General Updates and News

[Jstaleness]

Mr. Majackson should know this one. With the addition of The Terraces II and The gladstone development cranes, does that make 14 cranes in HRM?

[Dmajackson]

Trillium
Hollis @ Morris
6955 Bayers
420 Larry Uteck Blvd
King's Wharf Residences
RCMP 'H' Division Headquarters (X2)
630 Larry Uteck Blvd
Coast Guard Headquarters
Gladstone Ridge
The Grainery / Terraces II
Mount Royale
Admiral Street Retirement
Russell Lake West

So yes 13 projects and 14 cranes in HRM right now.

Anyone keeping an eye on the Shannex building going up on College? That should be next in line to be added.

[kph06]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Trillium

Anyone keeping an eye on the Shannex building going up on College? That should be next in line to be added.

I go by there everyday. So far no sign of a crane base, the basement foundation is probably 2/3 or 3/4 complete.

[musicman]

The building down by the grain elevators has been started as well.. It has a crane on it which seems to have been there for a month or so give or take... Not sure what the name of it is.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by musicman

The building down by the grain elevators has been started as well.. It has a crane on it which seems to have been there for a month or so give or take... Not sure what the name of it is.

Thats the grainery of the Terraces II (whatever you feel like calling it).

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Thats the grainery of the Terraces II (whatever you feel like calling it).

That's pretty impressive for Halifax considering the last crane count in Calgary was 18.
So that's not far behind!

[Dmajackson]

Nathan Green Square Revitalization Project Set to Begin
Halifax Regional Municipality Press Release

(January 12, 2011) HRM and Waterfront Development Corporation (WDCL) are working together to revitalize a well-travelled and well-loved destination on the Halifax waterfront, starting this week.

The two partners are investing in the Nathan Green Square Revitalization Project to refresh this public area located next to the Halifax Ferry Terminal, between the Halifax Harbour and the Law Courts.

There will be minimal disruption for pedestrians travelling through this area and the majority of the work will be completed by March 31, 2011. The improvements include a continuation of the timber boardwalk, new seating, enhanced landscape which will add year-round interest, improved lighting, and water views, as well as better access between this public area and Historic Properties.

As part of a revitalized landscaping plan, a series of trees that are at the end of their life cycle will be removed as well as some overgrown shrubbery. This will be replaced with new vegetation designed to provide a healthier green space, while improving water views and enhancing safety for the area.

HRM and the WDCL are each contributing $200,000 toward the Capital District Opportunity Project.

Mayor Peter Kelly said it was an appropriate time to make these changes because work is already underway to convert the adjacent ferry terminal to natural gas.

“HRM is always anticipating ways to operate more efficiently,” said Mayor Kelly. “This is an opportunity to both minimize disruptions to the public and re-energize this busy public waterfront area while other work is happening in the vicinity.”

"Partnering with HRM provides another opportunity to reinvest revenue back into the waterfront for the public's enjoyment," said Colin MacLean, President and CEO of WDCL. "With these project enhancements, residents and visitors will continue to experience the water’s edge and a destination spot like Nathan Green Square, for years to come."

Other partnership projects between HRM and WDCL include the children's playground on the Halifax waterfront and the Bedford Waterfront Design Study.

The square was dedicated in the name of Judge Nathan Green in 1983 to honour the work of the first member of Nova Scotia’s Jewish community to become a judge.

Recognized for his many contributions professionally and personally, he held the role of Chief Judge of Nova Scotia’s provincial court, and was a well-respected mediator and sought-after arbitrator within the legal community. The Halifax Public Library Board, the Shaar Shalom Synagogue, and the Rotary Club are just a few of the community groups and associations he actively contributed to over the years.

“Our family is very pleased to see this important public space revitalized - a space that holds special meaning for us,” said Sean Green, grandson of Nathan Green. “We look forward to seeing people enjoying the revitalized square this year and for years to come.”

Local university student TJ Maguire worked diligently to promote the revitalization of Nathan Green Square through a class project. His efforts were integral in sparking discussion around the site’s potential.

For more information on the project visit: www.my-waterfront.ca or www.halifax.ca.

WDCL is a provincial Crown corporation that manages provincially-owned land along the waterfronts from Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and Lunenburg. Revenues are directly reinvested in the waterfronts to drive economic opportunity, enhance tourism, provide experiences and reflect and protect marine heritage.

[someone123]

This is the part of the waterfront they are talking about:


Source

--

There was an ANS article today about development fees today with quotations from Sloane about the Sam the Record Man, Alexander, and Salter block projects possibly starting in the spring. That would be nice.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by someone123

This is the part of the waterfront they are talking about:


Source

--

There was an ANS article today about development fees today with quotations from Sloane about the Sam the Record Man, Alexander, and Salter block projects possibly starting in the spring. That would be nice.

I think there might be a project start this spring, but its not any listed above.

[Northend Guy]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

So yes 13 projects and 14 cranes in HRM right now.

