Posted Feb 5, 2008, 12:44 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 412
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Quote:
Project strives to connect
Parts of city need to be sewn back together, developer says
RACHEL MENDLESON
Joseph Metlege wasn't alive when continuous residential neighbourhoods connected north-end Halifax with downtown.
But the 25-year-old second-generation developer says his goal with the 18-storey, $50-million, multi-use development he's planning for the Trinity Anglican Church site is to re-knit the disparate parts of the city.
"We have a very segregated community right now ... So this location is a perfect gateway to sew the north end into the downtown," said the president of Jono Developments Ltd.
Metlege and his partner on the project, engineer Norman Nahas, recently obtained a building permit from HRM for the 55,000-square-foot site, located on Cogswell Street, just off the Interchange.
The plan involves commercial uses on the ground floor and a combination of apartment units and either hotel or office space above.
"We want to create a pedestrian-friendly environment," Metlege said.
As an as-of-right development, the proposal is exempt from the development approvals process that has kept projects such as the Twisted Sisters on hold for years.
The church selected Jono from a group of developers that answered the call for proposals last year.
In exchange for the land, they are building a new church for the congregation in the new Mount Royale subdivision in Clayton Park West.
Excited about relocation
Rev. Stephen Ashton says he's "very excited" about the relocation, which has been in the works for more than a decade.
The church that currently sits on the site dates back to the 1920s. But he says the congregation has been shrinking since the construction of Scotia Square.
"Our technical parish basically disappeared under a development," he said.
Incidentally, Metlege says monolithic, concrete buildings have inspired him to show Halifax that large projects don't have to be eyesores.
"Instead of pointing at the Fenwick Towers and saying, 'Look how ugly tall buildings are,' now people will be able to say, 'Look at this project, and look how beautiful we can make projects in Halifax,'" he said.
Metlege says his project is shaped by the yet-to-be approved recommendations of HRM by Design, the regional centre urban design study.
Although he hasn't seen the most recent plans, Fillmore says prioritizing pedestrians and providing an appropriate transition to the north end are key concepts.
"They're building a building that's going to be there for a long time. It's important for it to be the right building at the street," Fillmore said.
Metlege says a feasibility study, which he expects to be complete by summer, will finalize his plans.
rmendleson@hfxnews.ca
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http://www.hfxnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=105324&sc=89
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