[Halifax] SoHo Square (1212 Hollis) | 24 m | 7 fl | Completed

[Dmajackson]

New proposal for the corner of Hollis & South where in 2010 fire destroyed a row of Victorian townhouses. The Metlej's are proposing to construct a 7-storey, 63-unit residential building with 66 underground parking spaces. There will be 7 ground floor commercial pads ranging from 315 - 1635 sq ft. The building will be mostly clad in brick and glass with some wood trim. Amenity space will be located on the roof. In the public realm the building will be set-back from South Street to allow for patios and the sidewalk will be widened along Hollis Street.

Design Review Committee Report

[xanaxanax]

Thought this spot allowed for much taller, it should be much taller with residential. I thought I read on here waye saying he would support 14+ stories or something

[Drybrain]

The rendering is all covered in weird green and purple overlays—is that in the PDF or is my computer wonky?

Anyway, from what I can tell, I'm impressed—the front-facing facade looks like it might be a little too busy, but overall the materials and colours look good, and it works well along the sidewalk.

Of course I can't help but wish to get the row of Victorians back—a solid row of brick townhouses is extremely rare in Halifax, and that was probably the last best example. But I'm happy to see that the replacement won't be some tacky piece of junk.

[IanWatson]

Originally Posted by xanaxanax

Thought this spot allowed for much taller, it should be much taller with residential. I thought I read on here waye saying he would support 14+ stories or something

The Barrington South height precinct was amended recently and that site saw its maximum height increase from 13.7 m to 22 m. So this proposal is topping out what the recent amendments allowed.

This looks great in my opinion, and I'm really excited to see the sidewalks widened.

[xanaxanax]

OK thanks I was unclear with what happened with that, thought it was a lot more.

Maybe a building called The Gromit can be built somewhere close by on Hollis street and can have the Wallis and Gromit

[curnhalio]

Originally Posted by xanaxanax

Maybe a building called The Gromit can be built somewhere close by on Hollis street and can have the Wallis and Gromit

I think the only way that works is if it's built next door. Then you look at it from across the street and you see The Wallis, and The Gromit.

[counterfactual]

WHILE I SUPPORT DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT, I CANNOT SUPPORT THIS DEVELOPMENT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

Too tall.

Will create a wind tunnel.

Will cast a shadow across the street.

Will bring too many people to area.

Will create traffic.

Will endanger me and my children. DANGER!

May devalue surrounding property.

Out of character with neighbourhood.

Fails to respect historical development of local area.

I don't like people.

I really, really, don't like people.

Or students.

Will block the sun from my urban garden.

One day, I *may* build something on an empty lot near here, and require a greater set back protruding 20ft into this property.




There, now. I've pretty much summarized the comments about this proposal at the first two public feedback sessions,. Can we thus skip those and put it directly to a vote?

[JET]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater
in looking at this video and website, there were a lot of stone buildings that were lost. There is a picture on this website of the Pentagon building from the side opposite the 'prow'. It was an impressive building, so many old stone building were razed to make cogswell, quite a shame.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by JET

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v...type=2&theater
in looking at this video and website, there were a lot of stone buildings that were lost. There is a picture on this website of the Pentagon building from the side opposite the 'prow'. It was an impressive building, so many old stone building were razed to make cogswell, quite a shame.

I didn't notice anything related to the Pentagon, perhaps I missed it. The only stone-like building I saw was the one right on the water at the foot of George St, which was not related to Cogswell.

Most of what they show was not in any way remarkable, just old even at the time of the photos.

[JET]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I didn't notice anything related to the Pentagon, perhaps I missed it. The only stone-like building I saw was the one right on the water at the foot of George St, which was not related to Cogswell.

Most of what they show was not in any way remarkable, just old even at the time of the photos.

on the main page with the photos, they are grouped in years. In the fourth set of photos, 2010, on the right side of the page, fourth row from the bottom, is the other , wide side, of the pentagon. Reminds me of the back side of the Flatiron building in NY, much different than the narrow end.
You weren't impressed by Saint Mary's School Barrington Street?, that was a lovely building.

[counterfactual]

I like it. I think they've integrated the brick and glass nicely.

[someone123]

I liked the rows more but this looks OK.

