[Halifax] Monaghan Square (6100 Young Street) | 2X54 m | 2x17 fl | Completed

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

Wasn't this originally proposed to be 19 stories though? 17 isn't bad, but I don't get Watt's rationale for lowering the height...

Neither do I.

[Keith P.]

Easy. Watts has this fixation on "human scale" buildings, which basically means that tall=bad. She managed to get them to shave a couple of floors off it. Meaningless to everyone except her, for whom it is a moral victory.

[RyeJay]

Seems petty to reduce the building by a mere two floors, when the abstrast reasoning of 'human scaled' buildings, to me, would mean the building's total floor count would stop at two.

19 -- 17: not a drastic difference, nor is it a victory for the batophobes.

The peninsula is urbanising whether Watts like its or not.
As it has been previously mentioned on this thread, it may be possible that the developer of this project purposely aimed higher with the number of storeys, realising that bitches like Watts would 'come to the rescue'.

[teddifax]

Did I just read in Saturday's CH that this is approved?

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by teddifax

Did I just read in Saturday's CH that this is approved?

According to the case details on the HRM website it was approved to move forward.

[Nilan8888]

Right, it was approved on the 10th. According to the site this decision can now be appealed to the review board, but they're going to have 14 days to do so following publication in a newspaper.

If the first publication was in Saturday's CH -- and I have no idea if that was first publication -- the deadline for appeal would be the 29th.

But I don't think that would happen. It sounds like this one mostly flew under the radar.

[halifaxboyns]

If you are going to be literal to Watt's comments, then no building would exceed 1 storey (and even then it would probably be too tall).

This myth that tall is bad is just bunk. It's pure and utter bull. That said, it seems to be the big issue to get over to allow planning to move forward in HRM with any reasonable amount of success. But there has to be a spot (at least one, preferably more) where tall buildings can go nuts. This seems like the logical spot, as does the Dartmouth Shopping Centre area.

If this goes as 17, I'm not going to be unhappy - this is a good first start. My hope is that the planners for RP+5 think about extending the highest heights to most of this area, rather than just a small amount of it.

[jasonashhh]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

If you are going to be literal to Watt's comments, then no building would exceed 1 storey (and even then it would probably be too tall).

This myth that tall is bad is just bunk. It's pure and utter bull. That said, it seems to be the big issue to get over to allow planning to move forward in HRM with any reasonable amount of success. But there has to be a spot (at least one, preferably more) where tall buildings can go nuts. This seems like the logical spot, as does the Dartmouth Shopping Centre area.

If this goes as 17, I'm not going to be unhappy - this is a good first start. My hope is that the planners for RP+5 think about extending the highest heights to most of this area, rather than just a small amount of it.

OMG I PICTURED THE SAME THING tear that whole strip mall down on renovate it to like an 8 storie office tower their moving the lc store too and with the next the new bus terminal and kings wharf connecting we would look dynamic!!! dont get me started on potential around that area it could blow up!!!

[Hali87]

^ that's actually the plan: HRM is setting height/form limits in the Wyse/Nantucket area to allow for 20-24 storey mixed-use buildings. Of course, some people are already protesting that they don't want highrises, out of concern that the area will look too much like downtown Halifax

more here.

[halifaxboyns]

The Dartmouth Shopping Centre is a logical place, not just because it's not in an area of protected views, but this could be considered a Transit Oriented Development Area because of it's proximity to the Bridge Terminal. So the argument against it isn't logical, when you want people to live close to transit.

[worldlyhaligonian]

So WM has 3 projects right now... one of them being the Bentley in CP. Is it complete?

According to their website, aside from Young there is also that 12 story project for Dartmouth.

I'd be happy with either of these breaking ground soon... maybe even the 12 story in Dartmouth first because it will make such a big impact over there.

[jasonashhh]

Originally Posted by Hali87

^ that's actually the plan: HRM is setting height/form limits in the Wyse/Nantucket area to allow for 20-24 storey mixed-use buildings. Of course, some people are already protesting that they don't want highrises, out of concern that the area will look too much like downtown Halifax

more here.

