Development Rumours

[someone123]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Huh, that's kind of surprising. That stretch is zoned Corridor but the max height is 11 metres (3 storeys). You could certainly squeeze some extra density in by using the full depth of the lots and the 3rd floor, but I'm kind of surprised that there's enough extra density there to make the economics work.

It would truly be peak Halifax planning if a row of old houses got torn down to build a squat 3 storey box with slightly more density.

[JonHiseler]

Originally Posted by someone123

It would truly be peak Halifax planning if a row of old houses got torn down to build a squat 3 storey box with slightly more density.

With the original plans shrunken down by a few floors because of NIMBYs complaining about potential shadows from a mildly tall building or some other nonsense like that.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

It would truly be peak Halifax planning if a row of old houses got torn down to build a squat 3 storey box with slightly more density.

If I’m right about which houses are being demolished, there are only two I’d really consider losses from a historic perspective, and even those only modestly so.

Still, it’s absolutely silly to be tearing down low-density housing for slightly-less-low density housing.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Huh, that's kind of surprising. That stretch is zoned Corridor but the max height is 11 metres (3 storeys). You could certainly squeeze some extra density in by using the full depth of the lots and the 3rd floor, but I'm kind of surprised that there's enough extra density there to make the economics work.

The Centre Plan strikes again! On the east side you have not only the Professional Center on the corner of SGR but also the upcoming projects across SGR from there that are much taller, plus the hospitals on the east side of Robie further north, plus the hotel and new luxe tower across the street from the QEII. Did Mason put the fix in by saying things could not be built that were Too Tall (TM Regd) on Robie? It seems a logical area for height, certainly more than 3 storeys.

[teddifax]

When Mason first went in, I thought he would be better than this.... I don't know exactly where his stance is, but it doesn't seem like it's for development....

[Empire]

When will planning / council appreciate the unique / quality architecture that adds so much character to this town and find a way to protect it?

Maybe use all of the new tax on properties not occupied by owners from outside the province for a heritage restoration fund.

Solid Halifax Architecture - Robie @ Bliss
https://www.google.com/maps/@44.6412997,...gWA0FV4eDWtXT-ogzvX1g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Empire

When will planning / council appreciate the unique / quality architecture that adds so much character to this town and find a way to protect it?

It would be good if the city found a formula to enable adaptive reuse of these wooden houses while upping the density and adding more mixed use. We should also ask what elements could be added to modern construction to add authentic feeling local character so that new buildings add to the character instead of watering it down.

I would suggest a mix of moving houses around to reduce setbacks and eliminate old holes, perhaps conversion into rowhomes, additional floors, slender residential towers (lots of height allowed to offset costs), commercial conversions, and overall higher allowable FAR that permits construction on the backyards.

Elements of this are visible in the plans for College Street (move heritage buildings around to maximize land use) and the Waverley Inn (focus on preserving/improving tangible heritage and allow development when it doesn't directly interfere).

There's urgency around this in some areas like around Grafton/Blowers. It could go either way there, but currently I don't think there's any vision for that area. Max heights or FAR is not a vision for a neighbourhood.

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

An excellent example of adaptive reuse of an older wooden house is The Narrows Public House on Gottingen Street. I've been a couple of times now and will certainly go back to enjoy the space as much as the food and drink. The house has been put back into pristine condition and modernized with sprinklers, etc.. Little doubt that this historic building will be around for some time to come. It strikes me that the increased density in the area mostly achieved through height is likely a significant contributor to the success of this project. This may be rumour or exageration but I have heard that it took the owners approximately [B]five years[B]to get this through city planning/council.

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

The Centre Plan strikes again! On the east side you have not only the Professional Center on the corner of SGR but also the upcoming projects across SGR from there that are much taller, plus the hospitals on the east side of Robie further north, plus the hotel and new luxe tower across the street from the QEII. Did Mason put the fix in by saying things could not be built that were Too Tall (TM Regd) on Robie? It seems a logical area for height, certainly more than 3 storeys.

I'm still waiting to buy tickets on the Waye Mason city bus tour of devastation casued by height. I wonder how long I'll have to wait?

[Dmajackson]

There is demolition fencing up around Mister Transmission at the prominent corner of Robie Street and Almon Street. Looks like the Cosmo Prof building next door is vacant as well.

Considering Halifax's new tallest building is going up next door this could be a large project.

Mister Transmission has moved to a new build at 1109 St Margaret's Bay Road, Beechville.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

There is demolition fencing up around Mister Transmission at the prominent corner of Robie Street and Almon Street. Looks like the Cosmo Prof building next door is vacant as well.

