[Halifax] Young & Windsor | 24-18-5 fl | ? m | Proposed

[Keith P.]

The cladding is somewhat reminiscent of these apartments recently built near Hwy 118 in Dartmouth:

[Jonovision]

That's a good point Keith, and I think it worked really well in this case.

[Dmajackson]

All of the plans and renderings are available via the D7&8PAC agenda for next week;

D7&8PAC Agenda - November 23rd, 2015

The more I see of this proposal he more I like it

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by fenwick16

It is an interesting design. I hope that it will be toned down a bit though.

Why tone it down? I think the problem is the lacklustre development we usually see.

I hope The Maple gets built to spec.

[Jstaleness]

This one is pretty exciting to me. Although similar it seems this should look better than the 2 along the 118.

[portapetey]

Has anyone heard anything about this one lately?

The Young St area is really changing. Although they are only two mid-rise buildings, Point North and Monaghan Square are really making an impression.

[worldlyhaligonian]

This article seems to indicate that the amendments were approved?
http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/...rd-development

[worldlyhaligonian]

I realized the content was linked directly: http://www.halifax.ca/Commcoun/west/...item13.1.6.pdf

What are the steps after approval of amendments?

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I realized the content was linked directly: http://www.halifax.ca/Commcoun/west/...item13.1.6.pdf

What are the steps after approval of amendments?

In this case it's an MPS amendment; only Regional Council can make those. So the amendments are not actually approved. Community Council made a positive recommendation to Regional Council. Now it's up to Regional Council to hold First Reading, a Public Hearing, and then ultimately vote 'yay' or 'nay'.

[Dmajackson]

This was just the first reading of the site-specific amendments. There will be a public hearing sometime in the next couple of months. Following that the project could proceed as proposed as-of-right.

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by IanWatson

In this case it's an MPS amendment; only Regional Council can make those. So the amendments are not actually approved. Community Council made a positive recommendation to Regional Council. Now it's up to Regional Council to hold First Reading, a Public Hearing, and then ultimately vote 'yay' or 'nay'.

This project seems to jive with the (yet to be finalized) Centre Plan. I expect it won't find much opposition with council.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by terrynorthend

This project seems to jive with the (yet to be finalized) Centre Plan. I expect it won't find much opposition with council.

But the much more modest project at North and Oxford would meet that definition in spades yet it was soundly rejected. Inconsistency much?

[portapetey]

Really hope this this one goes ahead pretty much as the renderings show. It's probably my favorite proposal on the table in the city...along with the Quinpool & Robie corner tower.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

But the much more modest project at North and Oxford would meet that definition in spades yet it was soundly rejected. Inconsistency much?

Not exactly the same context. One is a majorly empty piece of land surround by not much, and the other is a small piece of land adjacent to established, low density neighbourhoods.

[terrynorthend]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

But the much more modest project at North and Oxford would meet that definition in spades yet it was soundly rejected. Inconsistency much?

For what its worth (and I think I was one of the few actual neighbours of this proposal who was a proponent) the Centre Plan identifies this as a corridor not a centre, allowing only 4-6 floors. Originally 7, and then bumped to 9, and put in front of the community council members that it was, I'm not the least surprised it was recommended against. It still goes to full council, so we will see if the developer can make a plea for density bonusing.

I'll be more interested to see what happens with the 5 floor proposal for the old Ultramar at the corner of Chebucto and Beech. This is right in the sweet spot for approval under the Centre Plan (growth corridor; 4-6 floors), but has garnered a lot of nimby opposition. It will test the mettle of Mr. Cleary et al. I'm sure they all want it to go away, but they don't really have any good reason to vote against it.

[DT Hfx]

I really like this proposal for the corner of Young & Windsor partly because of the design but mainly because it fills a prime spot that has been so desolately visible for decades.

The project looks like it will get final approval so I sure hope Joe Ramia goes ahead and builds it despite possible effects of any cost overruns on the Nova Centre or likely effects on his furniture stores after IKEA opens.

[musicman]

Heard today that this is going out to tender and will be started sometime in the spring...

[portapetey]

That's exciting. I really hope so. This is a beautiful development and it will have a major impact in contributing to the developing shift in this part of town from a suburban to an urban feel.

[Jonovision]

The land use changes required for this development passed through council with unanimous approval this evening.
The next step is the development agreement.

A few things to note from the discussion:
- staff are imposing a policy on the site that 50% of residential units in the development be 2 beds or greater
- staff used FAR (Floor Area Ratio) to determine the density allocation for the site. They gave this site a FAR of 4.5
- tower controls are being imposed on the site which will most likely result in taller and more slender towers then what have currently been proposed.

I was really happy to see staff using FAR. It is a really good tool to ensure a fair allocation of density on a given block/site while still providing lots of flexibility in the way the site can be developed.

[JustinFromMontebello]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

The land use changes required for this development passed through council with unanimous approval this evening.
The next step is the development agreement.

A few things to note from the discussion:
- staff are imposing a policy on the site that 50% of residential units in the development be 2 beds or greater
- staff used FAR (Floor Area Ratio) to determine the density allocation for the site. They gave this site a FAR of 4.5
- tower controls are being imposed on the site which will most likely result in taller and more slender towers then what have currently been proposed.

I was really happy to see staff using FAR. It is a really good tool to ensure a fair allocation of density on a given block/site while still providing lots of flexibility in the way the site can be developed.

For anyone interested in reading more:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/busines...et-council-nod

Interesting bit here:

He said the proposal would now return to staff to complete the negotiation of the agreement. Halifax and West Community Council would then review the proposal, hold another public hearing and determine if the proposal was consistent with this week’s approval, he said.

He said that following the approval, the planner handling the file had requested changes to the towers to make them “slimmer and slightly taller”.