[Halifax] 5555 Almon (2811 Isleville) | 32 M | 11 FL | U/C

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I'd rather not live in the kind of city where people like this are encouraged to build their own enclaves near key employment areas. There are plenty of "rich people" who don't shudder at the thought of living in the same building as a "poor person" and frankly I'd rather the city attract people like this than the type who do shudder.

Halifax is actually small and homogeneous enough that I could see the blended affordable housing working out well. Alternatively, developers could just hand over cash to the city and the fund could be used to subsidize other projects. If this is even an issue. I'm guessing that people who have hangups about living near others with lower incomes probably don't gravitate toward property in the North End. I'm willing to bet that this sort of diversity is considered a plus by some of the more affluent people living on the peninsula.

In larger cities mixed developments can be problematic because there really are large areas full of $500K condos where property is expensive everywhere (although even in Manhattan, the high end areas are only a few subway stops away from cheaper areas; SF is probably worse). People living in affordable housing in these areas often don't have convenient access to goods and services they can afford. Once they get them, a lot of people in affordable housing are also trapped where they are because they can't get the same deal on housing anywhere else. San Francisco is terrible for this in that they have subsidies tied to tenancy in one place. California also subsidizes homeowners in a similar way, resetting assessments when you sell, and discouraging people from moving up to nicer properties. It's easy to create well-intentioned affordable housing strategies that turn out badly in practice. Most of the suggested policies fail.

[MeEtc]

Fencing up and demolition has started on 5543-5549-5555 Almon. Unsure if there's a thread for this site yet

[Dmajackson]

Excavation has begun so this is now "Under Construction".


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Jonovision]

I'm excited for this one. It always had a unique design. Hope it turns out alright though with decent materials.

[eastcoastal]

Am I imagining that I heard somewhere that the developer was going to change this from residential to a hotel project... inspired by the Muir (but in the north end.... sooo, ok?), but without a hotel partner or design work done yet?

[Dmajackson]

Construction barriers are going up. Looks like both adjacent sidewalks will be closed until the project is substantially complete.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Dmajackson]

Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

20220720_134519 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20220720_134543_HDR by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

[fatscat]

Sure is a nice hole so far.

[Dmajackson]

Crane base is in.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

Looks like there's some heavy lifting going on here this morning. I saw no evidence of crane sections but I couldn't see down into the hole.

20221128_090553 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20221128_091117_HDR by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

[kph06]

Originally Posted by Arrdeeharharharbour

Looks like there's some heavy lifting going on here this morning. I saw no evidence of crane sections but I couldn't see down into the hole.

20221128_090553 by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

20221128_091117_HDR by AJ Forsythe, on Flickr

Looks like the mobile crane is adding counterweight to itself for the lift. That crane base has been in place for a while. Once the mobile crane is setup, the tower crane sections will arrive on flat bed.

[RoshanMcG]

I was trying to find information on this development and stumbled upon this document from 2020, and it seems to have a drastically different rendering than previously posted.

[RoshanMcG]

[kijoma]

Originally Posted by RoshanMcG

I was trying to find information on this development and stumbled upon this document from 2020, and it seems to have a drastically different rendering than previously posted.

So it's actually going to be 11 stories rather than 7? Seems weird this place doesn't even have a name and we know so little about it.

[Dmajackson]

I have solved the mystery ... well sort of!

Building Permit issued in 2021:

New Building - Issued - 2811 ISLEVILLE ST, HALIFAX - $20'000'000 - Dwelling - Multiple Units - 72 Units - 11 Floors - MIXED-USE 70 ROOM HOTEL AND COMMERCIAL

So this was before I tracked building permits. What happened is the original development agreement from 2016 was approved but expired when construction didn't commence within 5 years. The zoning on the lands before Centre Plan was enacted was commercial which would allow a larger as-of-right building for those uses. The developer must of gotten approval for the hotel just in time. The current zoning only allows a 20m max height.

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

Am I imagining that I heard somewhere that the developer was going to change this from residential to a hotel project... inspired by the Muir (but in the north end.... sooo, ok?), but without a hotel partner or design work done yet?

It may of taken 21 months to reply but yes EastCoastal the rumours are true and this will be a hotel.

[kijoma]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I have solved the mystery ... well sort of!

Building Permit issued in 2021:

New Building - Issued - 2811 ISLEVILLE ST, HALIFAX - $20'000'000 - Dwelling - Multiple Units - 72 Units - 11 Floors - MIXED-USE 70 ROOM HOTEL AND COMMERCIAL

So this was before I tracked building permits. What happened is the original development agreement from 2016 was approved but expired when construction didn't commence within 5 years. The zoning on the lands before Centre Plan was enacted was commercial which would allow a larger as-of-right building for those uses. The developer must of gotten approval for the hotel just in time. The current zoning only allows a 20m max height.



It may of taken 21 months to reply but yes EastCoastal the rumours are true and this will be a hotel.

Interesting! That's potentially two hotels a block apart if the 10-storey one on Bilby happens.

[Keith P.]

One can only wonder if these are both following the Prince Albert Rd "as of right" loophole to get more height during construction and then pivot to residential as it nears completion. Bilby and Isleville sts are hardly desirable hotel locations.

[egb]

I imagine in 5-10 years as Robie/Young gets more built out and the BRT line is in place (it feels reasonable to assume that'll happen), you'll see a 'midtown' hotel or two but 21 stories worth of hotel around Isleville/Bilby feels like a lot right now. Who knows!

On another note, it feels like there isn't much in the works in this area now that Richmond Yards is nearing completion. Some small stuff to be sure but nothing large.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by egb

On another note, it feels like there isn't much in the works in this area now that Richmond Yards is nearing completion. Some small stuff to be sure but nothing large.

I wonder if the pipeline of new projects in Halifax is slowing down due to interest rates.

All that aside there's huge development potential along Robie north of Almon. FWIW if it were up to me I would divide that block into pieces similar to the path going through Richmond Yards and would put in something taller with some setback from Robie. I would leave it up to developers to figure out what is economical but 40-50 storeys would not be unreasonable.