Quote:
Originally Posted by Horsell
To me, this current “phase 1” proposal is an attempt to “slap up” something cheap (and not very creative) in an attempt to cut their losses. (I would hate to see what they have spent to date on the land, design fees, lawyers etc). IF phase 1 ever goes ahead, what are the chances that phase 2 (the townhouse) will ever go ahead in the proposed style?
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I share this fear. The phase 2 townhouses look quite nice, are proportional to the Battery, have appropriate density, and... likely offer a slimmer return on investment. I am not optimistic that the developer will be eager to push through phase 2 as currently presented once phase 1 is complete.
Regardless of building materials chosen for the façade of phase I, it is still a seven storey cube rising from Temperance Street that is disproportionate with the Battery. That Temperance Street was not included in the Battery Development Guideline Study was arguably an oversight, an oversight that Council has the power to correct. Perhaps I am lacking in creativity, but I have difficulty imagining standing on Water Street in 2055, looking back at the Narrows and the Battery, and seeing the flanking cubic Peninsula as telling a positive story about the ideals of development and architecture in early 21st century St. John's.
Also, this is petty, but it bothers me that the Peninsula is to be built nowhere near an actual peninsula. I assume the developer is evoking the Peninsula Hotels' landmark Peninsula Hong Kong, which actually is built on a peninsula. But the Temperance Street development's kinship with the Peninsula Hong Kong ends at its borrowed name.