General Updates and News

[Duff]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

Isn't there a pub and corner store across from the Westhill site? Other than that, its a urban wasteland north of there.

That pub closed sometime in the last year. Just a corner store and the tailor across the street now.

[kph06]

Arthur street building, photo by me:

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

The Design Review Committee is being introduced to the Scotia Square additions on Thursday.

Barrington Street Addition

Westhill on Duke

They've added some more detailed renderings and floor plans for Westhill on Duke

Westhill on Duke - Drawings

[Drybrain]

Cool. This is the kind of detailed rendering every developer should provide for their projects, to really give a sense of what kind of materials will be used, etc.

I was about to criticize it for having no entrances and presenting a blank wall to Albemarle Street, but then I looked at Google streetview to remember exactly what's there now. And man, even a blank wall will be a huge improvement (at least it's a NICE wall). Really, what the hell were they thinking in the 60s? Best guess: "Let's put a bunch of mechanical gizmos that look like they should be out of sight on a roof somewhere right at eyeball level."

[Duff]

Still not sure what this building will be used for but here are some pictures I took today. Corner of Robie & St-Albans.

[haligonia]

Whatever it is, the lack of windows at street level doesn't look very promising.

[Keith P.]

I drove past that today for the first time and was wondering what it was for.

[teddifax]

Yes, please, let us know!

[JET]

Originally Posted by haligonia

Whatever it is, the lack of windows at street level doesn't look very promising.

maybe they will punch out the insulation to make the openings for the windows later

[resetcbu1]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

They've added some more detailed renderings and floor plans for Westhill on Duke

Westhill on Duke - Drawings

The renderings look good but what, if any plans do they have for the rest of Scotia Square ...........? It looks like crap

[coolmillion]

The condo owners at the Brick Yard on and around Brunswick near Cornwallis are suing the developer and contractors for faulty construction. The buildings are less than ten years old and they have needed work due construction faults causing water damage and mould. The developer is Greenwood Lane and a number of local companies including Kassner Goodspeed were involved in design and construction.

Article here:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/718358-condo-corporation-sues-developer-contractors

Hopefully it's an isolated case but there has been a lot of construction since then, so it's possible that problems will emerge in other developments. It reminds me of Vancouver's "leaky condos".

[Hali87]

I lived across the street from some of the Brickyard townhouses and while most of them looked great, the ones directly across the street from me (1 or 2 rows) had obvious problems with the exterior including cracks and failed seams, and were sloppily patched up without being painted over. I figured it was only a matter of time before something happened with those townhouses.

[bluenoser]

I can't always tell when things have already been mentioned but I noticed that WDCL is heading up the development of the large empty lot across Alderney Drive from King's Wharf. I think this is an incredible one-time opportunity to really tie together the older commercial district of Portland St. with everything that's going on at King's Wharf - both via Prince St. and King St. They posted an update on their website in the fall saying they intend for construction to start in the fall of 2014. Here are some concepts:


http://my-waterfront.ca/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/WDCLPanels-WEB_Part2.pdf


http://my-waterfront.ca/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Site-Concepts.pdf..pdf


As usual, I was hoping for something bigger/taller overall. Options C and D include a ~20 storey tower but the rest is fairly short and wide. It's sad that they have to be worried about the houses across the street when we're talking the middle of downtown Dartmouth. I'm not sure how they plan to address the grade change.

Since this is a pretty big lot, maybe 2 or 3 different buildings could work instead of one large one. Also, it would be cool to have a building fronting Alderney that follows the curve in the road since the eventual small office building at KW will kind of do that. Anyway, we'll see what happens!

[Wishblade]

Since their going to take up the entire footprint with what looks to be approx. the same number of units in each plan, I don't see how it even really makes a huge difference from a desnsity perspective. However, visual appeal is where these options will really count. In that case, the taller the better.

[Phalanx]

I don't entirely agree. I think B is the most balanced option, though not the tallest. It's better than the ones that have 3 sides of relatively low heights, then a tower that's completely out of context or proportion with the rest of the surroundings, and offers more height than A.

It's the option I voted for when this first came up a year or so ago.

[SekishikiMeikaiHa]

Marriott Renovations:

[Nilan8888]

I don't entirely agree. I think B is the most balanced option, though not the tallest. It's better than the ones that have 3 sides of relatively low heights, then a tower that's completely out of context or proportion with the rest of the surroundings, and offers more height than A.

It's the option I voted for when this first came up a year or so ago.

Agreed. I think the staggered look would also compliment the building across the street as well.

Also, nice pics as always, SekishikiMeikaiHa.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by Nilan8888

Agreed. I think the staggered look would also compliment the building across the street as well.

Also, nice pics as always, SekishikiMeikaiHa.

I don't know why the website has not been updated but based on public feedback they had chosen option D I believe and they had full designs for the tower as well that they showcased this past fall at Vivacity.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I don't know why the website has not been updated but based on public feedback they had chosen option D I believe and they had full designs for the tower as well that they showcased this past fall at Vivacity.

Thanks for the update regarding the WDC Dartmouth proposals (posted by bosenoser). I picked option B in their on-line survey. At the time of the survey, I remember there being something written on their website about stepped roof designs being more expensive per square foot so I wonder if part of the reasoning in selecting D was cost?

Thanks to SekishikiMeikaiHa for the interior Marriott renovation pictures.

[Dmajackson]

From Councilor Watt's district email;

"Former St Pat’s High School Status:

The Halifax Regional School Board has declared the property surplus to their needs and it is expected that the transfer of the land to HRM will take place after June 2013. HRM is still working on its new policy for the disposal of surplus property which would provide guidelines on the process of how HRM should dispose of lands. The policy is expected to come to council in the next 4-6 weeks"