[Halifax] The Alexander | 65 m | 24 fl | Completed

[Jstaleness]

Wait...We've heard all this before. However downtown does have the most cranes it's seen since the early 80's. Maybe now is finally the time?

[Haligonian88]

April Fools!

[someone123]

I wonder how much the design will be updated. I seem to remember reading that the plan is for a bit more glass now.

This development is going to have 240 units and the Cunard block is in the same range. There could be 1,000 or so more people living in this part of town in a few years, and there's still the Salter block left (and NSP lands). If the Sackville-Terminal stretch is developed well it could become a great neighbourhood. Right now that stretch has maybe 1/3 of the surface parking downtown.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by someone123

Some news related to the tower: https://www.killamproperties.com/inv...releases/36966

Killam has purchased the Brewery Market and will be a 50% partner in the tower development. The press release also mentions that construction is expected to begin in the second half of this year.

This makes so much sense. The never thought the original owners were too serious about actually developing the thing.

Now, things might actually get done. Wish this was done long ago.

Similarly, someone should put United Gulf out of its misery and make an offer for Tex Park. I get Southwest would love to acquire that site, given its proximity to The Maple.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by Jstaleness

Wait...We've heard all this before. However downtown does have the most cranes it's seen since the early 80's. Maybe now is finally the time?

At this time in 2012 there were 12 cranes in the metro skyline and the real estate market was hot

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

I wonder how much the design will be updated. I seem to remember reading that the plan is for a bit more glass now.

Hopefully there'll be some significant changes. I'm not really a fan of sheer glass towers, but it's preferable to the kind of faux-deco thing the current design has going on.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Hopefully there'll be some significant changes. I'm not really a fan of sheer glass towers, but it's preferable to the kind of faux-deco thing the current design has going on.

I like the faux art deco design... but agree on less glass.

Please no red brick or low quality precast! Excited to see renderings.

I sincerely hope this is not an April fools, as this hole in the urban fabric sort of ruins the streetscape.

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

I like the faux art deco design... but agree on less glass.

Please no red brick or low quality precast! Excited to see renderings.

I sincerely hope this is not an April fools, as this hole in the urban fabric sort of ruins the streetscape.

I agree. It would be great having a deco style point tower in our skyline (assuming as always the materials are good quality)

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by beyeas

I agree. It would be great having a deco style point tower in our skyline (assuming as always the materials are good quality)

X2

If it's done properly with quality materials, it would provide nice variety and contrast. I do get a little concerned that we could someday end up with numerous generic glass towers.

[worldlyhaligonian]

I think solid materials suit this end of the skyline better. Cogswell lands on the other hand... I think should be majority glass.

[Empire]

It will likely be tinted concrete panels similar to what was used on the Trillium and W Suites. Fake sandstone look ..... very cheap.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by Empire

It will likely be tinted concrete panels similar to what was used on the Trillium and W Suites. Fake sandstone look ..... very cheap.

The W Suites fake standstone isn't the worst I've seen... its not pink

That should be the bare minimum of quality. Is real sandstone that expensive? An art deco design with real sandstone and copper accents would really work well here.

The hotel on the other corner was a groundfloor fail... I'm hoping for bigger scale ("human" not hobbit scale) for the groundfloor on the Lower Water side.

[someone123]

I am also curious how expensive sandstone is, and how much the exterior cladding contributes to the overall cost of a project (if it's 1%, then quadrupling it isn't a huge deal). Expensive materials are probably less necessary on the upper floors of highrises, but they have a big impact at street level.

The Wallace sandstone quarry has been operating in NS for more than 150 years: http://www.wallacequarries.com/

Concrete block also looks okay sometimes. The Waterford on Hollis Street is brick and concrete block for example and I think it looks a lot better than buildings clad in large precast panels.

Salter's Gate uses a mix of stone and precast panels. It also has a copper dome on the Hollis Street size that had to be scaled back because of view plane restrictions (!): https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.64500...HR8A!2e0?hl=en

[Empire]

Originally Posted by someone123

I am also curious how expensive sandstone is, and how much the exterior cladding contributes to the overall cost of a project (if it's 1%, then quadrupling it isn't a huge deal). Expensive materials are probably less necessary on the upper floors of highrises, but they have a big impact at street level.

The Wallace sandstone quarry has been operating in NS for more than 150 years: http://www.wallacequarries.com/

Concrete block also looks okay sometimes. The Waterford on Hollis Street is brick and concrete block for example and I think it looks a lot better than buildings clad in large precast panels.

Salter's Gate uses a mix of stone and precast panels. It also has a copper dome on the Hollis Street size that had to be scaled back because of view plane restrictions (!): https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.64500...HR8A!2e0?hl=en

It would be fantastic to use NS sandstone for at least the first five floors. They should get some sort of tax credit if they use a quality NS product that also has heritage value. I think the whole building should be art deco, a very small scale Rockefeller Plaza, especially given that it will connect to such a venerable fixture as Keith's Brewery.

