[Halifax] Strawberry Hill FGN & Area Developments

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by kph06

Source: Halifax Club Suites (Cushman & Wakefield Atlantic)

This could potentially be awesome, but if it involves gutting the Halifax Club's interior and turning it into a nothing more than a facade, I'm a nay--there are only so many of these grand interiors left in the city. Surely this development could incorpoate most or all of the actual Halifax Club building, even if it means a more facade-y approach to the Granville side.

[fatscat]

Originally Posted by kph06

Another interesting future project:

Strawberry Hill Future Growth Node

Great news! Just hope these growth nodes can execute over a reasonable time frame. I recall the timelines for the Mumford growth node being ~25 years, absurd!

Whenever I go up Strawberry Hill it's mostly full of parked cars. Somehow the few businesses (like the coffee shop) survive. No idea how, maybe rent is cheap.

Thank you for sharing.

[Jonovision]

Originally Posted by kph06

Another interesting future project:

Strawberry Hill Future Growth Node

I love to see all these new high density areas coming a long but where is the transit people?!
You can't have a city growing the way Halifax is without some sort of comprehensive plan for higher order transit.

[Keith P.]

I think in this case this is not much more than a concept. Steele is not a big player in the property development sector. At least not yet. Much thinking and design is still needed.

With this entire area in play though, various transit options become feasible, or at least would if this were not Halifax. Options beyond the usual buses-caught-in-gridlock could be considered. The other issue here is that this site is on the side of a steep hill so it really is not all that walkable except for the very fit and healthy. Moving from the lower section to the areas on Windsor St at the top would require some internal people-moving capability in most places to defeat the hill.

[AnotherNorthender]

The FGN on Strawberry Hill/Windsor is going to Council for its first discussion tomorrow. I think this has a lot of good things going for it - any thoughts???

https://www.halifax.ca/city-hall/reg...gional-council

[fatscat]

It will likely be trimmed down, and the timelines to get most of it built will be decades long.

As per Keith, I think a higher-order transit plan is necessary for this to even begin to move forward. The situation on the Peninsula is growingly dire, and this particular area isn't one which I can see many people walking to work. Biking and transit, yes, but only if the options are available, reliable, and safe.

[AnotherNorthender]

My apologies - I didn't see this was already posted

[Keith P.]

So much tall! This will certainly cause the globe to spin off its axis!!!

Seriously, I find it unusual that the tallest buildings are proposed for the highest points on the parcel. I think the tallest there I saw was 38 storeys. This would become quite the landmark development for entry to the peninsula.

It appears the major (60+%) owner of land here is a subsidiary of TD Bank.

I wish I could say that this would be a major motivator to fixing the many transit and road infrastructure issues in the area, but I doubt very much that it will occur given that this is HRM. They might build a bike lane or two.

[eastcoastal]

Originally Posted by Jonovision

I love to see all these new high density areas coming a long but where is the transit people?!
You can't have a city growing the way Halifax is without some sort of comprehensive plan for higher order transit.

I agree completely - accommodating growth has to extend beyond the buildings... I can't see how cramming more private vehicles onto the existing street network will work very well. I assume some will work from home and others might avail themselves of the existing transit network... but, just like I think cramming more cars on the same streets is poor planning, so is cramming more people onto the same busses.

[Drybrain]

Originally Posted by eastcoastal

I agree completely - accommodating growth has to extend beyond the buildings... I can't see how cramming more private vehicles onto the existing street network will work very well. I assume some will work from home and others might avail themselves of the existing transit network... but, just like I think cramming more cars on the same streets is poor planning, so is cramming more people onto the same busses.

Even without higher order transit, existing routes can scale in frequency with population, and I doubt this will go ahead without some significant thinking from the city about how to adjust service levels for it. The fact is that if you want to have the least impact on auto traffic, this is the kind of place to build: somewhere that is relatively walkable and which is easy to serve with transit. 3,500 units here will generate fewer and shorter car trips than 3,500 units spread in smaller developments spread all over the place, farther away.

[fatscat]

Our disjointed BRT "network" is mostly under utilized ATM, I think. I pass through Bayers Rd daily and I only sometimes see a bus running through there, despite that being part of the "spine" that makes up the proposed BRT.

Looking at the system map, only a few of routes take that way, rest stuffing themselves with traffic on Mumford/Chebucto or the Windsor St. Exchange

My hope is that as more BRT is built out, ridership continues to increase, and fleet management (eg staff retention/hiring) is under control, this can be better utilized. Right now it feels dead especially in comparison to the amount of vehicular traffic.

[Musquodoboit County]

Isn't density for fighting against urban sprawl?
You can have suburbs galore and eight lane freeways bringing them all into the city to work....or you build density so people can bike or walk to work.

[TheCuriousMind]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I think in this case this is not much more than a concept. Steele is not a big player in the property development sector. At least not yet. Much thinking and design is still needed.

With this entire area in play though, various transit options become feasible, or at least would if this were not Halifax. Options beyond the usual buses-caught-in-gridlock could be considered. The other issue here is that this site is on the side of a steep hill so it really is not all that walkable except for the very fit and healthy. Moving from the lower section to the areas on Windsor St at the top would require some internal people-moving capability in most places to defeat the hill.

A staircase, perhaps?

In all seriousness, steeper gradients on city streets do indeed become a hindrance to the frail or disabled, but when you mention a people-moving capability to defeat the hill, would it not suffice simply to have a well-planned transit network such that those who would be challenged by the geography could enter the transit vehicles at the low points?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

This could potentially be awesome, but if it involves gutting the Halifax Club's interior and turning it into a nothing more than a facade, I'm a nay--there are only so many of these grand interiors left in the city. Surely this development could incorpoate most or all of the actual Halifax Club building, even if it means a more facade-y approach to the Granville side.

I agree. Had the opportunity to go through the Halifax Club a few years back during Open Doors and the interior is quite nice and well preserved. It would be a shame to gut it out and only leave the facade like wallpaper (like the Dennis, which apparently didn't have much vintage interior features left, so say some).

[Arrdeeharharharbour]

While I agree completely that the transit planners should take site topography into consideration when choosing transit stops, I also think that Transit/HRM can't take-on complete responsibility for all citizens in this regard. I would hope that anyone that would be overly challenged by steep grades would simply choose to live somewhere else or arrange their own personal transportation whether it be Access-a-bus or other. And of course anyone able to walk the steep grade would benefit from the exercise and stay healthy longer.

[Dmajackson]

The FGN initiation report was approved at Regional Council last night so this is moving forward for planning and public consultation over the coming years.

I've made a thread and since there is a new development starting immediately adjacent to the FGN boundary I've made it a catch-all thread for the larger community. For simplicity we'll say this thread is for discussing any developments within 500 metres of the intersection of Windsor Street & Connaught Avenue.

7 Floors | 117 Units | Residential | $21.0M | 3521 Windsor Street, Halifax | Unknown

[Dmajackson]

Demolition permit for the second residential building at 3521 Windsor was issued last week.

[Nouvellecosse]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Demolition permit for the second residential building at 3521 Windsor was issued last week.

Feels so weird to hear about it being demo'd because I lived there. In fact, it was the first place I lived when i moved to the HRM. Although it looks very different now than back then since now it has that (imo) ugly beige/taupe stucco whereas back then it was a rich brown brick. Streetview doesn't go back far enough to see when the front was like that but you can still see it on the sides if you look at 2015 or earlier.