two that I really wish someone would do something with. I dont know how to copy the link in street view

[mcmcclassic]

Originally Posted by hokus83

That one and 6318 Quinpool Rd are two that I really wish someone would do something with. I dont know how to copy the link in street view

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=6318+Quin...Auej_s2565XY1lCX8w&cbp=12,332.79,,0,1.17

[coolmillion]

I've been wondering what is in store for the new retail spaces along street level at the Brunswick apartment buildings between Duke and Cogswell. A friend of mine is speculating that the southern-most space at Duke will likely be a big chain restaurant/bar. It is directly across from the Scotiabank Centre, has a patio and is highly visible. It also has amazing south-west exposure that not many restaurants downtown have. Something like Milestones or... Any other ideas?

[JET]

I noticed this on Kate's Facebook page"
"Big change coming in Downtown Dartmouth. Apparently, First Baptist Church on Ochterloney will be coming on the market in the next couple of weeks"
It's an Andrew Cobb building

[someone123]

ANS reported tonight that the owner of the Green Lantern Building (Keith Building) intends to demolish it.

That would be a pretty big disaster if it happened. Barrington is supposed to be a heritage district. Hopefully some other solution can be found. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me that so many heritage buildings in Halifax are considered unsalvageable when the same sort of buildings are preserved in other cities. By Halifax property owner standards 3/4 of Paris would be deemed obsolete and torn down. Even the idea of owners de-registering heritage buildings and then demolishing them in a few years is pretty absurd and unusual compared to the protections common in other places.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by someone123

ANS reported tonight that the owner of the Green Lantern Building (Keith Building) intends to demolish it.

That would be a pretty big disaster if it happened. Barrington is supposed to be a heritage district. Hopefully some other solution can be found. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me that so many heritage buildings in Halifax are considered unsalvageable when the same sort of buildings are preserved in other cities. By Halifax property owner standards 3/4 of Paris would be deemed obsolete and torn down. Even the idea of owners de-registering heritage buildings and then demolishing them in a few years is pretty absurd and unusual compared to the protections common in other places.

Demolishing the Keith Building would be an outrage. It's too historical, too important.

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by someone123

ANS reported tonight that the owner of the Green Lantern Building (Keith Building) intends to demolish it.

That would be a pretty big disaster if it happened. Barrington is supposed to be a heritage district. Hopefully some other solution can be found. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me that so many heritage buildings in Halifax are considered unsalvageable when the same sort of buildings are preserved in other cities. By Halifax property owner standards 3/4 of Paris would be deemed obsolete and torn down. Even the idea of owners de-registering heritage buildings and then demolishing them in a few years is pretty absurd and unusual compared to the protections common in other places.

This is when I feel the most frustrated with the HT. They squander their time and attention saving parking lots, rather than focusing on actually preventing the demolishment of a heritage district building.

[Drybrain]

Any sense of what he's planning? I pray to god he isn't going to try and build a tower based on some half-assed argument over precedent due to the Roy, since that was clearly approved before the HCD.

I've been worried about this for a while, anyway—owner Jeff Webber's sob stories about his insurance woes have strained credibility for some time. I do wonder, though, if this is an attempt to poke a stick in the city's eye, as it were, and goad them into giving him something he wants. He seemed committed to renovating as of last year, as indicated in the last half of this story in which Webber does a lot of whining about his relationship with the city.

In any case, it's getting ridiculous the number of major heritage battles that have to be constantly fought in this ostensibly historic city, usually premised on the unconvincing arguments about building codes and "not fit for modern use", etc. In six years of living in Toronto, I didn't see a single building of the calibre of the Green Lantern (or the Dennis, or the Roy, or the Spring Garden-Birmingham block) endangered, much less demolished. I would go out on a limb and say Halifax has more significant endangered structures than any other city in the country. I'm not sure what it is about our development community that so many are so eager to rip things down, but it's not typical.

If this happens it'll really pathetic. This stuff shouldn't be happening in 2014, certainly not in the city's showpiece heritage district. It's pathetic. I wish Webber would just sell the building to someone who who wants to do something with it.

[Keith P.]

Maybe it can be burned down and the city can pay to prop up the facade for 30 years until someone comes along to redevelop the lot.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I've been worried about this for a while, anyway—owner Jeff Webber's sob stories about his insurance woes have strained credibility for some time. I do wonder, though, if this is an attempt to poke a stick in the city's eye, as it were, and goad them into giving him something he wants. He seemed committed to renovating as of last year, as indicated in the last half of this story in which Webber does a lot of whining about his relationship with the city.

Heritage funding combined with the potential for de-registering does create a weird dynamic where there's an incentive for developers to threaten to demolish their buildings. It seems like a broken system to me; there should be consistent subsidies and it should not be possible to de-list and cash out later on.

Starfish's success with many other buildings on Barrington makes me pretty skeptical about the Keith Building being uniquely challenging to maintain or find a use for. At this point it's an outlier.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

Starfish's success with many other buildings on Barrington makes me pretty skeptical about the Keith Building being uniquely challenging to maintain or find a use for. At this point it's an outlier.

Yeah. The Green Lantern is rundown and mostly empty, but it's not like a blasted-out ruin or something. It's no worse than a lot of other buildings that have been successfully repurposed and restored, and better than many.