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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Evictions, closings and demolitions sweep through downtown

Historic Properties under provincial clean-up order

Posted by Tim Bousquet on Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 10:19 AM

Businesses are closing and buildings are coming down in the heart of downtown.

Perks: evicted

Perks Coffee next to the Halifax ferry terminal was closed abruptly Tuesday afternoon when a bailiff from the sheriff's department showed up with an eviction order, says Perks owner Marshia Inkpen, who Wednesday was seeking a court order to quash the eviction.

As of press time Wednesday, landlord Michel Lindthaler hasn't returned a call for comment, and the coffee house remains closed. We'll let the situation play out on our online Shoptalk section.

Historic Properties: business Closings

Next door, at Historic Properties, Just Us and Loaf and Ladle closed operations earlier this month after employees complained of "a strong chemical odour that resulted in symptoms including sore throat, headaches, nausea, fatigue and disorientation," according to a report written by Shelley Gray, an inspector with the provincial labour and workforce development department.

Gray could not find a definitive source for the smell, but noted several possibilities: cleaning agents used in the nearby women's washroom, sewer gasses backing up through a grease trap and rats in an adjacent pump room. She issued three orders to Armour Group Limited, landlord at Historic Properties; the firm must seal pipes in a dish pit area, implement a pest management program and monitor carbon dioxide levels in the mall.

Mike Foster, Armour's manager of the property, declined to comment. The chemical smell was still noticeable Monday afternoon. The work is to by completed by November 9.

O'Carrolls: to be gutted

Armour is also poised to begin razing the buildings across the street from Historic Properties to make way for construction of the controversial Waterside Centre development. Demolition workers were on site Monday, and O'Carroll's Restaurant and Irish Pub will close this weekend.

The Tim Hortons on Barrington at Sackville is closing this weekend as well, reportedly due in part to an oil spill in the basement.

Roy Building: to be gutted.

And councillor Dawn Sloane confirms that Lou Reznick, owner of several Barrington Street properties, will bring his proposal for the Roy Building before city council in November. Reznick wants to tear down the Roy, with the exception of its facade, and erect a 17-storey building in its stead.

Reznick also owns the old Sam the Record Man building across the street. The rear of that property has been leased by for the rear atrium section of Victor Syperek's Economy Shoe Shop. "He doesn't seem to know what he wants to do with the space," says Syperek of Reznick. "He won't sign a lease so our hands are tied."

Syperek, whose business is under creditor protection by order of the bankruptcy court (The Coast remains a creditor), is closing the atrium and putting his efforts into renovating the rest of the Shoe.

Herald Building: to be demolished

Lastly, one block up, workers are preparing for the demolition of the old Chronicle-Herald building. Expect it to start coming down within the next month.

Tags: Building, Eviction, Demolition, Development, Downtown, Halifax, Roy Building, Perks, Historic Properties, Herald Building, O'Carrolls, Michel Lindthaler, Mike Foster, Armour Group, Lou Reznick, Dawn Sloane, Victor Syperek, Perks Coffee

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Perks Coffee
- Waterfront 1781 Lower Water Street
- 429-9386
- (based on 3 user reviews)

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The Armour Group....Outlaws "R" us...Their next buy down town is the old Art College.As soon as all the right poeple , in the right places get get paid off BANG!! No more Art College down town.

Posted by Just David on October 31, 2009 at 11:52 AM | Report this comment

Shame about the atrium - it was the best part of the Shoe.

Posted by Murder Junkie on October 29, 2009 at 12:36 PM | Report this comment

nuff said

Posted by Riley Smith on October 29, 2009 at 10:18 AM | Report this comment

Knock them down before December 1 so that the next Assessment Roll ( due December 31 ) will show a lower value for the property and thus save money.
It's the law :

Assessment Act Sec 52 (1) On or before the thirty-first day of December in each year, the Director shall complete the roll and

(a) complete and sign a certificate in Form A in the Schedule to this Act and attach it to the roll; and

(b) forward the roll and certificate to the clerk.

(2) The assessment shown on the roll shall be the assessment that reflects the state of the property as it existed on the first day of December immediately preceding the filing of the roll.

Posted by Joeblow on October 28, 2009 at 2:47 PM | Report this comment

If only life were like Sim City......a timely Godzilla attack would do wonders to bump things along a bit.

In reality though it's more likely that global warming will come to a head, melt all of Greenland, shut down the Gulf Stream, start a new ice age, and the south-bound glaciers advancing at the unholy pace of meters per year will rush in, completely leveling the crumbling downtown core just MOMENTS after Council passes a motion to commission a study on the feasibility of implementing a sensitivity training program designed to teach councillors how to better work with entrenched commercial interests.

Just a thought.

Posted by scotianhobo on October 28, 2009 at 12:16 PM | Report this comment

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