[Halifax] NFB Building | 15 m | 7 fl | U/C

[Ziobrop]

front door was ajar - stuck the phone in and.. Progress.

[teddifax]

I guess we have to ask what are they NOT doing, as progress, if you can call it that, is so bad, calling it a snail's pace would be an insult to a snail!

[Keith P.]

Make a date... with a Cat D8!!

[curnhalio]

Well, in five months they excavated a hole and built part of what looks like the frame to a platform of some sort . The fact they have to keep that crumbled facade up must be hindering progress to some degree, Moes or otherwise.

[Drybrain]

I wish it was going faster, but they're working in really tight quarters there, which probably limits their on-site manpower and machinery. Plus, yeah, they have to be careful not to smash a hole in the facade.

I think most people who walk by on a regular basis have no idea anything is happening in there. It'll probably take a lot of people by surprise when it starts to more visibly come together.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

I wish it was going faster, but they're working in really tight quarters there, which probably limits their on-site manpower and machinery. Plus, yeah, they have to be careful not to smash a hole in the facade.

I think most people who walk by on a regular basis have no idea anything is happening in there. It'll probably take a lot of people by surprise when it starts to more visibly come together.

There's a trade-off between cost, quality, and speed here, like with anything else. I suspect the smaller developers often try to save money by taking their time, not paying overtime, not bringing in special equipment, etc. A project like this is different from, say, the Nova Centre, where the developer is on a fairly strict time limit. We have also seen a lot of brownfield projects where the site prep and foundation work has taken a lot more time than construction of upper floors and interior work.

Despite the slowness I think this is one of the more exciting projects downtown, and it shows how the area is improving. That site has sat empty for a long time.

[fenwick16]

Thanks for going above and beyond to get this picture Ziobrop. Although the progress is slow, we no longer have to guess at what is happening inside.

They have made a bit of progress since this screen capture - https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/92...910/9Kw6qp.jpg - from December 2015 (source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM_vee0Tnas). Maybe now that the excavation is complete and the basement is nearing completion, the visible progress will accelerate.

I wonder how they are dealing with the green mold on the back wall?

[Drybrain]

The door was wide open this morning, and there was a concrete mixer out front. Looks like they were getting ready to pour the foundation.

I have a feeling like all that lengthy prep work was prelude to this, and well really see this thing take shape more quickly over the spring and summer.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I'm wondering if there was some kind of archaeological process going on during excavation that may have slowed down the initial progress, given the age of the site and the fact that it hadn't been unearthed in over a century.

[OldDartmouthMark]

This article on the CBC website explains what's going on there:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-s...tion-1.3562051

[fenwick16]

Does anyone have a recent picture of the progress. The picture in the CBC story on May 2, 2016 seems to indicate little progress over the past few months but maybe it is an old picture.

Even a description of the progress would be appreciated.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Does anyone have a recent picture of the progress. The picture in the CBC story on May 2, 2016 seems to indicate little progress over the past few months but maybe it is an old picture.

Even a description of the progress would be appreciated.

Most of the progress is on the interior (foundation, building skeleton, etc).

Visible facade work will probably come late in the process.

[Keith P.]

The Five Guys Named Moe doing the work on this will likely be finished sometime in 2025.

[teddifax]

That fast?

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

Does anyone have a recent picture of the progress. The picture in the CBC story on May 2, 2016 seems to indicate little progress over the past few months but maybe it is an old picture.

Even a description of the progress would be appreciated.

as of last week there appears to be foundation wall in place, but nothing yet above grade.

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

as of last week there appears to be foundation wall in place, but nothing yet above grade.

Thanks for the update. Maybe now that the excavation and foundation wall is done it will start moving more quickly.

[someone123]

Here's a picture from around Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if there have been any visible changes. I was hoping it would be farther along by that time.

[kph06]

Originally Posted by someone123

Here's a picture from around Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if there have been any visible changes. I was hoping it would be farther along by that time.

The water and sewer servicing was completed at the time of the photo, so at least that's a good sign it's not dead in the water. It's a very awkward site to work on.

[ScovaNotian]

It's hard to argue that what is proposed is worse than what is there, but I fear that squeezing in that extra floor is going to make this much less attractive than what it could be.

[Keith P.]

Such a ridiculously bad decision back in the early '90s by Halifax council to preserve what was left of the burned-out facade. It has been an albatross around the neck of Barrington St for nearly 3 decades, and likely whatever ultimately comes out of this will not change that very much.