[Halifax] The Maple | 72 m | 21 fl | Completed

[RoshanMcG]

Source

[Dmajackson]

Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Wishblade]

^Once the discovery centre development goes in that view is going to have seen such a drastic change from just a few years ago!

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by Wishblade

^Once the discovery centre development goes in that view is going to have seen such a drastic change from just a few years ago!

The additional floors on top of the Green Lantern should also be visible and maybe even the top of the new NFB.

[Duff]

[Milo92]

Hello ,
of passage in your very magnificent country I took some cliché of the construction of the building.

Greetings
Milo

[KnoxfordGuy]

I see in the Chronicle Harold that only 25% of The Maple is rented. That is disappointing is it not? Seeing that the bulk of the structural work is complete. I would have thought at least 50%+

[someone123]

Originally Posted by KnoxfordGuy

I see in the Chronicle Harold that only 25% of The Maple is rented. That is disappointing is it not? Seeing that the bulk of the structural work is complete. I would have thought at least 50%+

Well, as you say it's a rental, not a condo development. I'm surprised that many people are willing to commit to renting a place that they won't be able to live in for many months. It will probably be much, much easier for the developer to get leases signed when people can visit the units and then move in at any time.

Here in Vancouver people go crazy for condo pre-sales, thinking prices will always rise (actually has not been true in general over the past decade for condos here, although they seem to be increasing again). I know of a few people who've gotten burned because their units needed to be changed at the last minute; they ended up with support columns in the middle of their living room, strange vents in prominent areas because the air flow wasn't correct, etc. I don't know why so many people are so eager to take on the risk of putting down a deposit on a pre-construction condo.

[KnoxfordGuy]

I mean, I guess.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by KnoxfordGuy

I mean, I guess.

I'm surprised its that high, to be honest. Who rents an apartment that isn't even finished construction yet (and won't be ready for tenants for some time).

Again, this is an apartment rental... not a condo.

Everybody is always trying to downplay Halifax. It is clearly the most desirable urban environment east of Montreal.

[Drybrain]

Yeah, aren't most renters looking to move within a pretty short time span? In my decade as a renter I was always looking to move within 60 days or so. I would never have considered an unfinished building.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I'm surprised its that high, to be honest. Who rents an apartment that isn't even finished construction yet (and won't be ready for tenants for some time).

Again, this is an apartment rental... not a condo.

Everybody is always trying to downplay Halifax. It is clearly the most desirable urban environment east of Montreal.

Quebec City might have something to say about that

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

Quebec City might have something to say about that

I've heard a lot of times that Fenwick Tower is the tallest building east of Montreal.

I always thought the Quebec City-Halifax comparison is interesting because the two cities have followed such different paths. Quebec City is better preserved, which is great, but that also necessarily limits how much the older parts of the city will develop, while in Halifax there are a ton of opportunity sites and at this point a lot of them have nice new buildings. I could see areas like Barrington and Sackville street surpassing similar parts of Quebec City as far as things like foot traffic go, although it's still not quite clear how all the new development will pan out, and Halifax has problems with traffic and so on that limits how nice streets like Barrington can be.

Portland ME is similar. It was probably about on par with Halifax early in the 20th century. It stayed about the same and downtown Halifax got a lot more new buildings. That was more of a liability in the 60's and 70's but that's less and less true as time goes on.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by someone123

I've heard a lot of times that Fenwick Tower is the tallest building east of Montreal.

I always thought the Quebec City-Halifax comparison is interesting because the two cities have followed such different paths. Quebec City is better preserved, which is great, but that also necessarily limits how much the older parts of the city will develop, while in Halifax there are a ton of opportunity sites and at this point a lot of them have nice new buildings. I could see areas like Barrington and Sackville street surpassing similar parts of Quebec City as far as things like foot traffic go, although it's still not quite clear how all the new development will pan out, and Halifax has problems with traffic and so on that limits how nice streets like Barrington can be.

Portland ME is similar. It was probably about on par with Halifax early in the 20th century. It stayed about the same and downtown Halifax got a lot more new buildings. That was more of a liability in the 60's and 70's but that's less and less true as time goes on.

Exactly why I said "urban environment". Quebec city doesn't have a good urban environment, even though they have an old town and what not.

Those things aren't equivalent. Plenty of cities have good areas of more modern or mixed modern and different time periods (e.g. art deco) AND old towns.

Some of the canyons and street presence in areas are definitely more urban feeling than Quebec city's best. Montreal obvious trounces both, although its oldest parts don't compare to Quebec's either.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Exactly why I said "urban environment". Quebec city doesn't have a good urban environment, even though they have an old town and what not.

Whoa, I'm interested in hearing more about that. How do you mean it doesn't have a good urban environment? (I've never been there, but from streetview wanderings, photos, and general reputation I get the opposite vibe).

