[Halifax] 5495 Spring Garden Road | ? m | 4 fl | Completed

[Phalanx]

It's better than what's there currently, but I'm not a huge fan of the design. It reminds me of a 60s/70s vintage glass box.

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by Phalanx

It's better than what's there currently, but I'm not a huge fan of the design. It reminds me of a 60s/70s vintage glass box.

yeah I was sort of wondering if I was the only person who was not a fan. I thought as well that it looked like an updated version of this building:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&sourc...55.99,,0,-17.5

The overhangs are interesting... but really it is just a glass box.
I do however agree with the comment someone made that the glass will balance all the brick in that area.

[worldlyhaligonian]

I think the green makes it look retro... the design is quite contemporary...reminds me of some small office infill from Rotterdam/Amsterdam.

If the green sections were a dark glass like the first sections of the NSP development it would look way better.

[someone123]

It is interesting to note that this proposal would have been approved as-of-right before. Is the process still roughly the same under HbD now, or will it be slowed down by reviews?

I'm guessing this will move forward pretty quickly since it's small and they have the tenant arranged.

This area's going to look very different in a couple of years.

[Dmajackson]

From the weekend;

[alps]

I'm with worldly, I like this one. The sort of small, simple, contemporary building you would see in shopping districts in Europe or Japan. Although it is a little bit bland-looking it's definitely a big improvement and what I would like to see more of in terms of dense small-lot infill with nice open storefronts.

[halifaxboyns]

If I read the HbD maps correctly; provided it's under 22m they can probably still go AOR. If it's greater than 22m than bonusing is required to get the maximum 28m; which I'm assuming would require a DA.

[phrenic]

People are overlooking one big issue with this project.

Where am I supposed to buy socks and underwear when demolition starts?!?

[Jstaleness]

Originally Posted by phrenic

People are overlooking one big issue with this project.

Where am I supposed to by socks and underwear when demolition starts?!?

Make sure you "stock" up on your Stockings and underwear when they have the big "Demolition Clothes Out Sale"

[Northend Guy]

Just heard that Westwood is planning to get moving on the next block up the street within the next year. (The BMO/Rogue's Roost/Second Cup/Fireside, etc. block) There is still a lot of paperwork to do, but this develoment should continue the trend on S.G. of some decent renewal.

[halifaxboyns]

Councillor Sloane posted the picture on her website and also on her facebook asking for comments. There was some pretty interesting responses on her facebook.

[beyeas]

good interesting or bad interesting?

[JustinMacD]

Originally Posted by Northend Guy

Just heard that Westwood is planning to get moving on the next block up the street within the next year. (The BMO/Rogue's Roost/Second Cup/Fireside, etc. block) There is still a lot of paperwork to do, but this develoment should continue the trend on S.G. of some decent renewal.

I would hope the BMO building would be left untouched......

It's probably the best building on SGR.

[beyeas]

Originally Posted by JustinMacD

I would hope the BMO building would be left untouched......

It's probably the best building on SGR.

At least the Queen/SGR facade.

I think that the corner facade for BMO would make an awesme front entrance for a boutique hotel.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by beyeas

good interesting or bad interesting?

Most people either didn't like the modern glass/steel or liked it. Some were sad and joked about where they would get their sox and underwear.

She got into it with someone who didn't like it, I rather liked her response. Here it is (I'm paraphrasing):
"...we need good infill and we need people to live on the peninsula an to work here too. ...This building is of low height, doesn't impeed views and will maximize space." I thought that was a fair comment and she pointed out that we have a design committee to deal with the design issues.

Many had concerns with the street interface; that it should be better. As I pointed out in my post; banks don't have good street presence. But they were a good range. I hope Dawn doesn't mind I quoted her; but I thought her reply was right on.

[Dmajackson]

Project’s for real, developer says
Chedrawe says proposed 4-storey Halifax complex will be built
By CHRIS LAMBIE Business Editor
Thu, Nov 18 - 4:54 AM

Developer Danny Chedrawe says, unlike other monster office buildings proposed for downtown Halifax, his four-storey complex planned for Spring Garden Road will be built.

Chedrawe unveiled plans Wednesday for the 25,000-square-foot building. The TD Bank, now located farther east on Spring Garden, will occupy three quarters of the complex slated for the corner of Birmingham Street.

"Most people that are proposing things downtown have their heads in the sand," said Chedrawe, the president of Westwood Developments Ltd.

"I think we need to drive more residential development and more small-scale office (projects). There’s no demand for large-scale office developments in the downtown. This is more viable than some of these guys that are proposing these big, fancy glass towers with hundreds of thousands of square feet that will never be built in the downtown.

"We’re not only proposing this; we’re going to build this. So it’s not just talk. It’s talk followed by action."

Chedrawe declined to name the developers proposing buildings he termed dinosaurs.

"Large-scale, single-use office towers are irrelevant today, they are irrelevant in the future and these people are dreaming in the past," he said.

"We need property owners in the downtown to focus on what’s relevant to today and tomorrow and that is smaller-scale office buildings, more mixed-use buildings and a ton more residential."

Chedrawe stressed he’s not talking about Rank Inc.’s proposed Nova Centre, a $500-million complex that includes a convention centre, an office tower, residential space and a hotel on the former Halifax Herald Ltd. property.

