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  #9821  
Old Posted Aug 3, 2020, 11:50 PM
Querce Querce is offline
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A building permit was issued for a 7 story, 81 unit building at 670 Portland Hills Drive
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  #9822  
Old Posted Aug 8, 2020, 7:45 PM
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Brewery Park on Agricola Street. Looks nice overall but I wish they had built a cornice on the building on the right, and maybe extended the ground floor woodwork along the side elevation more.


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  #9823  
Old Posted Aug 8, 2020, 11:00 PM
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^This is a 8-suite boutique hotel. BreweryPark.ca has the rental information. They run at $100-150 per night usually.
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  #9824  
Old Posted Aug 8, 2020, 11:23 PM
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East West Street (5684 West Street). The project has no online presence. The developer is Atlantic Developments Ltd who also constructed Theatre Lofts. The hatched area in the foreground is the hazard zone for West Fire Station. Facing the project Maynard Street is to the left and Agricola Street is to the right. In the immediate proximity is a fire station, 3-storey office building, convenience store, minor general commercial, a hotel, two bars, car mechanics, mixed housing (gernally lower-end to the east, nicer to the west), and Harris East is in the backyard. This site used to be home to Hydrostone Mechanic which closed early this year. The property is zoned HR-1 under the new Regional Centre Plan - Agricola Street Corridor. I assume this project was approved under this zoning. Since there is no indication of variances it must conform to the design requirements.


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  #9825  
Old Posted Aug 8, 2020, 11:46 PM
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And since I'm on the topic of North-End updates here is the mysterious 5510 Falkland Street / 2050 Gottingen Street. I'm not sure how they are putting 40-units on a quarter circle site but whatever this ends up looking like it will be unique. For reference the condos across Falkland are 5 floors (+ ground floor commercial) and total 55 units on a larger lot. The corner of this lot is encumbered by municipally owned ROW so the street frontage is a long curve along most of the property. The property is zoned CEN-2 under the new Regional Centre Plan. It's in a growth centre which has a maximum height of 90 metres subject to meeting F.A.R. of 7.50.



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  #9826  
Old Posted Aug 9, 2020, 7:00 PM
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I'm pretty sure I saw a rendering for that one but I can't find it. Not sure if it was up to date.

It'll be interesting to see some pictures looking down Gottingen in a year or two when these new buildings are mostly finished and the barricades are down (although by then there may be some new ones under construction like the Housing Trust developments).
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  #9827  
Old Posted Aug 12, 2020, 2:54 PM
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Originally Posted by someone123 View Post
Brewery Park on Agricola Street. Looks nice overall but I wish they had built a cornice on the building on the right, and maybe extended the ground floor woodwork along the side elevation more.


https://goo.gl/maps/KkQXGuR3WhNQVWja6
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  #9828  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2020, 3:10 PM
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The JAG hotel planned for corner of brunswick and gottingen has been cancelled. Thank god. It was a terrible proposal.
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  #9829  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2020, 4:18 PM
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The JAG hotel planned for corner of brunswick and gottingen has been cancelled. Thank god. It was a terrible proposal.
Where did you hear that?
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  #9830  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2020, 4:33 PM
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Where did you hear that?
There is an information report on the agenda for Regional Council on Tuesday explaining why the bonus agreement is not coming back to council for approval. There is an email attached to it from the architect saying the owners have deciding not to complete the application due to COVID.

https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default...00818rci03.pdf
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  #9831  
Old Posted Aug 14, 2020, 4:39 PM
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There is an information report on the agenda for Regional Council on Tuesday explaining why the bonus agreement is not coming back to council for approval. There is an email attached to it from the architect saying the owners have deciding not to complete the application due to COVID.

https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default...00818rci03.pdf
I see. A shame about the circumstances, but hopefully whatever happens to the property next has something that's designed better.
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  #9832  
Old Posted Aug 25, 2020, 11:06 AM
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The Usual Suspects are calling for the HRM Auditor-General to look into the development consultation process:

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/ne...pments-488434/

“The consultative process is a right of the public under the (municipal) charter so that the public is able to participate in the finalization of planning strategies,” said Peggy Cameron of the group Friends of the Common Halifax Common, one of 10 municipal societies and associations that co-signed a letter requesting the municipal auditor general conduct a review of the HRM planning department and the public engagement process.