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Whoa, I'm interested in hearing more about that. How do you mean it doesn't have a good urban environment? (I've never been there, but from streetview wanderings, photos, and general reputation I get the opposite vibe).

The old town is absolutely beautiful but outside the old city walls it's generally filled with brutalist towers, parking lots and crappy tenements. I personally wouldn't say it has a poor urban environment but much of it has a built form similar to the worse parts of Montreal.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by Franco401

The old town is absolutely beautiful but outside the old city walls it's generally filled with brutalist towers, parking lots and crappy tenements. I personally wouldn't say it has a poor urban environment but much of it has a built form similar to the worse parts of Montreal.

Really? I mean, the Saint Jean, Saint Roch, and Montcalm neighbourhoods all look pretty on-par with the best that urban Canada has to offer, especially the first two.

I mean, this and this and this are all beyond, in some cases well beyond, the city walls. I'm not going to defend the city on cultural or other grounds, since I have very little sense of it, but "poor urban environment" seems like a strange critique.

I'm wondering if there's more to Worldly's observation...

[someone123]

Quebec City is really lovely and interesting. It is definitely worth a visit. I have been there a few times before but those visits were more than a decade ago at this point. The city doesn't seem to have physically changed dramatically although a lot of incremental improvements are evident in streetview.

I would say that Quebec City's urban realm is for the most part a lot nicer than what you find in Halifax. There are a lot more areas with functioning pedestrianized streets and improved public spaces where in Halifax you'd find plain (neglected) asphalt and concrete sidewalks. This is particularly true in the touristy parts and around the respective provincial legislatures. The Province House area (including the Dennis Building but also the grounds themselves) is extremely shabby compared to most other provincial capitals. A lot of Halifax's commercial streets are also traffic arteries.

Some of Quebec's heritage buildings are nicer, but for better or worse a lot of the really elaborate ones are from circa 1900 and were part of a romantic attempt to embellish the city (many visitors think a lot of the newer buildings are from the French colonial era). The Chateau Frontenac is much nicer than either the Nova Scotian Hotel or Lord Nelson. Quebec's legislature and provincial buildings are larger and more elaborate. However, Halifax's older buildings are often on par with or in some cases nicer than Quebec City buildings of the same era; I am thinking of buildings like Province House and Government House, the old waterfront wharves, etc. One downside in Halifax is there are far fewer "immersive" areas where you are surrounded only by heritage buildings.

I think Halifax is a bit more built up and has more of a city feel around areas like Hollis Street. And this gap is only going to widen as more highrises are built downtown. This is mostly what I was getting at with my previous comment.

As far as good urban neighbourhoods go Quebec City used to have a lot more than Halifax but the gap has narrowed considerably. Quebec's old town is the most unique but Halifax has a somewhat nicer waterfront and, I think, nicer parks. The St-Roch area is maybe roughly analogous to Gottingen but is a lot larger and has more businesses (I've heard St-Roch was somewhat decayed back in the 80's and 90's but I don't know if it was ever as bad as Gottingen's low point). Maybe someday Gottingen/Agricola will be more like that. The residential parts of the old North End are pretty similar to the tenement neighbourhoods of Quebec City. The areas demolished for Scotia Square and Cogswell were like that too, with more intensive development and more masonry construction, but they are long gone.

Another observation is that Quebec City has a lot of pedestrian-oriented infrastructure and public spaces despite having a harsher climate. Sometimes people like to argue that Halifax can't have those things because it's too cold, but Quebec in general is a counterexample to that.

[Keith P.]

One thing about Quebec that I always liked - the craft of ornamental ironwork appears to be alive and well there. I always liked that look and I don't know if there is any shop locally here that even does it these days.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

One thing about Quebec that I always liked - the craft of ornamental ironwork appears to be alive and well there. I always liked that look and I don't know if there is any shop locally here that even does it these days.

I think there is vastly more funding for heritage restoration in Quebec City and there's a lot more attention to detail. In Halifax not only has there been more demolition but many (most?) heritage buildings have been stripped of detailing over the years. For example, both the Spring Garden courthouse and old post office (now AGNS) at one point had cupolas. There has also been more reconstruction in Quebec City. Back in the 1950's and 60's a lot of the parts of Quebec City that look great today were comparable to run down parts of Halifax of the same era.

Here's a "then and now" pair of shots of a brick building on Brunswick Street (source). If you look carefully, a lot of the detailing is gone, and the building looks run down generally:





In the same way if you look at a lot of the commercial areas in Quebec City they have higher quality and more consistent streetscaping. There are a lot more granite curbs, wider sidewalks with pavers, consistent pedestrian-scaled lighting, the overhead wires are gone, etc. etc. The streetscaping by the library in Halifax is a slightly cheapened version of what is common in Quebec City, but it only goes on for one block. The Public Gardens are pretty nice now but the Grand Parade, Province House grounds, Commons, and Point Pleasant are somewhat run down and mediocre compared to their Quebec City equivalents.