Considering Halifax's new tallest building is going up next door this could be a large project.

Mister Transmission has moved to a new build at 1109 St Margaret's Bay Road, Beechville.

Huge if it turns out to be tall. They should be going for 40 here.

[Keith P.]

Hope HRM requires some piece of the Mr. T. lot to be reserved for widening the Robie St. ROW.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Huge if it turns out to be tall. They should be going for 40 here.

Height on this site is governed by Floor Area Ratio, with a max FAR of 5.5, which is one of the higher values in the Centre Plan area. Can't imagine they'll get to 40 storeys, but if the development involves a couple of sites I could see it in the 20+ range.

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Hope HRM requires some piece of the Mr. T. lot to be reserved for widening the Robie St. ROW.

HRM does indeed have a road reserve requirement here. Viewable here. It's interesting to see the reserves on the stretch south of St Albans Street. Some of those lots are almost entirely lost to the road reserve.

[Summerville]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Height on this site is governed by Floor Area Ratio, with a max FAR of 5.5, which is one of the higher values in the Centre Plan area. Can't imagine they'll get to 40 storeys, but if the development involves a couple of sites I could see it in the 20+ range.



HRM does indeed have a road reserve requirement here. Viewable here. It's interesting to see the reserves on the stretch south of St Albans Street. Some of those lots are almost entirely lost to the road reserve.

Richmond Yards Incorporated owns the three buildings running south from Almon along Robie..the last ones acquired in 2020. That would include the former Foxhill location.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Summerville

Richmond Yards Incorporated owns the three buildings running south from Almon along Robie..the last ones acquired in 2020. That would include the former Foxhill location.

Okay so that would allow about 12,000 square metres of gross floor area based on the area of those lots. I image they can get close to the max tower dimensions within those lots. Maybe something like 20m x 35m once you account for stepbacks. That's 17 storeys, though a little less once you allocate extra floor area to the podium. So I'm guessing around 12-15 storeys?

EDIT: Of course, they could also go with smaller tower dimensions and go higher.

DOUBLE EDIT: Wait, Richmond Yards Inc. is a Danny Chedrawe company. I wonder if they're somehow integrating this into the actual Richmond Yards development next door.

TRIPLE EDIT: Actually, looking back at the very initial designs of Midtown North (Richmond Yards before its re-brand) it actually included these sites. I wonder what the story is there.

[kph06]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

TRIPLE EDIT: Actually, looking back at the very initial designs of Midtown North (Richmond Yards before its re-brand) it actually included these sites. I wonder what the story is there.

I remember seeing this at the time, I think one of the various council reports discusses this. I think it may have been left out of the final submission for the current phase as it may have delayed the start.

[someone123]

The payoff to widening a portion of Robie is going to be pretty minimal if it means losing a bunch of land in exchange for simply moving the bottleneck 1 block farther down. The narrower part of Robie is about 1 km long. This shows how marginal and costly the gains from road widening will be. Give up a 1 km strip of land, get 1 traffic lane that will probably have a similar level of congestion. Transit on the other hand can have a dramatically higher density.

There aren't any architectural marvels along that block of Robie by Richmond Yards but it adds some interesting character to have a strip of buildings next to the development in behind. And I wonder how crucial it really is to tear down every last building when the city is allowing 30 storey towers on the adjacent sites. The ideal from a character perspective would be a nice small scale redevelopment of the corner auto repair site and strip mall.

[IanWatson]

It won't be too hard to widen the portion from Almon to North. The Bloomfield site property line is already such that it's wide there. The block north of May is getting redeveloped right now, so presumably HRM will be picking up that section. The portion between May and North will happen all at once when Steele decides to redevelop the auto dealerships. That may be enough to get some transit gains if they can do a queue jump for transit at North and Robie.

Harder to widen is going to be North to Charles. Those are finer-grained buildings and Centre Plan doesn't provide as much incentive to redevelop along this strip.

[Corker]

Originally Posted by kph06

I remember seeing this at the time, I think one of the various council reports discusses this. I think it may have been left out of the final submission for the current phase as it may have delayed the start.

At one of the early public information sessions Danny Chedrawe said he wanted to work with the city to put a transit facility on the corner there, but he was still working with someone (HRM or neighbouring property owners??) to develop the concept.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Hope HRM requires some piece of the Mr. T. lot to be reserved for widening the Robie St. ROW.

Would be a perfect ROW for LRT.