In the letter to the office of the auditor general, the groups acknowledged the July 2018 report on the planning department to HRM council from Auditor General Evangeline Colman-Sadd but said the report did not address the crucial aspect of public participation.

“It’s a very big component of how development agreements are supposed to proceed but it wasn’t something that was reviewed,” Cameron said.

The letter included 10 sample case studies that identified dissatisfaction with public consultation on projects that ranged from the municipality’s extensive centre plan, the Young Avenue heritage homes, a six-storey apartment building on the residential corner of Coburg Road, a 25-storey building at Robie Street and Quinpool Road,, the former St. Pat’s high school site and plans for the Memorial Library, cenotaph and mass burial site.

“It should be clear why people feel manipulated by, and cynical about, public consultation -- the results often have little in common with the views expressed at public hearings,” Michael Bradfield, a retired Dalhousie University economics professor and a former two-term member of the Halifax Peninsula Regional Planning Advisory Committee, commented in one of the case studies.

“Surveys are like having a one-way “conversation This dampens the enthusiasm to participate in the process which so often seems pre-determined and futile.”
Bradfield said any analysis of the cost-effectiveness of public consultation must therefore assess how much decisions have reflected public input.

“There are any number of other examples of community groups having tried to influence the planning process and having failed,” Cameron said of the sample cases attached to the letter to the auditor general.

“All of the citizens who wrote are very credible, well known Halifax citizens who are more or less heavy hitters, they are not just there because they are complainers, they are not there because they are just about one issue -- the box that HRM likes to put people in is to save Halifax -- it’s not about heritage, it’s about overall vision for the city.

“If the city is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on planning and the public are able to participate in that process, then there should be something that affirms that the citizens’ wishes are in some way, a better way, respected in the plans.”



So much nonsense in this article that it is difficult to fully explain.
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  #9833  
Old Posted Aug 25, 2020, 11:55 AM
eastcoastal eastcoastal is offline
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Originally Posted by Keith P. View Post
The Usual Suspects are calling for the HRM Auditor-General to look into the development consultation process:

https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/ne...pments-488434/

“The consultative process is a right of the public under the (municipal) charter so that the public is able to participate in the finalization of planning strategies,” said Peggy Cameron of the group Friends of the Common Halifax Common, one of 10 municipal societies and associations that co-signed a letter requesting the municipal auditor general conduct a review of the HRM planning department and the public engagement process.

In the letter to the office of the auditor general, the groups acknowledged the July 2018 report on the planning department to HRM council from Auditor General Evangeline Colman-Sadd but said the report did not address the crucial aspect of public participation.

“It’s a very big component of how development agreements are supposed to proceed but it wasn’t something that was reviewed,” Cameron said.

The letter included 10 sample case studies that identified dissatisfaction with public consultation on projects that ranged from the municipality’s extensive centre plan, the Young Avenue heritage homes, a six-storey apartment building on the residential corner of Coburg Road, a 25-storey building at Robie Street and Quinpool Road,, the former St. Pat’s high school site and plans for the Memorial Library, cenotaph and mass burial site.

“It should be clear why people feel manipulated by, and cynical about, public consultation -- the results often have little in common with the views expressed at public hearings,” Michael Bradfield, a retired Dalhousie University economics professor and a former two-term member of the Halifax Peninsula Regional Planning Advisory Committee, commented in one of the case studies.

“Surveys are like having a one-way “conversation This dampens the enthusiasm to participate in the process which so often seems pre-determined and futile.”
Bradfield said any analysis of the cost-effectiveness of public consultation must therefore assess how much decisions have reflected public input.

“There are any number of other examples of community groups having tried to influence the planning process and having failed,” Cameron said of the sample cases attached to the letter to the auditor general.

