[Halifax] The Edison & 3343 Westerwald | 2X18m | 2X6 fl | Completed & Proposed

[Dmajackson]

Source : Urban_Halifax on Flickr.com

Name : The Edison
Address : 3400 Dutch Village Road, Halifax
Height : ? metres
Floors : 6 floors
Uses : Residential (41 units) + Retail (8'000 sq ft)
Developer : R.C. Jane Properties Ltd
Architect : W.M. Fares Group
Status : U/C

2014.03.18 - MPS/LUB Amendments Initiated by Regional Council
2014.05.26 - Public Information Meeting (Scheduled)

---

W.M. Fares Group on behalf of the property owner is proposing to build a 6-storey residential building with 8'000 sq ft of ground-floor commercial at 3400 Dutch Village Road (former gas station at Joseph Howe Drive). This is within 500 metres of Halifax West, Dutch Village & Andrew, and Saint Lawrence Place projects underway. The development will go through the MPS Amendments & Development Agreement process.

Initiation Report - Case 18510

Case 18510 Details Page

Google Streetview (where the remediation excavators are)

There are colour renderings in the report and I have to say it looks great!

[someone123]

It does look good. I always thought it was too bad that there are so many buildings like this (but less attractive) going up in far-flung parts of the city while areas like Dutch Village (which has a base of storefront shops to build on) have remained underdeveloped. That seems to be changing though.

Not sure how likely it is but it would be nice to see the city take charge a little more in these neighbourhoods and plan them more carefully to make them more pedestrian-friendly and more accessible by transit.

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by someone123

Not sure how likely it is but it would be nice to see the city take charge a little more in these neighbourhoods and plan them more carefully to make them more pedestrian-friendly and more accessible by transit.

It's mentioned in the initiation report that HRM Planning is undertaking a detailed review of the Dutch Village Road area. It didn't mention any specific amendments that might happen but hopefully it will allow buildings like this to be approved quickly (ie Schedule 'Q' and/or development agreement).

[Dmajackson]

Initiation was approved tonight. The next step is a public information meeting which should be held in a couple of months time.

[Dmajackson]

I've added a photo to the O.P. showing the current state of the site as seen from the Chain Of Lakes Trail.

[Dmajackson]

The public information meeting will be held on May 26th, 2014.

[Ziobrop]

this looks good. It will be a nice anchor on that corner.

[kph06]

This rendering is from the new WM Fares site:

[fenwick16]

Originally Posted by kph06

This rendering is from the new WM Fares site:

http://static.wixstatic.com/media/f8...0_0.00_jpg_srz

I like it. The slanted roof and curved front section add character to the proposed building.

[kph06]

Excavation is well underway for this now.

[worldlyhaligonian]

Originally Posted by kph06

Excavation is well underway for this now.

This isn't good news... its great news.

The sketchiness factor in this area is steadily going down and it is even developing an urban fabric.

[kph06]

Crane base is in.

[Hali87]

Originally Posted by worldlyhaligonian

The sketchiness factor in this area is steadily going down and it is even developing an urban fabric.

I went to Fairview Jr. High in the early 2000s and I can remember this area feeling a lot more suburban and yes, kind of sketchy/unfriendly. The Hell's Angels HQ was plainly right there, etc.

HAs etc. notwithstanding, it's interesting how this area is starting to feel "less sketchy" as it fills in with newer things. For the most part older buildings aren't being torn down and the existing residents aren't being "pushed out" with higher rents as far as I can tell, but because there's a lot more going on in the neighbourhood the grimier factors don't dominate the character of the neighbourhood like they used to, even if they're still there in the background. There is also a large and growing immigrant/multicultural vibe to the neighbourhood with several small groceries and restaurants representing/catering to the Central American/Carribbean, Slavic, African and Middle Eastern immigrant communities, and a small farmers market. It feels a lot like Gottingen did about 10 years ago (in terms of retail) or like a smaller version of Quinpool, although it's a degree more suburban than either.

