Posted Feb 16, 2010, 5:23 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Halifax-Nova Scotia
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Developers like what Fairview offers
By ROGER TAYLOR Business Columnist
Tue. Feb 16 - 4:53 AM
THE SITE where Halifax West High School once stood on Dutch Village Road in Fairview may be a little closer to being redeveloped.
United Gulf Developments Ltd., headed by Halifax developer Navid Saberi, is proposing to build a four- to six-storey building on the site. The residential structure would create 100 condo units and a 10,000-square-foot retail component on the ground floor.
The United Gulf plan also includes the construction of seven semi-detached structures on the site, which would create another 14 residential units.
Documents released by the regional planning department indicate that United Gulf would build a four-storey, 40,000-square-foot commercial building with retail on the ground floor and offices on the remaining three floors. And if the necessary approval is granted, it would also build a two-storey, 24,000-square-foot commercial building with retail on the ground floor and offices on the second floor.
The detailed multimillion-dollar purchase and development proposal would allow for 330 underground and 76 above-ground parking spaces. The proposal would also set aside a small area for a park off the Coronation Avenue extension.
Redevelopment of the empty lot has been an objective of the city for a while. The United Gulf initiative was selected following a request for proposals by the city.
The proposal to redevelop the site through the development agreement process will require amendments to both the Halifax Municipal Planning Strategy and Halifax Mainland Land Use Bylaw.
Fairview seems to be attracting a lot of attention from developers.
In a separate development, a company called Basin Vista Developments Ltd., headed by Youssef Ghosn, is proposing to build a uniquely shaped 19-storey residential tower on the site of the Bayview Motor Inn on the Bedford Highway.
In official documents posted online by the city planning department, the Basin Vista proposal calls for the creation of 150 residential units and 104 office units. The residential component would be in the highrise, while the office and hotel space would be created in a three-storey base.
The company still needs to get approval from regional council and the community council before it can proceed.
Cesar Saleh, an engineer with W.M. Fares Group of Halifax, which is acting on behalf of Basin Vista, says the project probably won’t be before council until April at the earliest.
The proposal was unveiled about a year ago and the developer was optimistic that construction would begin by last fall, with an 18- to 24-month timetable for completion.
W.M. Fares is also acting on behalf of another proposed redevelopment project in the Fairview area.
The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corp. of Halifax wants to build an 11-storey residential tower on top of a floor of commercial space and a connected five-storey commercial building on land now occupied by St. Lawrence Catholic Church on Dutch Village Road.
Saleh told me Monday that the scheme for the church is still in the planning process and it probably won’t come to city council for consideration until sometime in the summer.
In an earlier news report, Wadih Fares, CEO of W.M. Fares, said he plans to pay the church more than $2.5 million for the property and spend from $15 million to $20 million to build the structures.
The plan calls for the creation of 104 residential units — 79 two-bedroom and 25 one-bedroom rental units.
If everything goes well, it was stated that construction could start as early as the fall of 2010 or as late as the spring of 2011.
Creation of so much residential space in such a small area would give a significant shot in the arm to that part of the city.
It should be interesting to see how long it takes to bring all or any of these projects to reality. It may come down to first come, first served.
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