Quote:
Originally Posted by someone456
Is PolyCorp really getting the screw from HRM, or is this a situation of a business not completing their due-diligence?
Most of the commuters that watched the construction of the nearby Spice Condos (another PolyCorp development) drag on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on .......... - well, you get my drift; If a development company can't hire the appropriate resources to complete a simple little multi-storey apartment bdlg in less than 4 years, what type of legal resources are they engaging to complete their due-diligence investigations!
And good luck on LEED Platinum - they will need it!
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Someone456-
It appears that you do not understand the overall magnitude of developing "a simple little multi-story building". The adjacent Spice Condos complex is 85 units. That ranks it as one of the larger multi-unit residential building complex built in Metro Halifax in recent years. Few buildings exceed 100 units. Most are less than 60. Construction started summer 2006...with no pre-sales. This is unheard off in any market in Canada. Polycorp started with 3 or 4 "Moes" as you call them...
The building had people living in it in June 2008.... less than two years after starting with a "skeleton crew". Most builders "pre-sell" units for one to 2 years before they start construction, then take two years to build the building, followed by a year (or tow or three) of sitting on unsold inventory. The Spice project now has one unit left...
Anybody that thinks that these large buildings can just be "thrown up" doesn't understand the business. The Spice Condos building is built like a fort... it has solid concrete walls all the way around the outside (Insulated Concrete Forms), and concrete walls between every units... nobody has ever built a building like that here... plus radiant in-floor heating in a separate concrete pour on top of a rubber matt for superior soundproofing (OK - I'm doing a bit of advertising here...) ... it all takes time ... get the point ??????
I can easily give you many, many examples of developers that go out and get the top notch construction managers (that don''t use Moes) that can pound a building up in 12-16 months... but they would have had to wait 2 years to start to get their pre-sales, versus Polycorp having the guts to start with no pre-sales... and then many of them go bankrupt before the building is finished.
Let's us Armoury Square as a comparison / example. It was built by one of the largest contractors in Canada... a firm that specializes in large scale multi-unit residential construction in major Canadian markets. They pounded it up real fast... oh... forgot to mention... I think that they actually started to pre-sell units in approx late 2004... and they're now advertising approx. 68% sold now.... and they're a large national contractor. Who's having the last laugh now ??? Polycorp and the Moes...
If you're going to post comments on line, you better make sure that you have your facts correct... cause we're watching you...
Peter Polley
Polycorp Group of Companies
Proud builder - Spice Condos and future builder of Jazz Condos