[Halifax] Imagine Bloomfield | ? | ? | Vision

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

My understanding is that this is a separate entity from the Housing Trust of Nova Scotia so I'm not sure if they're delays relate.

I think they are separate. My point wasn't that they are directly related, but that the city seems to be all over the place when it comes to affordable housing.

[Keith P.]

Well, council voted to award the RFP to NSHDC. Looks like we will see public housing on the site. Kiss those artsy dreams goodbye, Agricola St. hipsters.

[planarchy]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

The historic buildings are good, but the rest does sound worryingly blunt and Uniacke-ish. Odd, since a lot of publicly administered housing developments in the last few years have actually been pretty fantastic (see the Regent Park makeover in Toronto).

Regent Park reno is being done by a private developer - the Daniels Corp. They also bid on this but were disqualified for some reason. Strange as they would have been highly qualified for this job.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by planarchy

Regent Park reno is being done by a private developer - the Daniels Corp. They also bid on this but were disqualified for some reason. Strange as they would have been highly qualified for this job.

True, yr right. The city was heavily involved, but yeah, privately operated. I didn't realize Daniels had bid on this; that would've been perfect. The improvement in Regent Park is night and day. Although, I THINK that Regent Park is 50/50 subsidized housing and market-rate, so a project with a strong public-housing component can work—bu, the quality of architecture in Regent Park is excellent, and there's a mixture of large and small units. I'll be curious to see renderings from NSHDC, but somehow I doubt they'll be up to that level.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

True, yr right. The city was heavily involved, but yeah, privately operated. I didn't realize Daniels had bid on this; that would've been perfect. The improvement in Regent Park is night and day. Although, I THINK that Regent Park is 50/50 subsidized housing and market-rate, so a project with a strong public-housing component can work—bu, the quality of architecture in Regent Park is excellent, and there's a mixture of large and small units. I'll be curious to see renderings from NSHDC, but somehow I doubt they'll be up to that level.

Comments in the press about NSHDC missing the mark in terms of vision and quality, but winning due to price increase my sense of dread.

[worldlyhaligonian]

If anything this is the area where private developers should get breaks to build with mixed low income housing. Downtown on the other hand does not make sense. This area is closer than much of the southend to downtown anyway... Yuppies and lower incomes would be perfect because it would ensure that things wouldn't be complete anarchy.

Entire buildings of public housing doesn't seem very logical given the historical implications.

[someone123]

Lydon Lynch is going to be working on the Bloomfield plan: http://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20140424006

It's going to have a little under 500 residential units. The design is going to be presented in November.

[Drybrain]

Awesome. Great to see a real architectural firm on it, and local to boot.

[Colin May]

Cogswell Interchange docs posted in General Updates

[haligonia]

Great news! Bloomfield has been a long time coming, but I really think that it will be worth it.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by someone123

Lydon Lynch is going to be working on the Bloomfield plan: http://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=20140424006

It's going to have a little under 500 residential units. The design is going to be presented in November.

Right on!

[Dmajackson]

A very basic website is now up and running; http://mybloomfield.ca/

[counterfactual]

So, there appears to be a "spring update" for this development:

Find it here: http://mybloomfield.ca/news-and-events/

Annoyingly, they don't provide actual years for the monthly updates (gee, I wonder why?), but this seems like an April 2015 update. Someone should tell these guys about paragraph breaks:

Snow is finally receding on the former Bloomfield school property. With the sun shining and temperatures rising, it’s only a matter of time before nature starts blooming again. So we thought this was the perfect opportunity to provide you with an update about the Bloomfield redevelopment project. A year ago, Housing Nova Scotia invited a group of dedicated community leaders to form a Core Team to design and lead the process that would gather feedback from the community. Their final report is posted on mybloomfield.ca and contains a wealth of information that helped architects Lydon Lynch in designing the three-phased development. The final conceptual design will be unveiled to the public in the near future, and in the meantime, our staff are finalizing the development agreement submission to HRM, designing home ownership programs, and engaging our various housing partners. Housing Nova Scotia is also committed to an ongoing engagement process with the community through the work of the Core Team to gather even more information on various aspects of the project. We realize this has been a very long process for many of you who have been engaged through Imagine Bloomfield and other initiatives over the past 10 years. We want you to know that Housing Nova Scotia remains committed to the Bloomfield development and we are excited about this new approach to affordable housing on peninsular Halifax. The Bloomfield development is a unique opportunity to pursue strategic goals relating to affordable housing and supporting greater density in Halifax’s urban core. Data shows that it is becoming increasingly difficult for low and modest income individuals and families to afford to live on the peninsula and we want to make sure that they continue to have an opportunity to live in this part of our capital city. Our plan aligns with the guiding principles outlined in the Bloomfield Master Plan and includes 480 units - 60% will be sold at market price and 40% designated for affordable housing. We are planning to meet and exceed LEED gold standards, as well as making Bloomfield the first LEED Neighbourhood Development (LEED ND) in Nova Scotia. This mixed-use development will feature a minimum of 20,000 square feet of community and cultural space, public art, as well as a variety of small shops and restaurants. The architects have taken care in ensuring good flow between different parts of the site and the surrounding neighbourhood, the use of natural features like water, and integration of sustainable energy technology. This has been a community-driven project from the beginning and, we hope, will serve as a model that will influence other designs throughout the province. The next steps for the Bloomfield site include submitting a development agreement before shovels can hit the ground. The development agreement is an application to the city that will detail the specifics of our proposal to develop the site. We look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming weeks.

