[Halifax] The Roy Halifax | 71 m | 22 fl | Completed

[worldlyhaligonian]

Yeah, we've become used to developments being so fast, but they had to managed the facad and interior. Its far to slow regardless of this though. I think Starfish will continue to fix up the street long term.

[someone123]

It is too bad that the transition along Barrington is so slow and painful, but I think it will be a much better street in a couple of years. Without the painful renos nothing would have fundamentally changed and the street would have continued to slowly decline.

We'll have to wait and see what happens when these buildings open. I think the increase in the amount of modern, usable space will make a huge difference in terms of supporting a viable retail area. You can't really have a pedestrian-oriented shopping district that is only 1/3 usable storefronts.

[Drybrain]

Related to the Roy site and Vogue optical building, this story in the Herald is typically uninformative. Like reading tea leaves.

But it sounds like the reporter tried to get Reznick to reveal details, and Reznick sounds testy and unforthcoming. It's kind of funny, actually.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Looking at the aerial view: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=rf7...=b&form=LMLTCC it looks like the only logical answer is a big project that involves the entire space.

Quoting from the article: “The building is located within the heritage district. We are undertaking a large redevelopment surrounding the building and will make every effort to improve (both) the sites, the buildings, and to improve the design, while respecting all the heritage aspects and the site location.”

While vague, it does indicate that the heritage aspects are being kept in mind, but again it is vague, so who knows?

It looks to me like there is no question that the Roy Building will be demolished, unfortunately, but there is still a broad scope of where it could go from there.

Chuckling at another quote from the article (likely made while keeping the Morse's sign in mind): “Our first task was to remove the unsightly, large sign banner. Didn’t anybody notice?”

[scooby074]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Chuckling at another quote from the article (likely made while keeping the Morse's sign in mind): “Our first task was to remove the unsightly, large sign banner. Didn’t anybody notice?”

I saw that. Didnt find it that funny. Speaks volumes as to his attitude.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by scooby074

I saw that. Didnt find it that funny. Speaks volumes as to his attitude.

Not laughing with him, laughing at him...

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Not laughing with him, laughing at him...

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Just imagining the terse telephone interaction between him and the reporter. (Who, incidentally, wrote in January that Danny Chedrawe's Drum condo was "reminiscent of Toronto's flatiron building." So perhaps some laughs should be directed at both.)

[someone123]

Keep in mind that Halifax is also the sort of city where an article like this can be a call-to-arms for the STV types to get out their pitchforks. The lack of open dialogue isn't only the fault of developers.

It will be interesting to see what happens because I don't think it would be possible to extend the approved Roy heights to the Vogue building under HbD.

[RyeJay]

Originally Posted by someone123

Keep in mind that Halifax is also the sort of city where an article like this can be a call-to-arms for the STV types to get out their pitchforks. The lack of open dialogue isn't only the fault of developers.

It will be interesting to see what happens because I don't think it would be possible to extend the approved Roy heights to the Vogue building under HbD.

I would still like for the developer to try!

A smart move would be to re-use the facades. That would result in fewer pitchforks

[Duff]

The AllNS is reporting that the last retail store in the Roy Building, Props Floral Design, is moving to the Hydrostone Market in April. They will take over the space that Henhouse is leaving.

[ILoveHalifax]

Originally Posted by Duff

The AllNS is reporting that the last retail store in the Roy Building, Props Floral Design, is moving to the Hydrostone Market in April. They will take over the space that Henhouse is leaving.

GREAT - maybe we can get it knocked down now.

[Drybrain]

Here's a neat development in Edmonton that has some relevance to the Roy. A developer has rebuilt a 1903 hotel, which was torn down in the 80s to make way for an office building.

For whatever reason, large parts of the old facade were warehoused after demolition, so the developer was able to rebuild it on a vacant sitea block away.

If these guys could do this with partially preserved materials that have been in storage for 30 years, Starfish should be able to do at least as well with materials they'll be taking apart and handling themselves. (Makes me wish the bricks and stone from the New Customs House were sitting around in a warehouse somewhere.)

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

Here's a neat development in Edmonton that has some relevance to the Roy. A developer has rebuilt a 1903 hotel, which was torn down in the 80s to make way for an office building.

For whatever reason, large parts of the old facade were warehoused after demolition, so the developer was able to rebuild it on a vacant sitea block away.

If these guys could do this with partially preserved materials that have been in storage for 30 years, Starfish should be able to do at least as well with materials they'll be taking apart and handling themselves. (Makes me wish the bricks and stone from the New Customs House were sitting around in a warehouse somewhere.)

Now that is a cool project! I'd love to know the thought process behind storing the old pieces all these years, as I'm sure there was cost associated with it. It's great to see a project that combines old and new so effectively. Gives me hope that we could potentially see something similar around here... someday.

Thanks for posting this!

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

Now that is a cool project! I'd love to know the thought process behind storing the old pieces all these years, as I'm sure there was cost associated with it. It's great to see a project that combines old and new so effectively. Gives me hope that we could potentially see something similar around here... someday.

Thanks for posting this!

