Posted Mar 30, 2010, 3:44 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bedford_DJ
City nixes condo project
Developer paid $1 million for lot, only to learn it’s for a playground
By CHRIS LAMBIE Business Editor
Tue. Mar 30 - 4:53 AM
Peter Polley is sitting on a very expensive Halifax playground but he’s not having any fun.
The developer wants to build a $15-million, 63-unit condominium project on Barrington Street. He paid more than $1 million for the lot last April after performing several checks to make sure it was zoned for high-density development.
"One of the fundamental rules in real estate is that important agreements must be registered so that new property owners are made aware of them," said Polley, president of Polycorp Properties Inc.
But he said a development officer with the city recently ruled the project, dubbed Jazz Condominiums, could not go ahead because the land is supposed to be a playground for the adjacent Ocean Towers highrise on Brunswick Street.
"This is something you would literally see in some banana republic where they have no respect for property rights," Polley said Monday.
He believes the old documents in question that stipulate the land must be a playground didn’t come to light until after he bought the vacant lot.
"It just got buried in the archives and they lost track of it," Polley said of the city.
He’s now appealing the Halifax Regional Municipality’s decision refusing his condo development to the Utility and Review Board.
"HRM confirmed by letter dated Feb. 19, 2009, that the property is zoned multiple dwelling zone (R-3) and that HRM had no records on file respecting the authorized (legal) use of the property. Polycorp Properties Inc. relied upon this letter in completing the transaction to acquire the property," say documents the developer filed with the board.
Mary Ellen Donovan, director of legal services for the municipality, refused to discuss the case Monday.
"The normal position of the city with respect to any litigation is that the matter is before the courts and it’s not appropriate for us to comment," Donovan said. "The UARB falls into that same category."
Polley’s expecting a "no-holds-barred battle" from the city that will be expensive for him to fight.
"Based on the aggressive position that we’ve seen so far, we could chew through $100,000 here relatively quickly," he said.
"But the main thing is it’s more the delay in getting in the ground than the cost. I’m more concerned about the delay."
He also intends to take the Jazz Condos case to Nova Scotia Supreme Court this week.
"We’re looking for a court order to say that the old agreement is not binding on us and that the city cannot try to enforce it using their zoning power," he said.
Polley bought the empty lot from DDP-Brunswick Ltd. That company is related to Mississ-auga, Ont.-based TransGlobe Property Management Services Ltd., which owns the adjacent Ocean Towers.
But TransGlobe didn’t build the towers and they’ve been owned by several entities since they went up 40 years ago.
"For all I know, they didn’t know," Polley said of the playground stipulation.
"We don’t want to sue anybody. We just want to be able to build our building."
Polycorp built the nearby 85-unit Spice Condominiums and the Mont Blanc, which consists of almost 200 apartments and townhouses on Mont Blanc Terrace. It is also working on a 76-house development called Ravenscraig at Fleming Park.
"I’m just frustrated from the point of view of nobody at the city is looking at this saying, ‘How can we make this happen? This is a good developer. Let’s solve the problem here,’ " Polley said.
( clambie@herald.ca )
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Very strange - I checked HRM's gis and it is zoned R-3 which does allow apartment buildings, but also allows playgrounds. I'm wondering if there is more to this than what he's saying?
I could see them refusing it if there are safety issues - that parcel is on a bad spot for access!
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