General Updates and News

[RoshanMcG]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Amid all the COVID-19 related news, something positive for a change:

Passenger ferry service could visit Georges Island this summer

I could be wrong, but it seems like the island's pier got a little bit of an upgrade.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Hmmm... looks like relatively new pier posts?

I recall they have had sporadic events there over the past couple of years, maybe the upgrades had been done for those?

Either way, it will be nice to be able to explore the island once things get back to normal again. It's a piece of public real estate that has been unavailable to most residents pretty much forever. It's great that they are wanting to open it up to the public.

[Jonovision]

There has been a small crew working there for a few months now. There was a barge with a small crane on it most of the winter.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

There has been a small crew working there for a few months now. There was a barge with a small crane on it most of the winter.

Ah, good info. Sounds like they have been planning for the opening for a while. Good stuff.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by someone123

I haven't really dug into it but my first impression from reading so far is this is the wrong way to approach budgeting right now. This is a good time to spend on infrastructure and Cogswell in particular is somewhat disruptive, so this would have been an excellent time to begin work.

It's completely backward to put off a public works project when there's little traffic and growing unemployment and then restart it when the economic picks up again and there's more traffic and demand for labour.

Then on top of this there's the general fact that every little thing HRM does seems to take 20 years. According to LinkedIn the project director for Cogswell was hired nearly 5 years ago.

Right on point. Looks like the province is looking to spend some money on shovel-ready infrastructure projects to help get the economy going again. I'm thinking the city would have done well to have put this same kind of thinking behind Cogswell - it has to be done anyhow, so why not get it going when people are really needing to get back to work.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/covid-19-case-nova-scotia-may-27-1.5586619

$230M in infrastructure spending
McNeil announced new infrastructure spending of $230 million.

He said this money will go toward more than 200 shovel-ready projects, including highways, expansion of the gravel road program, expansion of bridges, green energy projects, school repairs, waterfronts, small option homes and provincial museum upgrades.

"These projects will support small and medium-sized construction companies across our province who will hire Nova Scotians to do that work," McNeil said.

McNeil said the investment would create "some 2,000 jobs this fiscal year." He said tenders are being issued immediately.

McNeil said the $230 million is in addition to the $1-billion capital plan that was announced in February.

[someone123]

Here's a map of developments in the North End:



I'll keep adding to it as I have time; I have probably missed or messed up a few sites. Yellow means in the planning stages somewhere while orange means under construction. My plan is to eventually add the names/projects for all of these sites plus select renderings.

Some of the numbers:

1 - Mi'kmaq Friendship Centre (Proposed)
2 - 5415 Cogswell (Excavation)
3 - 5426 Portland Place (Exterior Cladding) (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=234143)
4 - 2050 Gottingen (U/C - Floor 1) (Halifax Developments Blog - #2050Gottingen)
5 - 2165 Gottingen (Exterior Cladding) (Halifax Developments Blog - #2165Gottingen)
6 - 2172 Gottingen (Exterior Cladding) (Halifax Developments Blog - #2172Gottingen)
7 - NS Housing Trust development (Approved)
8 - 2267 Brunswick (Proposed)
9 - St. Pat's-Alexandra redevelopment area (Recently Sold by city to Jono Developments)
10 - NS Housing Trust development (Approved)
11 - Velo 2 (U/C - Floor 1)
12 - 2444 Agricola (Recently Demolished)
13 - Roberts & Maynard (Excavated but stalled since 2019)
14 - Victoria Hall redevelopment (Proposed)
15 - 2710 Agricola (Demolition Underway)
16 - Richmond Yards (Excavation but not approved)
17 - Halifax Streetcar District / Bloomfield School (Proposed)
18 - The Stackhouse (Approved)
19 - 5558 Bilby (U/C - Stalled since 2019)
20 - Camille Suites (Exterior Cladding)
21 - Agricola & Bilby (Phase 1 Completed) (Halifax Developments Blog - AgricolaBilby)
22 - The Elevation on Robie (Excavation)
23 - Lion's Head tavern redevelopment (Proposed)

[alps]

Thanks! It's good to see the big picture like this.

I wonder whatever happened to "The Drum" development at Cogswell & Rainnie Drive.

Also, I recall that "Spice" was supposed to have a twin building, but I haven't heard anything about that in a long time.

