[Halifax] Choice Hotels (15 Lakelands Blvd) | ? m | 16 fl | Completed

[Kittle]

Originally Posted by Good Baklava

It may be premature of me to say this but so far it’s looking pretty sad.

I agree with you 100%. Out of all the buildings that have varied from their rendering, this one is probably the worst from what we have so far.

[NS Bayman]

Originally Posted by Metalsales

This will only be five floors and an addition to the existing. Mostly a new restaurant, convention room, etc

While not five floors, Metasales was close by predicting that the final product would be very little like the original rendering (April 2018).

Unfortunately I have to drive by this ivory tower every time I come into the city. I suspect that the project lost a lot of money somewhere along the line due to construction delays. I remember that nothing was done at this site for a long time after it was initially excavated.

If the drab Canadiana restaurant was any indicator, I guess the style of this tower meets my expectations.

[DigitalNinja]

How do companies apply for a construction permit and then not build to specifications? I would assume that a permit for 28fl was taken out for this site?

Same question would go for the 32fl Quinpool rd development if anything comes of that one...

[Saul Goode]

Nice! Looks like cheap-ass 1970s public housing.

[Dartguard]

Originally Posted by NS Bayman

While not five floors, Metasales was close by predicting that the final product would be very little like the original rendering (April 2018).

Unfortunately I have to drive by this ivory tower every time I come into the city. I suspect that the project lost a lot of money somewhere along the line due to construction delays. I remember that nothing was done at this site for a long time after it was initially excavated.

If the drab Canadiana restaurant was any indicator, I guess the style of this tower meets my expectations.

The owner of that restaurant has had some recent serious Federal Tax trouble . I imagine resources were directed to the recent CRA ruling.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by DigitalNinja

How do companies apply for a construction permit and then not build to specifications? I would assume that a permit for 28fl was taken out for this site?

Same question would go for the 32fl Quinpool rd development if anything comes of that one...

Companies do have to build according to the construction permit. These can be altered after being approved but in this case the permit details was never made public so we had no idea the scale of the project until the rendering was made public.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Companies do have to build according to the construction permit. These can be altered after being approved but in this case the permit details was never made public so we had no idea the scale of the project until the rendering was made public.

My understanding is that will soon change though. HRM is rolling out a new online platform that will allow anyone to access all permits for any given site.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

My understanding is that will soon change though. HRM is rolling out a new online platform that will allow anyone to access all permits for any given site.

That is great. It is pretty opaque right now. Ideally there would be a map view that shows associated permits.

I realize that sharing info for enthusiasts on the internet is not the primary goal for the municipality but this would be good for residents too.

When I lived there, I used to find it somewhat frustrating how everything was based on the neighbourhood people lived in (the councillors only wanted to hear from their constituents, there were community councils that made decisions, and the notices would be paper letters sent in a geographical area). Many people spend time in areas they don't live in, for example if they work or go to school somewhere, and lots of places have regional significance.

There are those horror stories about developers demolishing buildings that still have tenants in them which take the cake for poor information and bad planning.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

My understanding is that will soon change though. HRM is rolling out a new online platform that will allow anyone to access all permits for any given site.

Halifax Building Permits and Explore HRM (with the building permit layer turned on) used together provide this information nowadays. It's my go-to for information and its updated weekly.

Unfortunately the permit for this project is only on Explore HRM which does not state the # of floors. This is what its says for this site;

Application #: 173492
Issued Date (d m y): 24 07 2019
Declared Value: 25688800
Existing Dwelling Units: 0
Total End Units: 0
Civic Number: 15
Street Name: LAKELANDS
Street Type: BLVD
Community: HALIFAX
PID: 40619280
Activity Type: CONSTRUCT COMMERCIAL BUILDING

[Franco401]

Originally Posted by Saul Goode

Nice! Looks like cheap-ass 1970s public housing.

It looks considerably worse than that.

[mleblanc]

This is definitely NOT one of my "I told you so" moments. I'm not happy to be right about this being topped out. It's amazing how so much can go wrong in just a week of construction...

I'd love to see some council opinions on this. I guess the renderings were just for show?

[Saul Goode]

Originally Posted by mleblanc

I'd love to see some council opinions on this. I guess the renderings were just for show?

Truly! Talk about bait and switch...

[Good Baklava]

Originally Posted by Franco401

It looks considerably worse than that.

Haha is this part of the latest Rapid Housing Initiative?

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by mleblanc

I'd love to see some council opinions on this. I guess the renderings were just for show?

This was as of right so no council was involved in this development.

Would still be interesting to hear what they had to say though or if they were even aware of it.

[OldDartmouthMark]

I find it disappointing as well. But even more interesting is the letdown experienced here due to an illustration on a placard that predicted a world-class appearing tower in Bayers Lake park. It seemed too good to be true at the time, and in the long run it proved to be just that.

Meanwhile, if they had not posted that illustration, nobody would have batted an eye at it...

[Dmajackson]

I've fixed the thread title to match reality.


Halifax Developments Blog (Photo by David Jackson)

[kzt79]

Word on the street is blasting costs were unexpected and way over budget. Might explain the brutal scaling down of this project.

[mleblanc]

Originally Posted by kzt79

Word on the street is blasting costs were unexpected and way over budget. Might explain the brutal scaling down of this project.

What kind of respectable developer would plan a 28 storey hotel before not doing engineering assessments on the rock they are going to be building on? I'm still amazed at how this was allowed to happen..

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by mleblanc

What kind of respectable developer would plan a 28 storey hotel before not doing engineering assessments on the rock they are going to be building on? I'm still amazed at how this was allowed to happen..

Especially considering that nearly all large developments in the city require some form of blasting.

[ILoveHalifax]

Originally Posted by mleblanc

What kind of respectable developer would plan a 28 storey hotel before not doing engineering assessments on the rock they are going to be building on? I'm still amazed at how this was allowed to happen..

I used to travel a lot a while back and you could always count on Choice to be cheaply built, poor quality and things broken or low water pressure, etc. Conversely Marriot was always well built, everything working and top notch