Salter's Gate has a low quality economy inn appearance from Hollis St. The precast panels used here are exactly what should be avoided for the Alexander. The tiny dome copula should have been given and exception to allow it to be a normal scale. The view plane over this building has failed the HT and the city. Church spires and domes should be excluded from the damaging viewplanes legislation.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Empire

The tiny dome copula should have been given and exception to allow it to be a normal scale. The view plane over this building has failed the HT and the city. Church spires and domes should be excluded from the damaging viewplanes legislation.

I agree. There should be an exemption for decorative architectural features. Halifax has had these for hundreds of years; the Dominion building or St. Mary's would easily violate viewplanes today. The NFB building spire cannot be rebuilt because of the viewplanes. I hate the blocky, artificial look of buildings built up to the viewplanes; the spires and cupolas are one aspect of the city's built heritage that supposedly pro-heritage regulations have been destroying.

There are often unintended consequences to legislation and the viewplane and ramparts bylaws have been particularly bad. They have significantly reduced the quality of several developments in the city. Unintended consequences aside, I think this class of regulation rests upon outdated 'end of history" assumptions that everything old is good and everything new has to be bad. These assumptions were baked in back in the 1970's when many of the new buildings were bad. They don't make as much sense today and they may be complete anachronisms in 20 years.

It reminds me of the siege mentality around corporate welfare and jobs in NS. People think the province must bend over backwards to preserve all the jobs they can from the good old days, because there will be nothing good to replace them. That is not true at all. The province would have been much better off focusing on how do move forward, not just prevent losses.

[Drybrain]

I'd back-pedal on my dislike of the deco design elements if real sandstone/copper/etc were used. I'm just assuming it'll be the typical aluminum and precast that we typically see today, which ends up just looking like a kitschy homage when deployed in historical building styles. I'm imagining the deco design, but with the mediocre finishing of Salter's Gate or the casino, which would be pretty nasty.

[Empire]

Originally Posted by someone123

I agree. There should be an exemption for decorative architectural features. Halifax has had these for hundreds of years; the Dominion building or St. Mary's would easily violate viewplanes today. The NFB building spire cannot be rebuilt because of the viewplanes. I hate the blocky, artificial look of buildings built up to the viewplanes; the spires and cupolas are one aspect of the city's built heritage that supposedly pro-heritage regulations have been destroying.

Let's not exclude the biggest violator of the dysfunctional viewplane legislation.....The Olde Town Clock!

Clock violation:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.64767...OyTMg!2e0!3e11

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by someone123

Some news related to the tower: https://www.killamproperties.com/inv...releases/36966

Killam has purchased the Brewery Market and will be a 50% partner in the tower development. The press release also mentions that construction is expected to begin in the second half of this year.

This is great news.

There are two different designs of the Alexander shown in the development agreement - http://www.halifax.ca/council/agenda...0909ca1114.pdf. One design would have a shear vertical wall on the western side (shown in schedule B through Q). The second (alternate) design (shown in schedule A-3 through A-6) would take effect if:

4-3-(g) inclusion of Keith Lane right-of-way (PID# 00480418) and a portion of the Longshoreman’s property (PID# 00003749) into the agreement in the event that the Developer obtains ownership of the right-of-way and the extension of the parking garage levels into these lands and an addition to and articulation of the western residential tower façade, similar to the eastern facade, as shown on Schedules A-3 through A-6

The (former) Longshoreman's Association site is stated to be 1451 Hollis Street in the background information of an older version of the proposal - http://www.halifax.ca/boardscom/Dist...428d12pac3.pdf, which according to Google Maps is now a vacant lot - https://www.google.ca/maps/@44.64368...n2jAos4HnA!2e0

The September 9th, 2008 development agreement was extended by three years on January 14, 2014 - http://www.halifax.ca/council/agenda...0114ca1119.pdf

I hope that it is the second (alternate) design that will be built, which doesn't have the shear vertical wall. The news release doesn't state whether the Brewery Right of Way and (former) Longshoremen's property was obtained, and it isn't shown in the extension agreement of January 14, 2014. Does anyone know if it was obtained?

[someone123]

The Longshoremen's building relocation happened a while ago, so hopefully we will see the better western facade design. It was a fairly new one storey brick building on Hollis. I think their new building was built just west of Hollis and Morris.

Here's one of the elevations from the report:



Does anybody know if work has started in the 4th floor mansard roof of Keith Hall?

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by someone123

The Longshoremen's building relocation happened a while ago, so hopefully we will see the better western facade design. It was a fairly new one storey brick building on Hollis. I think their new building was built just west of Hollis and Morris.

Here's one of the elevations from the report:



Does anybody know if work has started in the 4th floor mansard roof of Keith Hall?

If this tower gets done -- wow. That's going to be great for the skyline.

Of course, this development was originally proposed almost 13 years ago.

So: expectations managed.