General Updates and News

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by sdm

no pic's of the building itself.

They should change the hotel idea to more residential. There is enough rooms in existing, and in the pipeline (1200 to be exact).

This is the sort of development that adds to the quality of life in Halifax. At 500,000 square feet it is also a major development that should bring more people to that part of Halifax. Being so close to the Public Gardens I would expect a lot of demand for the residential and hotel portions. Also, if the Convention Centre goes ahead there will be more demand for the hotel portion. It seems that the downtown area is expanding more and more along the Spring Garden Road area.

I look forward to seeing renderings.

[Dmajackson]

My only question is do they own the CBC building or is it just going to be the current YCMA site?

Also lets hope they put the parking garage entrance on the rear street (where Park Lane entrance is).

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ

My only question is do they own the CBC building or is it just going to be the current YCMA site?

Also lets hope they put the parking garage entrance on the rear street (where Park Lane entrance is).

It is both sites. It states on the website that the development application will be jointly submitted by the YMCA and the CBC before the end of 2009, although I suspect that it won't happen until 2010.

[planarchy]

deleted- posted twice.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by planarchy

It is both sites. It states on the website that the development application will be jointly submitted by the YMCA and the CBC before the end of 2009, although I suspect that it won't happen until 2010.

Ok then thanks.

So now that HRM by Design is in place that means the CBC lot is restricted to 35m and the YMCA is restricted to 49m (post-bonus). So don't expect anything tall especially with the ramparts so nearby.

[Jonovision]

I'm excited to see this project. It's another Michael Napier building. So it should be pretty good. He has been doing a lot of nice buildings as of late.

[someone123]

They've been talking about it for a while as a longer-term project. Could be really great for the city, although I like the CBC building and I hope they manage to retain some of its appeal. The YMCA, on the other hand, is not that interesting architecturally and not that visible.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

They've been talking about it for a while as a longer-term project. Could be really great for the city, although I like the CBC building and I hope they manage to retain some of its appeal. The YMCA, on the other hand, is not that interesting architecturally and not that visible.

Yes it would be disappointing to see the CBC building demolished.

[Jonovision]

Two typical articles from the Metro today. The second one is rather interesting as it mentions Salters Block hopefully getting underway soon and also some sort of development beside the NSP Headquarters on the waterfront. Although I don't know how accurately the reporting in the Metro can be trusted.....

Diversity is key to a thriving downtown, Sloane says


JON TATTRIE
METRO HALIFAX
November 25, 2009 12:06 a.m.

During a recent business trip to Milwaukee, Halifax downtown councillor Dawn Sloane was struck by the absence of life in the American city’s centre.
“Many cities at this point in time, their downtowns are dead,” she reflects. She was relieved to return to Halifax’s lively downtown and sees its development as crucial to the future of the whole of HRM.
The history and future of downtown is diversity, she says. “We have everything from low-income to high income, from the homeless to those that are not — we have it all, when it comes to housing and constituents,” she says. “We want to keep a mix that keeps that buzz in the air and keeps the place interesting to live in.”
So while glamorous new condos sprout up to lure young professionals downtown, affordable housing finds a place too.
She points to recent housing developments on Creighton and Maynard streets in her own neighbourhood.
“That’s 19 people who would have been homeless,” she says. “We’re trying to make sure things are balanced so we don’t gentrify the neighbourhood. We make sure there’s housing for everyone.”
She’s a fan of HRMbyDesign, too. The blueprint for HRM’s physical future envisions more people living and walking downtown.
“It talks about complete neighbourhoods, about having it so things are walkable, that streetscapes are esthetically pleasing and make you want to walk down the street,” she says.
Walkable neighbourhoods build community and protect the environment, as people don’t automatically hop into their car when they go out the front door. Sloane would also like to see the Granville Mall find a twin on Argyle Street, with the area either becoming fully pedestrianized or closing to cars in the evening.
The key to much of the planned growth is luring residents.
“I would hope that we could achieve the goal of more population within District 12,” she says.
Pulling people back to the centre after years of outward sprawl would help build amenities downtown, support local, small-scale stores and cut back on the traffic problems of getting suburbanites to work in the city core.
“In doing so, we create community again and you get to know your neighbours,” she says.





New projects abound on Halifax's waterfront


JON TATTRIE
METRO HALIFAX
November 25, 2009 12:10 a.m.

The Halifax waterfront has come a long way since the 1950s, when ordinary citizens could barely access the water.
The boardwalk was expanded this summer, meaning the wooden planks stretch almost the entire three kilometres from Pier 21 to Casino Nova Scotia.
Colin MacLean, CEO of the Waterfront Corporation, took Metro on a virtual tour of the present and near future.
He started with the recently refurbished Cable Wharf. The home of Murphy’s on the Waterfront is finishing a $2-million upgrade that allows it to stay open year-round.
“What we anticipate to see in the spring is joint work we’re going to do on an interpretive program,” MacLean says.
The public boardwalk around Murphy’s will draw attention to its roots as the site where telecommunication cables started their trans-Atlantic journey. Titanic victims were also temporarily stored there during the recovery operation.
“We’re going to try to bring that history to life,” he says.
The Salter Block Development next to Bishop’s Landing is in the “deep planning phase,” MacLean says.
The parking lot is to be turned into a hotel-apartment-commercial complex with a one-acre public park. The plans were slowed by the economic downturn, but he’s hopeful to see work beginning next year.
Big plans are in the works for the Cunard parking lot next door to the Nova Scotia Power headquarters that is also undergoing extensive rebuilding.
“We’re getting some consultants to help us think through what some of the options might be there,” MacLean says.
“The broad idea will be guided by HRMbyDesign. I suspect it will be more on the residential side.”
Like Bishop’s Landing, that will include commercial activity on the ground floor. In the meantime, the Waterfront Corp. is looking to expand the vendor kiosks on the waterfront. The food, beverage and souvenir shacks currently cluster around Queens Landing but may expand to the Cunard site until the area is redeveloped.
“We’ve had a number of people talk about that location, particularly with the increased number of cruise ship activity. It might provide some interesting entrepreneurial opportunities,” he says.
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic has long been rumoured to be on the cusp of expansion, but Dave Denny of the province’s department of tourism and culture pours cold water on that idea.
“There’s been no decision of expansion of the MMA. That’s just not in the works at this point,” he says.