The apartments on top of City Center Atlantic are getting fairly close to proceeding. They are currently in the process of arranging to get things shuffled around on the roof so that the crane can start to be assembled. I imagine given the location this will be a fairly awkward process. I have heard that the intent is to get the crane up within the next couple of months.

[kph06]

My guess is they'll have things ready to swtich over from the Vic to City Centre, so I think the Vic crane will come down and get re-erected ontop of City Centre. In the past Dexel doesn't seem to start one project untill their previous project is in the final stages.

[Northend Guy]

From the news957.com website:

Downtown development not developing as fast as businesses would like
Desiree Finhert Jan 13, 2011 10:28:38 AM
Be the first to Comment 0 Recommendation(s) Nearly two dozen development projects are unfinished or haven't started construction in Halifax's downtown core according to a map released by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission and the Dalhousie-based Planning and Design Centre. The sites are all in some stage of being approved with little to no road block and yet the commission questions why there are still so many vacant lots and empty buildings in the core.

"Developers are buying and assembling land, hiring architects, and working their way through the approval system," Paul MacKinnon, executive director wrote in his press release Wednesday. "Despite this, as you will note, most of these projects are not yet underway. Many it is conjectured will not happen for years, if ever."

The map refers to 23 projects in various stages of development from the Seaport Farmers Market which is open for business, but still under construction, to International Place which received approval in 1978 and hasn't broken ground.

What's also missing is $27 to $39 million in annual municipal taxes revenue these projects would bring in once completed. MacKinnon says a lot of these projects were planned before the economy collapsed in 2009, which would explain why some shovels are not breaking ground.

Coun. Dawn Sloan (Halifax Downtown) says things are moving forward however she says council should press some developers for timelines and construction start dates. She also suggest many projects will start work in the spring.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Northend Guy

The apartments on top of City Center Atlantic are getting fairly close to proceeding. They are currently in the process of arranging to get things shuffled around on the roof so that the crane can start to be assembled. I imagine given the location this will be a fairly awkward process. I have heard that the intent is to get the crane up within the next couple of months.

Looking at the Bing's bird's eye view for that area, it's going to see a lot of changes very soon -- new apartments, the new TD building, and the new library. Add to that the impact of newer highrise buildings nearby like the Trillium and Martello and the whole Spring Garden strip is going to feel very modern.

On top of that we have the Clyde lots and that rumoured second Chickenburger...

Still waiting for the city to move forward with the street overhaul.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by someone123

Looking at the Bing's bird's eye view for that area, it's going to see a lot of changes very soon -- new apartments, the new TD building, and the new library. Add to that the impact of newer highrise buildings nearby like the Trillium and Martello and the whole Spring Garden strip is going to feel very modern.

On top of that we have the Clyde lots and that rumoured second Chickenburger...

Still waiting for the city to move forward with the street overhaul.

If the RFI put out by the city for the Clyde street lots include the requirement for surface parking then there will be little to no development take place.

Those lots went to RFP back in 1987 where many submitted proposals to develop. In the end the committee chose to cancel the RFP due to the exact hudleds a recent article in allnovascotia stated (surface parking).

At least back then the height capacity on the lots were more then the 8 stories there is today.

I would hate to see history repeat itself as those lots need high density residential in a big way in order to keep Spring Garden road a retail destination.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by sdm

If the RFI put out by the city for the Clyde street lots include the requirement for surface parking then there will be little to no development take place.

Those lots went to RFP back in 1987 where many submitted proposals to develop. In the end the committee chose to cancel the RFP due to the exact hudleds a recent article in allnovascotia stated (surface parking).

At least back then the height capacity on the lots were more then the 8 stories there is today.

Whether or not 8 storeys is viable depends on the price put on the lot.

I agree that it would be really unfortunate for surface parking to be a requirement but my guess is that some of those overseeing the RFP will not be in favour of it.

The whole thing personally seems very messed up to me since this site is worth so much money, maybe $5M for the one lot plus however much a new development would pay in fees and taxes. How can the HRM justify paying so much to provide cheap parking for businesses like Mills? And it's not even clear that it's producing much benefit (places like City Centre Atlantic are doing just fine and they do not rely on surface parking). Absolutely crazy.

[macgregor]

Originally Posted by Northend Guy

From the news957.com website:

Downtown development not developing as fast as businesses would like
Desiree Finhert Jan 13, 2011 10:28:38 AM
Be the first to Comment 0 Recommendation(s) Nearly two dozen development projects are unfinished or haven't started construction in Halifax's downtown core according to a map released by the Downtown Halifax Business Commission and the Dalhousie-based Planning and Design Centre. The sites are all in some stage of being approved with little to no road block and yet the commission questions why there are still so many vacant lots and empty buildings in the core.

"Developers are buying and assembling land, hiring architects, and working their way through the approval system," Paul MacKinnon, executive director wrote in his press release Wednesday. "Despite this, as you will note, most of these projects are not yet underway. Many it is conjectured will not happen for years, if ever."

The map refers to 23 projects in various stages of development from the Seaport Farmers Market which is open for business, but still under construction, to International Place which received approval in 1978 and hasn't broken ground.