“All of the citizens who wrote are very credible, well known Halifax citizens who are more or less heavy hitters, they are not just there because they are complainers, they are not there because they are just about one issue -- the box that HRM likes to put people in is to save Halifax -- it’s not about heritage, it’s about overall vision for the city.

“If the city is going to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on planning and the public are able to participate in that process, then there should be something that affirms that the citizens’ wishes are in some way, a better way, respected in the plans.”



So much nonsense in this article that it is difficult to fully explain.
Yes, this is a difficult area to dissect. On the one hand, lots of people may feel that planners, urban designers, and architects shouldn't undertake these types of planning/design decisions themselves as they're unable to see past their egos and whatever the prevailing dogma is. On the other hand, many may feel that average citizens (no matter if they are "heavy hitters" or not - what is WITH that little qualifier?), don't have the understanding of broader planning/design implications and may solely focus on what they perceive as best for them.
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  #9834  
Old Posted Aug 25, 2020, 6:35 PM
OldDartmouthMark OldDartmouthMark is online now
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I don't know how to weigh in on this topic.

On one hand, the city needs density in the downtown/peninsula area and I think it's good to expedite the process to get buildings up and meet the demand for more residential units in the area.

On the other hand, I find it dismaying when salvageable heritage buildings continue to be razed in order to meet this demand, and overall I find myself disappointed by the appearance and apparent quality level of most of the buildings being constructed these days.

The article appears to speak to some of it, but also appears to be a power move by the "friends of" people to try to wrestle the process more in their favour.

Really, I would like the process to be more granular to specifically pick out the cases I mentioned above, while allowing some 'slam dunk' projects to proceed quickly.

That said, all evidence points to this never happening. So the struggle continues...
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  #9835  
Old Posted Aug 25, 2020, 7:16 PM
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Public consultation as conducted in HRM is IMO a waste of time, energy and money for all concerned, especially in the current climate. Think about it: an overview of whatever is being proposed can be seen virtually without needing to go to a presentation, and questions can be handled the same way. When it comes time for the public to say it's piece, that is where it really goes off the rails. How many times have we talked about those gong-show meetings where people rant and rave about stuff that is totally unrelated to the proposal or completely bogus, where some sing songs, read poems, cry, or otherwise engage in excess drama; and where the Usual Suspects (i.e. Cameron, Bradfield, Ruffman, Epstein, the Haivens and a handful of others) bring up the same tired arguments about height or greedy developers? There is an undercurrent of entitlement in the comments attributed to them in that piece where they seem to believe their POV is correct and anyone who disagrees is either wrong or in the pocket of special interests.

I am certainly no fan of HRM's Planning Dept. I think it has gone badly off track and we are spending a lot of money on a dept that is badly run and is heading in several wrong directions. But this particular issue is about public consultation and that has always been excessive in my view. Whether anyone actually pays attention to what is said is another thing, but that is on Council for not doing its job if that is true. And that is what elections are for, not the Auditor General.
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  #9836  
Old Posted Aug 25, 2020, 7:30 PM
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I wonder if the heavy hitters can point to examples where they constructively improved upon developers' and planners' rules and proposals, resulting in better development than otherwise would have occurred while providing the same amount of space for residents and businesses.

My impression is that Cameron et al. are basically BANANAs and fight against any construction. I guess that is understandable since they are already comfortable homeowners and generally tenured profs or retirees, but that does not work for everybody in the city. To many, the housing supply matters, rents matter, the availability of commercial space matters, and so do construction and other jobs.

My impression is that Halifax entered a new golden age as the prominence of the NIMBYs waned. More actual humans living in the core, more commerce, more visitors (until covid). The NIMBYs complained bitterly about the last round of highrise construction, the Nova Centre and the Roy, and yet those are now popular tourist Instagram photo subjects.
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  #9837  
Old Posted Aug 25, 2020, 9:37 PM
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Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark View Post
The article appears to speak to some of it, but also appears to be a power move by the "friends of" people to try to wrestle the process more in their favour.
That's exactly what it is. The signatories are on the Friends of the Common website, and they're all the usuals: Haiven, Cameron, south end homeowners, etc., as well as some stranger bedfellows like the military heritage people.