Brick rows are a smaller percentage of the housing stock in Halifax than they are in, say, Toronto, but I wouldn't call them extremely rare. There are a few around Brunswick St/Portland Pl in the North End, Jubilee, and parts of the North End/Central Halifax (often painted or stucco). The Hydrostone rows are also pretty nice. I can think of a bunch of other little sets of brick rows and townhouses around the city.

I do think that there isn't a good sense of the rarity of some of these building types or their impact of the character of the city. For example, I could see some decent pre-war masonry buildings coming down on Spring Garden Road even though they are only maybe 20% of the building stock at this point and could pretty easily be conserved. I think the root cause of this is that, in practice, the decision on whether or not to save buildings is happening piecemeal and is mostly driven by and expected to be bankrolled by individual property owners. The municipal and provincial governments should do a better job of coordinating heritage preservation and supporting owners of heritage buildings with tax breaks in recognition of the fact that part of their investment is primarily of public rather than private benefit. Right now this public benefit is not being valued correctly and a tiny public cost is being turned into proportionately much larger, optional private cost. It's pretty obvious why the system doesn't work well.

[someone123]

Rendering from the report:

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by someone123

Rendering from the report:

Has anyone else noticed the number of condo units with blinds down during sunny days ?
Discuss

[xanaxanax]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Has anyone else noticed the number of condo units with blinds down during sunny days ?
Discuss

I dont see what youre talking about

[musicman]

Mr. May is eluding to his conspiracy theory that the Condo market is not what it seems and they are building just to stroke their ego's ect... And that buildings are sitting empty devoid of tenants just so said egos can be stroked... Hence the blinds being down during the day... Funny i keep mine down to keep the place cool not to mention i am fond of being nocturnal. But hey it could be that all these places are empty and developers are pis***g money away so their egos don't get hurt. I figure an empty bank account would get rid of that ego but hey that is just me...

[JET]

Originally Posted by musicman

Mr. May is eluding to his conspiracy theory that the Condo market is not what it seems and they are building just to stroke their ego's ect... And that buildings are sitting empty devoid of tenants just so said egos can be stroked... Hence the blinds being down during the day... Funny i keep mine down to keep the place cool not to mention i am fond of being nocturnal. But hey it could be that all these places are empty and developers are pis***g money away so their egos don't get hurt. I figure an empty bank account would get rid of that ego but hey that is just me...

Must be more than that, otherwise the blinds would be drawn all the time, unless there a squadron of blind pullers in action; what a concept.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by musicman

Mr. May is eluding to his conspiracy theory that the Condo market is not what it seems and they are building just to stroke their ego's ect... And that buildings are sitting empty devoid of tenants just so said egos can be stroked... Hence the blinds being down during the day... Funny i keep mine down to keep the place cool not to mention i am fond of being nocturnal. But hey it could be that all these places are empty and developers are pis***g money away so their egos don't get hurt. I figure an empty bank account would get rid of that ego but hey that is just me...

heh, heh, well put.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by musicman

Mr. May is eluding to his conspiracy theory that the Condo market is not what it seems and they are building just to stroke their ego's ect... And that buildings are sitting empty devoid of tenants just so said egos can be stroked... Hence the blinds being down during the day... Funny i keep mine down to keep the place cool not to mention i am fond of being nocturnal. But hey it could be that all these places are empty and developers are pis***g money away so their egos don't get hurt. I figure an empty bank account would get rid of that ego but hey that is just me...

Your first 3 sentences are rubbish, and 'eluding' is what bank robbers do when police can't find them.
You guess correctly.
Condos with lots of glass cause great problems for owners - heat being the main issue. CBC The National had a long story moths ago about expensive Vancouver/Toronto condo having all the glass replaced as inside temperatures were too high and the air conditioning could not cope. The building had curved windows and replacing the glass from the outside was quite a technical feat.

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Has anyone else noticed the number of condo units with blinds down during sunny days ?
Discuss

its not just condos, but apartments and houses. I think people tend to set window coverings to a preferred layout, and don't touch them.

For those implying that drawn curtains are an indication of unsold units - i would suggest its quite the opposite. Builders don't typically install window coverings, its an expense for the new purchaser. I would say lack of drawn curtains is a bigger tell.

As for units not selling - i suspect that is the case - on some projects. St Lawrence place looks pretty empty, but I'm not sure the Market for that building wants to live in that part of Fairview.