[Halifax] Richmond Yards | 103-47-41-40-32 m | 31-13-12-10-8 fl | U/C

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

From what I can gather from visiting the site regularly is the entire below grade area is under construction. The bulk of the activity has been facing Almon Street but the exterior foundation wall is up along the western border and they're about half way down the St. Albans Street frontage. The new crane is located near the southeast corner (St Albans at King). It's probably to help get the foundation wall completed this summer.

They do only have a construction permit for the twelve storey building right now. The site plan on Halifax Planning's website is outdated but it is mostly accurate for what is going on right now. The main difference seems to be instead of having a "L"-shaped 27 storey tower they have shrunk the floorplate into a square shape while adding height to 30 storeys and pushed it against and slightly east on Almon Street. This maneuver left room for the 12-storey building that is now under construction along Almon Street. There will be a narrow gap between the 12-storey and the 30-storey. This is all in the newest rendering that has already been posted in this thread. I think in the end the two buildings will have roughly the same overall square footage of the tower shown on the planning website.

The full sub-grade for building "D" is complete. This is a 10-storey building and I presume this will be the second building to get built.

Much appreciated. Thanks for the update.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

From what I can gather from visiting the site regularly is the entire below grade area is under construction. The bulk of the activity has been facing Almon Street but the exterior foundation wall is up along the western border and they're about half way down the St. Albans Street frontage. The new crane is located near the southeast corner (St Albans at King). It's probably to help get the foundation wall completed this summer.

They do only have a construction permit for the twelve storey building right now. The site plan on Halifax Planning's website is outdated but it is mostly accurate for what is going on right now. The main difference seems to be instead of having a "L"-shaped 27 storey tower they have shrunk the floorplate into a square shape while adding height to 30 storeys and pushed it against and slightly east on Almon Street. This maneuver left room for the 12-storey building that is now under construction along Almon Street. There will be a narrow gap between the 12-storey and the 30-storey. This is all in the newest rendering that has already been posted in this thread. I think in the end the two buildings will have roughly the same overall square footage of the tower shown on the planning website.

The full sub-grade for building "D" is complete. This is a 10-storey building and I presume this will be the second building to get built.

I didn't think there was a change to the taller building. It was just clever angles used in the rendering. My impression of it was that it was always like two square buildings joined on the corner to a square core shaft. Could be wrong though. I hope I am wrong. I always thought that design was a bit too bulky for a tower of that height.

[Dmajackson]

From the Almon Street frontage. I believe the rounded columns are the exterior supports for the building overhang above.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[Dmajackson]

So apparently the site plan hasn't changed and somehow Westwood is working on the 30-storey building above ground with a permit only for a 12-storey building.

Case 210330 Proposed Development Agreement

Halifax's current tallest building is The Vuze (Fenwick) which is 98 metres. So if this gets built and isn't beat by King's Wharf this will be the new tallest in Atlantic Canada at 103.3 metres.

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

So apparently the site plan hasn't changed and somehow Westwood is working on the 30-storey building above ground with a permit only for a 12-storey building.

Well, that is a bit of a head-scratcher.

I did note this passage in the staff report:

"The applicant proposes to construct a large building with five towers above ground...When assessed using the building code, the proposal encompasses one building as there is a shared parking garage that runs underneath all of the Building Elements [i.e., each of the five towers]."

If, as the report states, the building code considers this project to be one building, does that mean that only one permit is required?

But that leads me to ask next: if this project (this "one building"), as presently conceived, requires a development agreement, how can a permit have been issued already, before the agreement is signed? And, is a copy of the permit easily accessible?

Just wondering.

Oh, also, given the shameful performance of community councils in the recent Cresco (Hogan Court) and Hatchet Lake Plaza cases, I'll be really interested to see how the Halifax and West Community Council treats its review of the development agreement in this much larger, higher-profile and more consequential development. History doesn't give much cause for hope.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I dunno, maybe if it's all considered to be one building, then 5 six-storey towers = 30 storeys?

I also have zero planning education (obviously), and actually little interest in it except for how it affects the lived experience of the average citizen... but that's not really relevant to the topic, I suppose...

[mleblanc]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I dunno, maybe if it's all considered to be one building, then 5 six-storey towers = 30 storeys?

I also have zero planning education (obviously), and actually little interest in it except for how it affects the lived experience of the average citizen... but that's not really relevant to the topic, I suppose...

The only thing affecting the average citizen is the council wasting time not approving these developments. We have developers offering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate development but how many lots are sitting empty currently? The housing crisis can at least be helped by addressing demand.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by mleblanc

The only thing affecting the average citizen is the council wasting time not approving these developments. We have developers offering hundreds of millions of dollars worth of real estate development but how many lots are sitting empty currently? The housing crisis can at least be helped by addressing demand.

I agree. It is a concern. Sounds like it's time for citizens to be getting after their councillors and asking for answers.

[someone123]

Don't think I've seen this rendering before:


Source

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I agree. It is a concern. Sounds like it's time for citizens to be getting after their councillors and asking for answers.

It seems like many if not most people completely lack any understanding of basic economic concepts such as supply and demand.

It’s especially entertaining when the very same people who work so hard to block any and all development turn around and cry about housing prices. Far as I’m concerned, this could be five 30 story buildings!

[someone123]

Originally Posted by kzt79

It’s especially entertaining when the very same people who work so hard to block any and all development turn around and cry about housing prices. Far as I’m concerned, this could be five 30 story buildings!

