General Updates and News

[someone123]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I think we are hitting the critical mass, tipping point here people.

This, Dutch Village, and the 2nd Waterton tower really will add a nice flow going southward.

Halifax is somewhat unusual for a small city in that most new construction is multi-unit. It's also getting far more urban infill than most other small cities, and that trend is probably going to accelerate. In 10 years I think Halifax will be a much better city than it is now.

It really is time to look at better transit though. Council just put a bunch of developments along the Bedford Highway on hold. If they do not invest in proper infrastructure like rail or at least solid BRT service (with dedicated lanes along corridors like Bayers Road) then the older parts of the city won't be able to handle as much growth and there will be more sprawl in outer suburban areas. We also won't maximize the potential of neighbourhoods like the North End unless they have better transit service.

[halifaxboyns]

Halifax's building boom: anything goes
HRM By Design can be ignored with impunity.
Posted by Tim Bousquet on Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 2:36 PM

Development issues have come front and centre at city hall, with so much construction in the works that there’s a reported crane shortage in Halifax. And the much-celebrated ship building contract may or may not result in more and better paying jobs for the bulk of the population, but the building industry is anticipating high rents whether pay increases or not, and so we can expect still more apartment and condo projects in the months and years ahead.
The immediate effect of this upturn in the building industry is two-fold. First, city council is being asked repeatedly to simply ignore HRM By Design, the five-year process that involved over 5,000 citizens and millions of dollars. The HRM By Design consensus was basically that the regulatory process around development be streamlined, so long as new projects fit into a set of design and height restrictions. The “streamlining” part of the consensus has been a huge success; city staffer Andy Filmore told council last week that projects now move through the bureaucracy in 60 days, which stands up as among the fastest approvals in the country.

The design and height part of the consensus, however, apparently has been ditched. Last week council allowed a resurrection of the abandoned Twister Sisters project on Hollis Street to move forward to public consultation. Called “Skye Halifax,” the new proposal is, at 48-storeys, more than double the height limit for the site outlined in HRM By Design. City staff recommended against allowing it to proceed, but council rejected that advice. Judging from comments from councillors, it appears they have no desire to adhere to HRM By Design, begging the question why they adopted it in the first place. Perhaps to increase public cynicism.

With Skye moving forward, there’s no logical regulatory reason for the bureaucracy to oppose the joint YMCA-CBC proposal for the corner of Sackville and South Park Streets, which likewise is double the height limits set out in HRM By Design. In this instance, staff supported the proposal, and council happily agreed. A public hearing will be set to hear what will no doubt be ignored opposition to the project, and that will be that. The flood gates have been opened; HRM By Design can be ignored with impunity.

If you really feel like reading this (why anyone would) the link is here.

[someone123]

Yeah, it's not much of an article, but I posted a reply.

Basically I had two points:

1) There always has to be room to change plans like HRM by Design because they are never 100% correct. There are already a bunch of examples of areas where HbD rules have had unintended consequences and are being changed.

2) It's wrong to say that HbD is going to 100% collapse if some changes are made for a couple of developments. There's still a strong incentive for developers to go with the quicker basic procedure, and even in cases where they get amendments there are still HbD procedures that must be followed. The design review committee is one example.

[someone123]

Some great comments have been posted.

I like the Dartmouth Cove story. Public consultations often generate a laundry list of requirements that are impossible to satisfy concurrently, and frequently there is no consensus on important issues. "6 storeys or less" is very small part of the overall picture. People also want things like affordable housing, jobs, low taxes, and good public services. Those aims are all furthered by permitting increased floors for a building like the YMCA. I would argue that the best overall tradeoff is clear when wind and shadow studies are complete and no major downside has been identified.

[Empire]

I think Mulgrave Park could support three 30 storey towers. A mix of affodable housing and mid-range condos.

Right across the street from the shipyard!!

Mulgrave Park has a tonne of potential:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=halifax&hl=...FBpu15xVkkvEU8IDnhVUqg&cbp=12,256.1,,0,0

Mulgrave Park has a tonne of potential:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=halifax&hl=...yTw0rvHAMaldYR9XA&cbp=12,34.74,,0,0&z=18

[worldlyhaligonian]

This Bosquet guy needs to be shut down. The anti-development stance is obscene at this point...