It's a weird thing—when I lived in Alberta, I remember hearing about a number of demolitions that involved disassembling and inventorying the facades for storage (like, numbering each brick) with no long-term plan. Maybe there are a lot of old facades all crated up in some warehouse in Red Deer or something.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

It's a weird thing—when I lived in Alberta, I remember hearing about a number of demolitions that involved disassembling and inventorying the facades for storage (like, numbering each brick) with no long-term plan. Maybe there are a lot of old facades all crated up in some warehouse in Red Deer or something.

I just did a quick search for more info on this intriguing project and came upon some old photos on this page, about three quarters down:

http://www.connect2edmonton.ca/forum...ead.php?t=1478

This was part of the development agreement:
"The Alberta Hotel, was dmolished when Canada Place went up. The developers, Trizec Hahn, posted a multi-milion dollar bond to pay for the dismantling of the historic Alberta Hotel, and its subsequent reconstruction. The rebuilding of this hotel was a long stalled portion of the Development Agreement (leagl stuff) for Canada Place. Only now has a suitable partner been found for the project, which was always intended to go ahead."

Looks like the pieces were stored outside:


More info:
http://zkahlina.ca/eng/2011/11/18/alberta-hotel-reborn/

[someone123]

The Granville Mall lions from the custom house in Halifax were apparently at one point sitting in a back yard in Timberlea.

I think more effort should go into saving and "reshuffling" heritage buildings. If you think about it, the cost of these projects is not very large compared to the cost of new developments. It could easily be offset by density bonuses.

[someone123]

There was an article in AllNS tonight speculating that Starfish is preparing to demolish the Roy Building, and that maybe now the Vogue building on the corner will be included as well.

My feelings on this one are pretty mixed to say the least. It will be really terrible if Barrington Street ends up with an enormous hole for 4 or 5 years (or longer), and there's been little or no public reassurance about how things will proceed. Halifax also doesn't have all that many fully-preserved blocks of pre-war masonry structures like this. In a lot of other cities I have a feeling that the Roy Building and Vogue would be preserved.

If the Roy Building comes down, it will be part of an uninterrupted string of 4 blocks of parking lots.

[Empire]

The Granville Mall side of the Delta Barrington was dismantled and then reconstructed as part of the hotel. The Barrington side is a bit boring "modern at the time" but the reconstructed side is vintage Halifax and was worthy of saving. If the Granville Mall side looked like the Barrington side it would have been a great loss.

This side of the Delta was dismantled and then reconstructed:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll=...12,296.05,,0,0

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by someone123

There was an article in AllNS tonight speculating that Starfish is preparing to demolish the Roy Building, and that maybe now the Vogue building on the corner will be included as well.

My feelings on this one are pretty mixed to say the least. It will be really terrible if Barrington Street ends up with an enormous hole for 4 or 5 years (or longer), and there's been little or no public reassurance about how things will proceed. Halifax also doesn't have all that many fully-preserved blocks of pre-war masonry structures like this. In a lot of other cities I have a feeling that the Roy Building and Vogue would be preserved.

If the Roy Building comes down, it will be part of an uninterrupted string of 4 blocks of parking lots.

It'll be an enormous scar on the street, that's for sure. I hope if they're ready to demolish they're also ready to rebuild, quickly. Navigating this, and the Discovery Centre, and the down-the-road Green Lantern reno (which is apparently to involve adding a couple of storeys) will be a very tricky time for Barrington. Depending how well the projects are executed, the street could come out the other much better--or worse.

I do find it a bit astonishing that Starfish has been granted a demolition permit with nothing but this one rendering and no real sense of what the facade reconstruction will involve, technically speaking. The contemporary tower portion feels a bit featureless as well. Or have I just missed some more detailed renderings?

Based on Starfish's other quality work on the street, I'm very cautiously optimistic. But a demolition of this scale is just...hard to get excited until I have a better sense what it will lend up like. (And how quickly we get there.)

EDIT: Also, if the Vogue building isn't part of the land parcel for which the agreement was issued, how can they take it down too?

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

EDIT: Also, if the Vogue building isn't part of the land parcel for which the agreement was issued, how can they take it down too?

The article simply stated that they're expected to ask for an amendment to include the Vogue property in the development. This introduces the possibility of added delays to the development, particularly if the amendment can be appealed to the NSUARB (I'm not sure how it works since this is a grandfathered DA that doesn't conform to HbD).

I'm cautiously optimistic too, but as far back as 2006 or 2007 many people believed that a bunch of these projects were imminent and that Barrington would "return to normal" after a couple of hard years of construction. Of course, a big part of the problem is that there was so little investment from about 1991-2005 that practically every building needed renos by that point. HRM has also made things much worse by promising and then delaying programs like the Barrington Street heritage district and streetscaping.

It's hard to overstate how much of the malaise along Barrington is a result of government meddling and mismanagement. There has been a tendency to explain Barrington Street as part of the narrative of the suburban flight of retail and so on but that has stopped in most North American cities. Along Barrington, scars like the George Street lot exist because the city purchased the lot in the early 90's, sat on it, then swapped it to the province. The city also paid to prop up the NFB facade, which in retrospect wasn't worth it considering the fact that it's been there for 20+ years. They should have either made something happen with that lot in the mid-90's or torn down the facade.

Anyway, this isn't Starfish's fault, and they do have a good overall track record downtown. I hope the Roy Building turns out well too.