[Dartmouth] Canal East (42 Canal) | ? M | 30 & 14 FL | Approved

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

My memory is failing me. Weren't a number of developments in the Canal St. area on hold due to environmental concerns (remediation, etc.)? Or was that another part of Canal St.?

Yes, but I believe that only pertains to property owned by Waterfront Development Corp...I mean, Develop Nova Scotia...er, Build Nova Scotia...or whatever the hell it's called this week. They've decided that it's too expensive to remediate - too expensive to recover the costs on resale.

Something doesn't smell quite right about that to me; it's extremely valuable property and others in the area have been remediated successfully and economically (the Tim Hortons on what used to be the Warner Brothers/Warner Rentals/ex-Dartmouth Transit/ex-Bell bus garage site comes to mind - and that was well before the current boom dramatically blew up market values), but who knows?

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Something doesn't smell quite right about that to me; it's extremely valuable property and others in the area have been remediated successfully and economically (the Tim Hortons on what used to be the Warner Brothers/Warner Rentals/ex-Dartmouth Transit/ex-Bell bus garage site comes to mind - and that was well before the current boom dramatically blew up market values), but who knows?

Maybe it is unfair but I can't help but look at the huge amount of development overall and compare that to the very slow development on any sites somehow touched by some level of government or major institutions like universities. It is like a curse. There are always reasons given for the slowness, but I suspect it's bureaucratic bloat and poor accounting of opportunity costs (leaving public land fallow viewed as "free", or low taxes for land with minimal improvements, or parking revenues vs. accounting for leased land).

Halifax unfortunately has a lot of underutilized public land since it has so much government activity including the DND.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Yes, but I believe that only pertains to property owned by Waterfront Development Corp...I mean, Develop Nova Scotia...er, Build Nova Scotia...or whatever the hell it's called this week. They've decided that it's too expensive to remediate - too expensive to recover the costs on resale.

Something doesn't smell quite right about that to me; it's extremely valuable property and others in the area have been remediated successfully and economically (the Tim Hortons on what used to be the Warner Brothers/Warner Rentals/ex-Dartmouth Transit/ex-Bell bus garage site comes to mind - and that was well before the current boom dramatically blew up market values), but who knows?

Thanks! That clears it up.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by someone123

Maybe it is unfair but I can't help but look at the huge amount of development overall and compare that to the very slow development on any sites somehow touched by some level of government or major institutions like universities. It is like a curse. There are always reasons given for the slowness, but I suspect it's bureaucratic bloat and poor accounting of opportunity costs (leaving public land fallow viewed as "free", or low taxes for land with minimal improvements, or parking revenues vs. accounting for leased land).

Halifax unfortunately has a lot of underutilized public land since it has so much government activity including the DND.

Many bureaucrats don't want to take on anything that might be difficult or get them into trouble if it goes sideways. With zero profit motivation, why bother? There is always another piece of paper to push or another reason to say no.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by someone123

Maybe it is unfair but I can't help but look at the huge amount of development overall and compare that to the very slow development on any sites somehow touched by some level of government or major institutions like universities. It is like a curse. There are always reasons given for the slowness, but I suspect it's bureaucratic bloat and poor accounting of opportunity costs (leaving public land fallow viewed as "free", or low taxes for land with minimal improvements, or parking revenues vs. accounting for leased land).

Halifax unfortunately has a lot of underutilized public land since it has so much government activity including the DND.

I share your suspicions (Keith's too, it appears).

It's a crying shame for these Dartmouth Cove lands, in an absolutely prime location, just begging for higher-density residential development. The area's been moribund and decaying for a good chunk of my life. I'd hate to see bureaucratic inertia and short-sightedness waste this opportunity and see the land dormant for more decades to come. The current market and investment climate aren't going to last forever.

[Musquodoboit County]

Dartmouth cove lands is a prime spot for a 20000 seat arena

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Musquodoboit County

Dartmouth cove lands is a prime spot for a 20000 seat arena

Road access and capacity (among other factors) make it a poor location, in my opinion.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Road access and capacity (among other factors) make it a poor location, in my opinion.

I have to agree with this. I can just imagine the traffic jams before and after events.

[Keith P.]