I honestly still have very, very, little confidence in the Housing Dept or the Provincial Government to do this right. I think this was a big mistake by HRM. Had this been awarded to one of the better private proposals, I bet there would be construction already underway. It seems like the Government won without actually having a proper design proposal, and are just formulating that now. ZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzz.

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

So, there appears to be a "spring update" for this development:

Find it here: http://mybloomfield.ca/news-and-events/

Annoyingly, they don't provide actual years for the monthly updates (gee, I wonder why?), but this seems like an April 2015 update. Someone should tell these guys about paragraph breaks:



I honestly still have very, very, little confidence in the Housing Dept or the Provincial Government to do this right. I think this was a big mistake by HRM. Had this been awarded to one of the better private proposals, I bet there would be construction already underway. It seems like the Government won without actually having a proper design proposal, and are just formulating that now. ZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzZZZzzzzzzzz.

Yah if the conceptual design isn't done yet, and they haven't done the development agreement submission we are probably still 2 years out from something being done on the site..

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

Yah if the conceptual design isn't done yet, and they haven't done the development agreement submission we are probably still 2 years out from something being done on the site..

Yep. And guess what I found. This is on the group's website, not Housing NS who host the "mybloomfield.ca" site.

Check it:

June is usually a busy month for Imagine Bloomfield, making arrangements for the annual In Full Bloom fair and preparing for our AGM. However, you may be wondering why we are so quiet this year. A year ago, in June 2014, Housing Nova Scotia (HNS) and Imagine Bloomfield co-hosted the In Full Bloom fair and HNS launched its public consultation by recruiting a core team of community representatives. Over the past year Imagine Bloomfield has worked with HNS and the core team to provide input as the design developed. HNS announced that it would launch the updated design on March 26, 2015. However, that date came and went without any word from HNS about cancelling or delaying. Since then, momentum has been lost and communication with HNS has become increasingly rare.

As the core mandate of Imagine Bloomfield is to advocate on behalf of the community, we have decided to postpone our AGM until September 16th, 2015. We hope this will allow us an opportunity to gather the information we’ve asked for from HNS. These are fundamental questions about the unit mix and the affordability options they are considering. We feel that this information is required for us to determine whether we support HNS’s plan for Bloomfield. We feel that it is also required to effectively advocate on your behalf and provide our members and the community at large with meaningful updates regarding the progress of the project.

The process of imagining Bloomfield has been underway for over 12 years now and we deeply appreciate your patience and continued support. Though at times we may seem quiet, we are continually working to make Bloomfield the vibrant, dynamic and inclusive neighbourhood we know it can be. If you have any comments or concerns please reach out to us. You can e-mail us at imaginebloomfield@gmail.com or contact us through Facebook or Twitter.

Source http://imaginebloomfield.ca/an-updat...ne-bloomfield/

So, not surprisingly, it seems like NS Government has completely stalled/killed the project. They've gone dark and have not been responding to communications with the community group.

What absolute shambles. This excellent community group carefully planned this development for over a decade and HRM planning staff managed to screw it up in a matter of months. They should be absolutely ashamed and embarrassed for their incompetence on this file. And if it wasn't incompetence, but rather some behind the scenes politically pressure from then NDP government to award them the bid, then that is even more reason to withdraw the contract and re-invite tenders.

I encourage other members on here to email Imagine Bloomfield (email above) and encourage them to NOT support Housing NS and instead lobby HRM to re-tender the invitation for proposals.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

...


I honestly still have very, very, little confidence in the Housing Dept or the Provincial Government to do this right. I think this was a big mistake by HRM. Had this been awarded to one of the better private proposals, I bet there would be construction already underway. It seems like the Government won without actually having a proper design proposal, and are just formulating that now...

The only confidence I have is that they will ABSOLUTELY eff this up and ruin any potential this project had.

[Colin May]

Ask Savage & Watts if this is an Infrastructure Project ?
Ask them what HRM is doing to get a project built ?

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Colin May

Ask Savage & Watts if this is an Infrastructure Project ?
Ask them what HRM is doing to get a project built ?

Good idea.

[hokus83]

I really want this thing to fail more than anything to be honest and go back to the city to be resubmitted to a privet bidder

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by hokus83

I really want this thing to fail more than anything to be honest and go back to the city to be resubmitted to a privet bidder

Hedging your bets, I see.

Seriously, I must agree. The Province had no business even bidding on this but it was a remnant of the NDP mantra that govt can do anything as good or better than the private sector, which is, of course, sheer and utter lunacy.