What's also missing is $27 to $39 million in annual municipal taxes revenue these projects would bring in once completed. MacKinnon says a lot of these projects were planned before the economy collapsed in 2009, which would explain why some shovels are not breaking ground.

Coun. Dawn Sloan (Halifax Downtown) says things are moving forward however she says council should press some developers for timelines and construction start dates. She also suggest many projects will start work in the spring.

The PDC article is available here http://pdcentre.ca/learn.html

[alps]

Proposed Quinpool development may create traffic problems with drive-thru
Halifax Veterinary Clinic and Planet Organic to lose parking spaces
POSTED BY TIM BOUSQUET ON MON, JAN 10, 2011 AT 2:57 PM

Louis Lawen’s Dexel Developments is moving forward with plans to build a new building at the corner of Quinpool Road and Beech Street. As sketched in an ad on Kijiji (no longer live), the building will consist of a 2,000 square-foot first floor, envisioned as a coffeeshop, and an equally sized second floor office space. The first floor is listed at $5,000 per month, the second floor at $2,500 per month.
By itself, the development is unremarkable---it is an “as right” development that fits into the Quinpool districts C-1 zoning regulations. But there are two issues that may present problems.

First, the building is slated for what is now the parking lot used by the Halifax Veterinary Clinic and Planet Organic. A site plan shows that only the row of parking spaces immediately in front of those storefronts will remain, and they’ll lose about 75 percent of the existing spaces. Neither business returned phone calls for comment, which is unsurprising as they also rent from Lawen.

The second issue may be more problematic for the wider neighbourhood: plans show the coffeeshop having a drive-thru, with cars entering on Beech Street and exiting onto the already stop-and-go Quinpool.

“Those plans are just conceptional,” says Dexel’s Crystal Sutherland, the agent handling the lease. “It depends on if the renter wants a drive-thru.”

"That would more-than-likely require a traffic impact study, because that would generate more than 100 vehicles [per day], and that’s the cut-off,” says Ashley Blissett, a development engineer with the city. “Since it’s at a location where it’s already congested, and we have a set of signals, we’d be requiring them to provide us with more information.”

Dexel hasn’t yet acquired a building permit for the development. The Kijiji ad says it will take six months to build.

http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/arch...-create-traffic-problems-with-drive-thru

In other Quinpool news, I noticed today that H&R Block was setting up in the former Outside the Lines Books/Kung Fu T-Shirts space.

I'm not too keen on the Royal Bank renovation. I liked that the building had survived so many decades without a gaudy corporate rebrand. I guess it addresses the corner better...I just find aspects of the design very overdone and awkward.


(Credit: NSARM)

[Grav]

I agree with the above. I dont particularly like the "lifestyle" looking box they attached to the old royal bank building. The two designs really clash in a bad way. "lifestyle" design doesn't go good with anything. The inside looks like its been redone too. They have banners hanging with pictures smiling people and phrases like "Loans", "Mortgages" and "Savings". Its ridiculous

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Grav

I agree with the above. I dont particularly like the "lifestyle" looking box they attached to the old royal bank building. The two designs really clash in a bad way. "lifestyle" design doesn't go good with anything. The inside looks like its been redone too. They have banners hanging with pictures smiling people and phrases like "Loans", "Mortgages" and "Savings". Its ridiculous

Oh you mean 'lifestyle graphics'? Or as one of my planner commrades out here calls them: "Happy white families with white children, with white dogs?" (trust me; the ones out here are NOT multi-cultural).

They are horrible ads - they came from the US. Walgreens started using them and then Shopper's Drug mart has picked them up. I'm not sure if HRM has rules for window signs, but out here we have a blanket rule that no more than 25% of the total window area (regardless of mullions) can be covered in advertising). It's mainly to help keep shop windows open so you can see in and they out (mainly for pedestrian shopping areas like spring garden road for example). Well these graphics end up covering the whole window and its really a big problem, especially along 17th avenue (our bigger version of SGR).

[Grav]

"lifestyle" is a term I personally use to identify modern commercial architecture and building styles. Originating from "lifestyle" centers it refers to buildings that are bright inside and have very casual decor (corny banners with smiling people included) to be appealing to people from all walks of modern 21st century life. For example a modern strip mall with fake windows and decorative trimming along the roof line that you would normally see on a modern house or piece of home furniture rather than a commercial building like below vvv



Or just like you said, a modern drug store with its murals along the walls with smiling people and phrases like "great prices for YOU daily!" As well as banks which are now alot less formal and furniture as well as interior decor that you would normally see inside of a middle class suburban home.

Place Ville Marie circa 1962 for example was NOT a "lifestyle" bank with its towering marble walls and floors dimly lit by pot lights creating a classy high end professional feel. It was a place to get dressed up to go too. A suit for gentlemen and a dress with white gloves for the ladies. Very upscale professional and even a bit intimidating if you weren't used to that kind of environment. Its what I would expect of a bank even today. sadly people today would rather walk around in jeans and a stained t-shirt instead of get dressed up and look decent to go out shopping or run errands. It shows how much society has regressed in the past 50 years.