OMG That would be a dream come true for dartmouth lets start our own city on this side while Halifax complains about their height the sun will shine on our side and we will bloom Did they say when this was being planned or is it already a go head

[Hali87]

It's part of the Centre Plan, which is (I believe) still being developed. The central themes of the plan are to direct new developments to existing commercial avenues that have vacant or under-utilized lots (these would be Agricola, Gottingen, Quinpool, Robie & Spring Garden, Robie & Young, Wyse, Windmill, and a few sites in Woodlawn and Woodside), and to replace land-use zoning with form-based zoning. Many of the corridors will cap out at around 10 storeys (in many cases, significantly less) but Wyse Road and the streets that intersect with Robie will allow for buildings up to 20 or 24 storeys. Check out halifax.ca/planhrm (or the "Centre Plan" thread on here) for more info.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by jasonashhh

OMG That would be a dream come true for dartmouth lets start our own city on this side while Halifax complains about their height the sun will shine on our side and we will bloom Did they say when this was being planned or is it already a go head

There are plenty of height complainers in Dartmouth as well. The entire HRM has a well established population of NIMBYs.

Regardless, the peninsula is finally getting some desperately needed attention directed toward the importance of its density. You may criticise the height limitations; however, the peninsula's rate of growth will exceed the other regions of HRM.

Given the small street grid throughout much of 'Old' Halifax, particularly the downtown, I wonder what a reasonable density cap would be? Although these smaller street grids are more threatened from vehicular traffic due to continued urban sprawl, there is also the consideration of foot traffic from what we hope to be the growing residential population, especially in the downtown.

The downtown is extremely congested during events such as the Tall Ships Festival. In 2009, for instance, over 600,000 people were drawn to the waterfront.

Does anyone think we could comfortably fit 600,000 permanent residents on the peninsula?

[halifaxboyns]

Ryejay picked up on a concern I had thought about as the population pushes up as well. That said, I think it's important to realize that HRM's growth strategy isn't just about the peninsula, it's about the regional centre as a whole.

So whether HRM pushes up to 600, 700 or beyond - the growth of residential won't be just in 'old' Halifax (I love that term). I think what you will see is that during special events, and during the weekday rush hours, the downtown core and possibly the DT core of Dartmouth will be congested with people (as they start to fill in).

But then on weekends when it's more about the shopping visitors and the residents it won't be so bad.

[Dmajackson]

Final approval should be given on Monday (October 15th) night by Peninsula Community Council;

http://www.halifax.ca/Commcoun/pcc/d...ungSuppRpt.pdf

[lawsond]

[QUOTE][Given the small street grid throughout much of 'Old' Halifax, particularly the downtown, I wonder what a reasonable density cap would be?/QUOTE]

Take a walk around Lower Manhattan..the streets are very narrow. 17th century narrow. And they have built 70 storey office towers there since 1930.

[Halifax Hillbilly]

[QUOTE=lawsond;5866435]

[Given the small street grid throughout much of 'Old' Halifax, particularly the downtown, I wonder what a reasonable density cap would be?/QUOTE]

Take a walk around Lower Manhattan..the streets are very narrow. 17th century narrow. And they have built 70 storey office towers there since 1930.

True, but Wall Street and other early examples of extreme skyscraper canyons can be oppressive. New York also had one of the first zoning ordinances to ensure that tall buildings would allow light down to street level, among other things.

[someone123]

The most desirable residential neighbourhoods on Manhattan are arguably areas like Greenwich Village that have mostly 4-6 storey buildings on side streets.

This area has a ton of chain stores now and I don't know how great it would be to live in but, architecturally, Broadway around Price Street is amazing. The buildings are only around 10 storeys (though note the Woolworth building off in the distance). There must have been an unprecedented amount of construction activity in this area around 1900-1910: http://goo.gl/maps/29yxh

People on SSP love Midtown but I don't think it's a great neighbourhood. It might be an attractive place for bank offices but that doesn't make it liveable.

In the case of the Halifax peninsula I'd love to see lots of lowrise buildings (4-8 floors) on underused lots, strong preservation of existing good buildings, and a few larger scale signature towers and public buildings. It's not on the peninsula but I think the King's Wharf main tower will add a lot of visual interest along the waterfront. The library should be great too.

[essaysmith]

So, once we get a few more stories on our downtown buildings, we'll almost be tied with other cities from 1900-1910. Interesting to see how narrow the side streets are though.