[someone123]

I wondered about the Drum too. I didn't include it because it seems inactive.

The Polycorp development is called Jazz. Last post about it was 2014: https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=179602&page=11

[alps]

Thanks! I'm curious what kind of impact all the ongoing developments will have on the population of the peninsula (63,210 in 2016).

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by someone123

Here's a map of developments in the North End:



I'll keep adding to it as I have time; I have probably missed or messed up a few sites. Yellow means in the planning stages somewhere while orange means under construction. My plan is to eventually add the names/projects for all of these sites plus select renderings.

Some of the numbers:

1 - Mi'kmaq Friendship Centre (Proposed)
2 - 5415 Cogswell (Excavation)
3 - 5426 Portland Place (Exterior Cladding) (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=234143)
4 - 2050 Gottingen (U/C - Floor 1) (Halifax Developments Blog - #2050Gottingen)
5 - 2165 Gottingen (Exterior Cladding) (Halifax Developments Blog - #2165Gottingen)
6 - 2172 Gottingen (Exterior Cladding) (Halifax Developments Blog - #2172Gottingen)
7 - NS Housing Trust development (Approved)
8 - 2267 Brunswick (Proposed)
9 - St. Pat's-Alexandra redevelopment area (Recently Sold by city to Jono Developments)
10 - NS Housing Trust development (Approved)
11 - Velo 2 (U/C - Floor 1)
12 - 2444 Agricola (Recently Demolished)
13 - Roberts & Maynard (Excavated but stalled since 2019)
14 - Victoria Hall redevelopment (Proposed)
15 - 2710 Agricola (Demolition Underway)
16 - Richmond Yards (Excavation but not approved)
17 - Halifax Streetcar District / Bloomfield School (Proposed)
18 - The Stackhouse (Approved)
19 - 5558 Bilby (U/C - Stalled since 2019)
20 - Camille Suites (Exterior Cladding)
21 - Agricola & Bilby (Phase 1 Completed) (Halifax Developments Blog - AgricolaBilby)
22 - The Elevation on Robie (Excavation)
23 - Lion's Head tavern redevelopment (Proposed)

I hope you don't mind I finished the list for you.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I hope you don't mind I finished the list for you.

Not at all. Thanks. I will do a new round of updates soon. Do you think there are any missing projects? It is particularly arbitrary in what proposed/planned projects are or aren't included (e.g. Jazz and the Drum didn't make the cut, but maybe they should).

I might post the SVG too so it can be updated by anybody.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by someone123

Not at all. Thanks. I will do a new round of updates soon. Do you think there are any missing projects? It is particularly arbitrary in what proposed/planned projects are or aren't included (e.g. Jazz and the Drum didn't make the cut, but maybe they should).

I might post the SVG too so it can be updated by anybody.

I only spot three if you want to add them;

Gottingen & Bilby (Halifax Case #22523) - this is to the right and just below #18. Covers the parking lot, commercial building on Gottingen and a vacant house on Bilby.

Macara Presidio - This is to the immediate right of the project above. It has frontage on Gottingen and Macara Street. Approved but no recent updates.

5555 Almon Street - This is to the immediate left of #19. I think it is approved but there hasn't been any news in years.

[IanWatson]

Was Jazz supposed to be on that vacant lot next to Spice? If so, I'm pretty sure it got scuttled when it was discovered the lot is actually parkland.

[Northend Guy]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I only spot three if you want to add them;

Gottingen & Bilby (Halifax Case #22523) - this is to the right and just below #18. Covers the parking lot, commercial building on Gottingen and a vacant house on Bilby.

Macara Presidio - This is to the immediate right of the project above. It has frontage on Gottingen and Macara Street. Approved but no recent updates.

5555 Almon Street - This is to the immediate left of #19. I think it is approved but there hasn't been any news in years.

Just a follow up on 5555 Almon, I believe a permit application just went in for it.

[bluenoser]

Originally Posted by someone123

Here's a map of developments in the North End:

Excellent map; thanks for putting this together!

[mleblanc]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

Was Jazz supposed to be on that vacant lot next to Spice? If so, I'm pretty sure it got scuttled when it was discovered the lot is actually parkland.