The DT Dartmouth street network is a total maze of paved cartpaths. You do not want anything attracting large numbers of people to go there.

[Musquodoboit County]

The metro center on the Halifax side doesn't seem to have major road access. The four lane Alderney Drive is much better than Brunswick Street. ALSO Dartmouth cove has a rail line. Think LRT. Come on I expect better from skyscraperpage people! Haha joking..

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Musquodoboit County

The metro center on the Halifax side doesn't seem to have major road access.

And if you've been to any events at Scotiabank Centre recently, you should know the effect they have on traffic in downtown Halifax and on the bridges (particularly the Macdonald). It can be a real tangled mess.

The four lane Alderney Drive is much better than Brunswick Street.

It's hard to take that seriously. The street network in the Dartmouth Cove area is very different from downtown Halifax and has many fewer direct connections to arteries to move traffic in and out. It should be obvious to anyone truly familiar with the area that vehicle ingress and egress to and from from a large arena at Dartmouth Cove would be a gridlock nightmare.

ALSO Dartmouth cove has a rail line. Think LRT. Come on I expect better from skyscraperpage people! Haha joking..

CN owns that line and has made it clear that LRT will not happen on that line, or any other in the metro area.

To me, this idea is a total non-starter.

[Musquodoboit County]

Ok excellent points.
Halifax will never be able to have big venue center in its downtown's. Arenas will have to be built further out....oh like in Ottawa.....you know ....way out katana... excellent idea. I wonder how the stadiums and arenas in major downtown's work. Ever look at the one in Regina

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Musquodoboit County

Ok excellent points.
Halifax will never be able to have big venue center in its downtown's. Arenas will have to be built further out....oh like in Ottawa.....you know ....way out katana... excellent idea. I wonder how the stadiums and arenas in major downtown's work. Ever look at the one in Regina

Don't put words in my mouth.

I definitely do not think an arena on the Dartmouth Cove lands is feasible.

But I think an arena in downtown Halifax definitely can work; in fact, it's the only reasonable place to put one. I simply referred to traffic there on event nights for comparison purposes - a similar volume of traffic in downtown Dartmouth, were there an arena at Dartmouth Cove, would be totally crippling.

I'm familiar with Kanata. Where the hell is "katana"?

[JET]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Don't put words in my mouth.

I definitely do not think an arena on the Dartmouth Cove lands is feasible.

But I think an arena in downtown Halifax definitely can work; in fact, it's the only reasonable place to put one. I simply referred to traffic there on event nights for comparison purposes - a similar volume of traffic in downtown Dartmouth, were there an arena at Dartmouth Cove, would be totally crippling.

I'm familiar with Kanata. Where the hell is "katana"?

Yep, crippling.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Don't put words in my mouth.

I definitely do not think an arena on the Dartmouth Cove lands is feasible.

But I think an arena in downtown Halifax definitely can work; in fact, it's the only reasonable place to put one. I simply referred to traffic there on event nights for comparison purposes - a similar volume of traffic in downtown Dartmouth, were there an arena at Dartmouth Cove, would be totally crippling.

Yes to all your points and your post above as well. It appears that the poster is trying to get a rise out of us by the language being used.

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Where the hell is "katana"?

Can't say for sure, but perhaps a Suzuki dealership?

[Musquodoboit County]

I'm starting to agree with you... Dartmouth cove not good but now I'm wondering where would a good spot be.

[LikeCranes]

Originally Posted by Musquodoboit County

The metro center on the Halifax side doesn't seem to have major road access. The four lane Alderney Drive is much better than Brunswick Street. ALSO Dartmouth cove has a rail line. Think LRT. Come on I expect better from skyscraperpage people! Haha joking..

Signing an agreement to do that would be the most politically suicidal thing in a long time.

[Musquodoboit County]

Anyways we all know what happened when infill was suggested for Dartmouth cove. So the area will likely be just a park with a skateboard bowl and bike trails. I hope I'm proven wrong but Dartmouth cove won't see development on it....

[AnotherNorthender]

Council approved the development agreement for this site

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by AnotherNorthender

Council approved the development agreement for this site

C
Yes they did! Perhaps a Moderator could update the thread title. This is now two towers, 30 and 14 storeys