(FWIW I don't mean that it used to be a neighbourhood "filled with sketchy people", over my lifetime it's always been a fairly average neighbourhood of unassuming people - the sketchy ones were just the only ones who really stood out and there was little else of note about the area. As far as I could tell 90% of the "crime" was small-scale pot dealing inside peoples houses - it wasn't the kind of place associated with random muggings or anything)

[Hali87]

I might be wrong, but I think I also remember Dutch Village having a different alignment when I was younger (this would have been in the 90s); I thought DV went all the way from the rotary (that half of Joseph Howe was called Dutch Village if I remember right?) and then on to its current alignment from Bayers (the 102 interchange there was different or absent, and the old Halifax West would probably have had a Dutch Village address), while JH was the straight section north of Bayers. Does anyone remember the details or have a map from the early 90s? The current alignment only sort of makes sense, and doesn't really follow local naming conventions ("Dutch Village Road" would have been the road to the Dutch Village, not through it)

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I might be wrong, but I think I also remember Dutch Village having a different alignment when I was younger (this would have been in the 90s); I thought DV went all the way from the rotary (that half of Joseph Howe was called Dutch Village if I remember right?) and then on to its current alignment from Bayers (the 102 interchange there was different or absent, and the old Halifax West would probably have had a Dutch Village address), while JH was the straight section north of Bayers. Does anyone remember the details or have a map from the early 90s? The current alignment only sort of makes sense, and doesn't really follow local naming conventions ("Dutch Village Road" would have been the road to the Dutch Village, not through it)

Its a drunk Street.
1. dvr intersects with Joe Howe Twice. (Once with bayers rd, and once between the bedford highway and superstore)
2. Traveling down the continuous path for the street, its Dutch Village, Alma Cres, Titus, and then Lacewood, all within 4 blocks, without turning.

[bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Hali87

that half of Joseph Howe was called Dutch Village if I remember right?

Yes - the name change was maybe ~five years ago?

Originally Posted by Hali87

the 102 interchange there was different or absent

Also yes - the two access ramps never used to access Joseph Howe (then DVR) directly; they both turned into Westerwald St. So if you wanted to go from inbound 102 toward the rotary, you'd exit on to Westerwald, right on Dutch Village Rd. and then right on Joseph Howe (again, also DVR at the time). That realignment was relatively recent - maybe about 10 years ago? Not more than 15...

[bluenoser]

Originally Posted by Ziobrop

2. Traveling down the continuous path for the street, its Dutch Village, Alma Cres, Titus, and then Lacewood, all within 4 blocks, without turning.

Even Bayers Rd. and Chain Lake Drive kind of continue this line although their changes are a little more pronounced...

Changing street names on the same route is actually of a pet peeve of mine, but on the other hand it's also kind of funny - adds character, I guess. St. John's is unbelievable for this: many of the main streets change names a number of times, and they're not even in any kind of grid either!

[Nouvellecosse]

I can't say I've ever really found the area "sketchy"... but unattractive and suburban, for sure.

[Hali87]

It's more from having hung out in the sidestreets at the bottom of the hill, and from what ~Year 2000 Dutch Village itself was like. It's not like, DTES sketchy, just the sort of place where there's constantly a lot of cops and angry yelling from inside other peoples apartments, and the constant smell of cheap weed. Again though whether or not this element is still there, it's definitely not "the" element associated with Dutch Village like it was when I was growing up.


(I would differentiate between "Dutch Village" (ie. along DVR/Titus/Joseph Howe and the first block or two up the hill - people used to call it "Low Fairview") and the rest of Fairview (ie. the grid - people used to call it "Upper Fairview"or the "Top of Fairview" although not so much now that Mount Royale has gone up). The bottom of the hill is the more commercial part and is mostly (fairly cheap) small apartments while Fairview between DVR and Dunbrack is dominated by SFHs and duplexes with a couple larger apartment buildings.)

[ILoveHalifax]

With all the discussion about Dutch Village Road, when I was a kid it went from the Fairview underpass (under the tracks, where the Bedford Hwy met also with Kempt Rd at stop signs) all the way to Armdale which was an intersection with lights (no rotary). There was no Joseph Howe Dr. I also remember when Joseph Howe was built and it was a fairly wide unpaved road that cut of the drive all thru Dutch Village, from DVR to DVR. Somewhere about that time Bayers Rd was built and I remember it was also a dirt road. When the Dominion Store opened on Bayers the road got paved.