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

This Bosquet guy needs to be shut down. The anti-development stance is obscene at this point...

He's a Marxist. Really. Maybe he can get a one-way ticket to Cuba.

[Hali87]

A small thing in the article that interested me is that he referred to the "___" (between cogswell and north) as the "lower north end". This is geographically incorrect - by definition the "lower north end" would be the part of the north end closest to the harbour (and thus lower in altitude - consider how "lower canada" and "lower manhattan" got their names) but I think it's time that we decided where each neighbourhood begins and ends, and what they should properly be called. I think this would do a lot to foster a sense of community and identity. Hopefully this will be addressed in RP+5.

[DigitalNinja]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

He's a Marxist. Really. Maybe he can get a one-way ticket to Cuba.

Cuba is too good for him. Send him to North Korea and let him work in a camp for a while and see how it feels.

[fenwick16]

This story was in the Chronicle Herald - http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/69324-judge-extends-stay-st-patricks-alexandra-case

Judge extends stay in St. Patrick's-Alexandra case
March 2, 2012 - 2:44pm By CHRIS LAMBIE Business Editor



Developer Joe Metledge listens to councillors debate the future of the closed St. Patricks-Alexandra School site at city hall in Halifax in January. In a decision released Friday, a judge has ruled the sale of St. Patrick’s-Alexandra to a developer will remain on hold until a judicial review later this year. (PETER PARSONS / Staff / File)

UPDATED 3:59 p.m. Friday

The sale of St. Patrick’s-Alexandra School to a developer will remain on hold until a judicial review later this year.

A Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision released Friday continues a stay first granted in February that halted Jono Developments Ltd.’s $3-million purchase of the former school property in north-end Halifax. A judicial review of the sale, requested by the North End Community Health Association, the Richard Preston Centre for Excellence Society and the Micmac Native Friendship Society, will go ahead in June.

“The overall balance of convenience favours the applicants and, for this reason, I am prepared to continue the stay until the decision in the judicial review application has been issued,” Justice Michael J. Wood said in his written decision.

The review will look at whether the municipality followed its own rules for disposal of surplus property.
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[JET]

Originally Posted by DigitalNinja

Cuba is too good for him. Send him to North Korea and let him work in a camp for a while and see how it feels.

if i say that i'm a marxist, can I get a one-way ticket to Cuba?

[DigitalNinja]

I'd say I was a marxist if I could go to cuba.

[JET]

there's something up with one of the dreadful buildings on Gottingen. It's north of the North End Clinic, the second floor has been removed. There have been construction signs on the building for a number of months. could be interesting.

[fenwick16]

This story was in the Chronicle Herald - http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/70365-work-airport-hotel-set-start-may

Work on airport hotel set to start in May
March 5, 2012 - 7:08pm By REMO ZACCAGNA Business Reporter

Work on a new hotel near the Halifax airport is set to get off the ground in May.

Manga Hotels of Mississauga, Ont., is behind the proposed Courtyard by Marriott, a seven-storey, 120-room hotel that is to include a 5,000-square-foot conference room.

A purchase of four hectares of land from Halifax Regional Municipality that will be used for additional parking for the new hotel is expected to close in the coming weeks.
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[cormiermax]

Not putting high hopes on this one. Most of these suburban hotels turn out pretty bad.

[someone123]

The suburban hotels are mostly cookie cutter. Some of the buildings you see in suburban Halifax are basically identical to what you see from highways all over the US and Canada.

Despite the fact that it should look better than average, the Alt hotel at the airport is a standard design too.

[fenwick16]

Are there renderings for the new Courtyard Marriott proposal?

[sdm]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Are there renderings for the new Courtyard Marriott proposal?

Due to the Marriott brand requirements it will likely be just like any other courtyard.

[JET]

Originally Posted by JET

there's something up with one of the dreadful buildings on Gottingen. It's north of the North End Clinic, the second floor has been removed. There have been construction signs on the building for a number of months. could be interesting.

a few buildings south, next to the pharmacy, a building that has had dreadful plywood over the main floor windows for a LONG time, now has a new set of storefront windows, a nice change

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

He's a Marxist. Really. Maybe he can get a one-way ticket to Cuba.

They aren't anti-development in Cuba, or any communist country for that matter. These folks are out to lunch, their "comrades" would laugh at their interpretation of socialism and development.