"That’s different," Chedrawe said. "That has a convention centre component and it has a hotel component."

In the works for two years, Chedrawe said the final deal to consolidate properties to make his green bank building happen is the purchase of a set of flats at 1515 Birmingham St., which will close Dec. 1. He’s already bought the property now occupied by Annie’s Place Café on Birmingham and the Spring Garden properties now occupied by Sock it to Ya and Furs & Leathers by Seymour.

He plans to break ground Feb. 1.

"It will be open for business by the fall of 2011."

About 100 people will work on the project for six months, Chedrawe said.

"This is going to be a steel building, so it will be erected in two weeks," he said. "We’re manufacturing all the steel components off-site. . . . But by the time we glaze it in and all that, it will be several months."

Chedrawe’s still looking for tenants for the top floor, where space is renting for $25 a square foot.

The project’s designer is Hugh Davison of DSRA/Envision Architecture.

"It’s quite a modern design; it’s all glass," Chedrawe said.

"The key component here is this will be one of the first buildings under the HRM by Design process. It will be an environmentally friendly building. So it will have a landscaped roof. It will have natural gas. It will have high-energy glass and an energy-efficient lighting system."

As part of the deal, Chedrawe is buying the property the TD occupies now on Spring Garden.

"We’re not going to do anything immediately, but our long-term plan is to do a large, multi-use building there — commercial, condos and hotel," he said.

That seven-storey complex will go up within the next three to five years, Chedrawe said. He noted a bank will not be among potential tenants, as that’s part of the deal with TD.

He’s also poised to announce two condominium projects slated for downtown Halifax. While he wouldn’t say exactly where they will go, Chedrawe said they should produce a total of about 125 condo units.

"These are very prominent locations," he said.

A public information meeting on Chedrawe’s new TD building design is slated for Dec. 6 at the coffee shop on the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

"The only hurdle we have left is to go through this HRM by Design process, which is about a 60-day process," Chedrawe said.

"So we anticipate that all approvals will be in place by mid-January."
( clambie@herald.ca )

Chronicle Herald Article

[Dmajackson]

Good job to The Chronicle Herald for posting a development article with no mention of the Heritage Trust.

I agree completely with Mr. Chedrawe's statements. Many of the larger proposals in Halifax right now were proposed many years ago (decades in some cases) and really while they would be nice to see built more realistic projects should be built instead. Now of course not every building needs to be low-rise but commonly projects 10 storeys and under can get approved quicker for that reason IMO most projects should be around that height where possible.

BTW according to my compilation list the two residential projects supposedly being built by Westwood is the Cruickshanks Funeral redevelopment on Robie Street and the lands above Centennial Pool on Cogswell Street (that now has a off-leash area so I'm doubtful about it).

[fenwick16]

Great news. I think he is going in the right direction - i.e. smaller office developments and a lot more residential downtown. Let's turn downtown Halifax into a smaller Manhattan. Now the HRM needs a rapid transit system to service the higher density areas (BRT would do).

[beyeas]

There is no doubt that he is to be congratulated on being able to actually move forward on his developments while others have not.

Having said that, the back-stabbing and in-fighting between developers lately has really been noticeable. I understand it is a business and they are all battling each other for the same customers, but it still astounds me how much developers seem willing to denegrate each other in public lately. Certainly McCrea has been happy to bash the Nova Centre and has used language borrowed from STV, and now statements like "Large-scale, single-use office towers are irrelevant today, they are irrelevant in the future and these people are dreaming in the past" are really just proving fodder to HT and STV and you KNOW they will be quoting him on his.

I think his broader point is fair that we need to also focus on smaller scale in-fill that is more viable in the short term, but calling large-scale office towers "dinosaurs" is a bit much, consider that what he is advocating at that point is for projects like IP and Waterside to not be built.

It pisses me off that he couldn't just make his point that small scale projects are important for in-fill without slamming other developments. It may serve his own business interests to do so, but it doesn't serve the boader public interest (unless you are a STV member).

[sdm]

Originally Posted by beyeas

There is no doubt that he is to be congratulated on being able to actually move forward on his developments while others have not.

Having said that, the back-stabbing and in-fighting between developers lately has really been noticeable. I understand it is a business and they are all battling each other for the same customers, but it still astounds me how much developers seem willing to denegrate each other in public lately. Certainly McCrea has been happy to bash the Nova Centre and has used language borrowed from STV, and now statements like "Large-scale, single-use office towers are irrelevant today, they are irrelevant in the future and these people are dreaming in the past" are really just proving fodder to HT and STV and you KNOW they will be quoting him on his.

I think his broader point is fair that we need to also focus on smaller scale in-fill that is more viable in the short term, but calling large-scale office towers "dinosaurs" is a bit much, consider that what he is advocating at that point is for projects like IP and Waterside to not be built.

It pisses me off that he couldn't just make his point that small scale projects are important for in-fill without slamming other developments. It may serve his own business interests to do so, but it doesn't serve the boader public interest (unless you are a STV member).

I think he is talking International Place, Roy Building, and Nova Centre office. Waterside is in no way a large scale office project at 80,000 sqft.