Yes! That is true. From the Jazz thread:

"This one is being delayed for about a year because of a conflict between HRM and Polycorp. According to the allnovascotia.com, Polycorp bought the land with the understanding that the city would allow construction but now the city is saying that it must remain as green space. However, Polycorp has a letter from the HRM Development Services office stating that the land was clear for development. Polycorp has filed an appeal with the NS Utility and Review Board. Apparently Polycorp is so confident of winning the appeal that they plan to start preselling units in the 5 storey, 62 unit Jazz condo, without a building permit.

It also states that all but one unit in the Spice condo has been sold.

-fenwick16 (RIP)

Later on, the city decided against it:

Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ View Post
City nixes condo project
Developer paid $1 million for lot, only to learn it’s for a playground
By CHRIS LAMBIE Business Editor
Tue. Mar 30 - 4:53 AM

Peter Polley is sitting on a very expensive Halifax playground but he’s not having any fun.

The developer wants to build a $15-million, 63-unit condominium project on Barrington Street. He paid more than $1 million for the lot last April after performing several checks to make sure it was zoned for high-density development.

"One of the fundamental rules in real estate is that important agreements must be registered so that new property owners are made aware of them," said Polley, president of Polycorp Properties Inc.

But he said a development officer with the city recently ruled the project, dubbed Jazz Condominiums, could not go ahead because the land is supposed to be a playground for the adjacent Ocean Towers highrise on Brunswick Street.

"This is something you would literally see in some banana republic where they have no respect for property rights," Polley said Monday.

He believes the old documents in question that stipulate the land must be a playground didn’t come to light until after he bought the vacant lot.

"It just got buried in the archives and they lost track of it," Polley said of the city.

He’s now appealing the Halifax Regional Municipality’s decision refusing his condo development to the Utility and Review Board.

"HRM confirmed by letter dated Feb. 19, 2009, that the property is zoned multiple dwelling zone (R-3) and that HRM had no records on file respecting the authorized (legal) use of the property. Polycorp Properties Inc. relied upon this letter in completing the transaction to acquire the property," say documents the developer filed with the board.

Mary Ellen Donovan, director of legal services for the municipality, refused to discuss the case Monday.

"The normal position of the city with respect to any litigation is that the matter is before the courts and it’s not appropriate for us to comment," Donovan said. "The UARB falls into that same category."

Polley’s expecting a "no-holds-barred battle" from the city that will be expensive for him to fight.

"Based on the aggressive position that we’ve seen so far, we could chew through $100,000 here relatively quickly," he said.

"But the main thing is it’s more the delay in getting in the ground than the cost. I’m more concerned about the delay."

He also intends to take the Jazz Condos case to Nova Scotia Supreme Court this week.

"We’re looking for a court order to say that the old agreement is not binding on us and that the city cannot try to enforce it using their zoning power," he said.

Polley bought the empty lot from DDP-Brunswick Ltd. That company is related to Mississ-auga, Ont.-based TransGlobe Property Management Services Ltd., which owns the adjacent Ocean Towers.

But TransGlobe didn’t build the towers and they’ve been owned by several entities since they went up 40 years ago.

"For all I know, they didn’t know," Polley said of the playground stipulation.

"We don’t want to sue anybody. We just want to be able to build our building."

Polycorp built the nearby 85-unit Spice Condominiums and the Mont Blanc, which consists of almost 200 apartments and townhouses on Mont Blanc Terrace. It is also working on a 76-house development called Ravenscraig at Fleming Park.

"I’m just frustrated from the point of view of nobody at the city is looking at this saying, ‘How can we make this happen? This is a good developer. Let’s solve the problem here,’ " Polley said.

( [email protected] )

[Dmajackson]

^You know the post is old when it has my old name attached to it.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

^You know the post is old when it has my old name attached to it.

You know it is old when the article refers to Mary Ellen Donovan as HRM director of legal services solicitor; she has been gone at least 5 years.

[alps]

Thanks for the reminder re. Jazz. I emailed Polycorp to ask about the current status. They replied:

This project is still in the works. It took 26 months to get the permit, but we ultimately received it. However, that caused us to miss the time slot scheduled to complete this project and we had to adjust our plans and move on to other projects which has kept us very busy since then. Unfortunately, we lost that production time and can never get that time back.

Sounds like it's still in the pipeline, but they have been kept busy with the Q Lofts and Long Lake Village projects.

[Keith P.]

A sad example of HRM's runaway planning dept. bureaucracy doing harm while being unchecked by senior management or Council.