[Keith P.]

Usual Sloane bullshit. I was in Milwaukee a few years ago and the lakefront was vibrant. Maybe everyone saw her coming, and left.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Usual Sloane bullshit. I was in Milwaukee a few years ago and the lakefront was vibrant. Maybe everyone saw her coming, and left.

That and she now supports HRM by Design? and see's the importance of downtown development?

Talk about flip flop.

[Dmajackson]

Public Invited to Review Draft Report on Future Use of Khyber Building

(Thursday, November 26, 2009) - Halifax Regional Municipality is inviting the public to review a draft report on the potential operating scenarios for 1588 Barrington Street (also commonly known as the "Khyber Building"), as a potential artist-run centre. The report was prepared by the consultants’ firm of TCI Management, to analyse the costs and benefits of five potential operating scenarios.

The report can be accessed online at http://www.halifax.ca/crca/FeasibilityReport.html. Copies are also available at the Bloomfield Centre (2786 Agricola Street); at the Khyber Building (1588 Barrington Street); or by calling 490-4083.

The consultants are asking the public to review the draft report and provide comments on the potential operating scenarios, on the report’s assumptions, and on the proposed building uses, programming and design. The survey will be released on December 9, 2009.

The public engagement process will take place as follows:
1. Public Review of Draft Report: November 26, 2009 to January 8, 2010
2. Public Information Session: December 9, 2009 (Bloomfield Centre)
• 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
3. Public Survey: December 9, 2009 to January 8, 2010

Results from the public engagement process will inform the consultants’ final report, and HRM staff recommendations to Regional Council.

- 30 -

[Keith P.]

Blow it up, along with the adjacent eyesores.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

Blow it up, along with the adjacent eyesores.

Agree

[hfx_chris]

That would be a shame, I think the Khyber building is the nicest of the group.

[someone123]

The Khyber's been discussed many times in the past. I think that it's an interesting building but that it's not really appropriate for where it is. Ideally I would like to see it moved to some other part of the city and replaced with a mid-sized commercial building. Maybe the Khyber could be incorporated into the new library or moved to Gottingen Street, where a cluster of similar cultural venues is emerging.

In general I wish more thought would go into moving historic buildings in Halifax. It's not really that expensive when you think of the money that is made from new developments, and it's something that was done long ago when it was much more difficult and expensive. The Morris house on Hollis was moved about a hundred years ago, for example, but it looks like it's just going to be ploughed under in a few months. Halifax could do so much better if things were just coordinated better - both the money and the assets are there to make a great city, they're just not being managed properly.

[sdm]

Originally Posted by someone123

The Khyber's been discussed many times in the past. I think that it's an interesting building but that it's not really appropriate for where it is. Ideally I would like to see it moved to some other part of the city and replaced with a mid-sized commercial building. Maybe the Khyber could be incorporated into the new library or moved to Gottingen Street, where a cluster of similar cultural venues is emerging.

In general I wish more thought would go into moving historic buildings in Halifax. It's not really that expensive when you think of the money that is made from new developments, and it's something that was done long ago when it was much more difficult and expensive. The Morris house on Hollis was moved about a hundred years ago, for example, but it looks like it's just going to be ploughed under in a few months. Halifax could do so much better if things were just coordinated better - both the money and the assets are there to make a great city, they're just not being managed properly.

they dismantle castles and move them, don't see why they couldn;t do that with a brick structure. besides, probably could afford to be a bit more modern with respect to the internal structure.

I, like you stated, would rather see a small commercial building in its place.

I for one don't think tax payers money should be spent to fix the building only to turn around and rent at a discount and collect 0 tax revenue from it.

[someone123]

One of the big factors here is that the Khyber is surrounded by a few underused properties. The old CD Plus building or whatever is small and ugly. On the other side is a part of the Neptune, which is fine, but beyond that is the derelict NFB Building which has been in that state for ages.

It would be possible to save and move three of those facades to other empty sites in less developed areas and then redevelop that whole chunk of the block. A handful of storefronts of different sizes could be added plus residential above, along the lines of Barrington Gate (though hopefully a little nicer), a building that's been doing just fine ever since it was built. I would guess that it would also be possible to add a couple floors of residential above the Neptune itself, although it's in a viewplane (so is the Marriott and it is seven storeys and one block up).

I also wouldn't be shedding any tears if that stretch of two-storey buildings across the street were replaced. Some of those storefronts are kind of nice (Fireworks for example) but they're just not a good use of the land.

[JET]

There was recent mention of Barrington being a heritage area, and rightly so. The Kyber will stay where it is, and rightly so. It's a beautiful building. I have a xms tree ornament of it; so yeah, I'm partial. JET

[hfx_chris]

Originally Posted by JET

I have a xms tree ornament of it; so yeah, I'm partial. JET

Okay now I'm jealous...