The funny thing is they're talking about opening up consultation to underrepresented groups--which I take to mean renters, lower-income people, African Nova Scotian and Indigenous communities, weighing in on things that affect them, etc.

But that's obviously not really what these people want; they're just couching their demands that way. Cameron and the rest are obviously just peeved that consultation doesn't equal deference, and that projects can proceed despite their opposition. I don't believe for a moment that they want more diverse viewpoints represented. They just want to dominate the discussion and cast doubt on the consultation process because they don't always get their way.
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  #9838  
Old Posted Aug 25, 2020, 11:56 PM
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The Letter

Quote:
Dear Friends of Halifax Common,

FHC has sent a letter to the HRM Auditor General requesting a review of HRM Planning Department’s public consultative process as a charter matter. The letter includes ten case studies as evidence for the need for such a review. These are written by individual citizens representing various volunteer community societies or associations and document their experience with HRM’s public consultation process Please take the time to read these. It is quite the body of evidence.

Media have been very interested in this request. Interviews by News 95.7 Rick Howe and Sheldon MacLeod and a Chronicle Herald story “Community groups call for public consultation audit on HRM developments" explain more on why "the consultation processes are often seen as manipulative or even cynical” and the review by the HRM AG is needed.

The case studies include compelling accounts from:
Young Avenue District Heritage Conservation
Peggy Cunningham PhD Chair, Young Avenue District Heritage Conservation
Professor, (Former Dean of Management) Dalhousie University

Halifax Home Owners Association/Peninsular South Residents Association
Owen Carrigan PhD, Former President Saint Mary’s University

Halifax Military Heritage Preservation Society
Chris Marriott, Chair, Halifax Military Heritage Preservation Society

Development Options Halifax
Larry Haiven, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Management, SMU

Peninsula Advisory Committee, Former Volunteer Member
Michael Bradfield, PhD, Professor (Retired), Department of Economics, Dalhousie

Centre Plan: Corridor Creep: Charles St
Howard Epstein, LLB, Former Halifax City Counsellor, Former Nova Scotia MLA

Oak-Allan Street Bike Corridor–anonymous

WillowTreeGroup—from https://willowtreehalifax.wordpress.com

St Pat’s High School — Quinpool Common Group

Friends of Halifax Common – see www.halifaxcommon.ca, https://www.halifaxcommon.ca/wp-cont...ttachment-new- APL-staff-report-required.pdf?189db0&189db0 etc.

These examples represent a range of situations and concerns but are not exhaustive-others such as Imagine Bloomfield or St Pat’s Alexander abound. Please help make these concerns relevant to the October 17th municipal election and to the on-going Centre Plan process by letting others know. Let us know what you think.

Best Wishes for staying well,
Peggy Cameron for Friends of Halifax Common
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  #9839  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2020, 5:58 PM
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According to The Examiner the 3 proposals for the new waterfront art gallery will be made public next month for comment.

https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/provi...t-art-gallery/

The 3 teams who have designs are:

Architecture49 with Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Hargreaves Jones

DIALOG + Acre Architects

KPMB Architects with Omar Gandhi Architect, Jordan Bennett Studio, Elder Lorraine Whitman (NWAC), Public Work and Transsolar


I'm really excited to see the Diller Scofidio + Renfro proposal. They were the ones who designed The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York. As well as The High Line!
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  #9840  
Old Posted Aug 26, 2020, 8:01 PM
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Thanks for posting. This is a nice update. I'm eager to see the designs.

I think this is pretty significant since it will allow for exhibition of the Annie Liebowitz collection and because it along with Cunard will fill in the last big holes on the waterfront. There will still be room for improvement along the waterfront but it will feel consistently built up and will have a good concentration of attractions all accessible on foot.
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