Bit of a tangent but interesting:

https://marginalrevolution.com/margi...al-chairs.html

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by kzt79

Far as I’m concerned, this could be five 30 story buildings!

Me too!

[kzt79]

Originally Posted by someone123

Bit of a tangent but interesting:

https://marginalrevolution.com/margi...al-chairs.html

Nice piece, and directly relevant IMO.

Supply and demand. The options are to (1) increase supply by allowing the market to function or (2) decrease demand, by making Halifax a less attractive place to live.

Over time the balance will work out one way or the other. Sucks for those being squeezed today though.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by kzt79

Nice piece, and directly relevant IMO.

Supply and demand. The options are to (1) increase supply by allowing the market to function or (2) decrease demand, by making Halifax a less attractive place to live.

Over time the balance will work out one way or the other. Sucks for those being squeezed today though.

I was encouraged by this photo posted by someone123 earlier this week - all the cranes being captured in one photo indicates we are heading in the right direction.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by kzt79

Supply and demand. The options are to (1) increase supply by allowing the market to function or (2) decrease demand, by making Halifax a less attractive place to live.

If you don't grow the upper end of the market, but the demand grows at the upper end, the richest people move farther and farther down the property ladder. Eventually what used to be basic starter homes and small condos become seen as "housing for the rich", people with average incomes end up in precarious rentals, and the low end ends up in social housing or homeless. That's where we are around here. A lot of people move away and we have more and more people living in tents (I see them every time I go for a walk now; we didn't have them in this area a couple years ago). A lot of people say it's not so bad because rich people still want to move here. Even the rich have to deal indirectly with the unnecessary social problems inherent to homelessness and precarious housing.

I think there's also some market craziness due to the pandemic that will even out in the long run, but Halifax is likely to need a lot of construction in years to come simply because of the population growth.

[Good Baklava]

Neat, the new housing is welcome.

One point about rental buildings is how they aren’t prone to being empty investor properties.

I think the question would be are there really that many older units available in the city, and if so where are they? Maybe those just managing to live on the peninsula today move out to Albro Lake and Fairview in the next 5 years, maybe you think that’s the natural way S&D works.

[someone123]

Construction tends to turn today's high end unit into tomorrow's midrange unit and today's midrange unit into tomorrow's low end unit. Summer Gardens and Garden Crest for example were at the high end at one point but I don't think they have the same level of amenities as Curve and Pavilion. I wonder where Parc Vic was originally. My impression is that Spring Garden Terrace was high end. Many of these buildings are still more expensive than average because of location but the transition can be analogous to $3,000 a month vs. $2,000 a month today.

Around here the investor condo craze has at times encouraged developers to go condo instead of building apartments. It's normally pretty easy to make the switch between those based on market conditions. Traditionally Halifax had relatively weak condo demand relative to rental but that could change.

[Good Baklava]

Originally Posted by someone123

Construction tends to turn today's high end unit into tomorrow's midrange unit and today's midrange unit into tomorrow's low end unit.

Unless you pull a Vuze

I picture more downtown buildings being repositioned on the market in the future. I think a problem arises when most older / lower quality buildings are clustered at the outskirts of the city.

[someone123]

That is the "tends" part. Increased construction and new supply will generally lower prices relative to what they otherwise would have been but there are other factors too, like city growth making inner areas more desirable.

I dunno where Vuze rents will land but they don't really seem that outlandish for the tallest building in the nicest part of town of a metro of half a million or so.

In some ways Halifax is like the anti-Vancouver. Around here we have people saying that it's just obvious that condos should hit Hong Kong level prices because this city is so amazing, and they do not question the economic fundamentals. In Halifax the more noticeable group is those who appear to feel like something must be off if they can't afford just about whatever rental unit they want in the city. Stratification is pretty natural in a medium sized regional hub city. It was less noticeable around 1990-2010 because the economy was weak. The more important question is if there are reasonable options for everyone, and if there aren't then market rate construction is likely to be a big part of the solution.

[Good Baklava]

Originally Posted by someone123

I dunno where Vuze rents will land but they don't really seem that outlandish for the tallest building in the nicest part of town of a metro of half a million or so.

In some ways Halifax is like the anti-Vancouver. Around here we have people saying that it's just obvious that condos should hit Hong Kong level prices because this city is so amazing, and they do not question the economic fundamentals. In Halifax the more noticeable group is those who appear to feel like something must be off if they can't afford just about whatever rental unit they want in the city. Stratification is pretty natural in a medium sized regional hub city. It was less noticeable around 1990-2010 because the economy was weak.

I thought the Vuze was a good example since GB posted it made more fiscal sense to rent from the brand new George.

I don’t think many people expect to be able to rent from any building, but do hope they’re able to remain in place. There are irrational landlords who charge below the potential market value but they are a rare breed. I feel many fear the creep of new luxury units is a sign of future rent hikes in their previously affordable units, and not so much about anyone wanting to live in any new building. (Although perhaps that’s more about correlation than causality)

While the polarization of neighbourhood incomes has been standard across most cities, it’s generally something that tries to get reversed or avoided. A lot of the larger REITs have a two-faced nature, where buildings in a less desirable neighbourhood don’t get a lot of necessary maintenance even with rent hikes, while in prime neighbourhoods they can be upgraded and repositioned on the market.