For the past 3-4 years I have been writing into newspapers, calling politicians, posting comments on forums and yes even creating useless bitches about the bullshit heritage groups holding back downtown development. Now that HRM city council has green lighted most of these pending developments I would like to see some fucking cranes on Halifax skyline. What is the point of battling Phil Pacey (Heritage guru) if your intentions are not to follow through on your development? Start building buildings or I am going to chain myself to one of Pacey’s buildings.
—OP of this bitch
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Downtown’s missing buildings
City Council’s rejection of the Waterside Centre is getting a lot of attention. But the real story of Halifax development involves lots of plans that have been approved–where re all those skyscrapers? And can we build a decent city without them?
This article appears in Sep 3-9, 2009.
At this point you probably wouldn’t see any new projects being started until the Spring anyway OP. Winter’s coming fast, and that pretty much puts a halt on these types of things, unfortunately.
I totally agree with the OP on this one. Where are the twisted sisters, the convention centre, the waterside centre, queens landing…on and on??? Winter doesn’t matter anymore…they can build these things rain, shin, snow or sleet. Why does Halifax insist on being a sleepy, deadbeat, dump of a city? FYI…condo buildings are not real development. They are apartment buildings with fancy names that are way overpriced in this market. Anyone under the age of 30 who stays in Halifax is retarded. Get the hell out while you still can.
It’s more an issue of whether the developers would make any money at this point. There has been a lot of talk regarding how the current average rent for commmercial space in downtown halifax is too low to support any kind of big developments. Yes, occupancy downtown is at record highs, but business in this town is pretty static. Furthermore, with lots of companies relocating to business parks where rent is even cheaper and some companies losing regional offices to offshoring and whatnot, I don’t think we’ll be seeing any major downtown developments any time soon. Much to my chagrin, I might add.
Two words: Barrington. Street.
I might add that I think Tim did a very nice article on this issue not too long ago… http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/downtowns-m…
Heathro, you hit the nail on the head with Barrington St. What a rundown shithole of a street. i am embarrassed every time I walk down it. Spring Garden isn’t that much better when you compare it to other cities…and the north end of HRM…barf. North St is like something our of a early 80s gang movie in the NYC ghetto. Lock your fuckin doors from the bridge up to the windsor street sobeys. it is no wonder there is no pride in HRM. The festivals we have suck so bad too. Jazz – a wtf joke? Greek – total joke. Buskers – same as every other cdn city only way shittier. get it togeher hrm or moncton will actually become better (not really – hell would have to freeze over for that to happen).
I would suggest waiting until the sewage problem is fixed before you chain yourself to Purdy’s Warf.
Dartmouth’s King’s Wharf is full steam ahead from the looks of the crews busy dismantling the old junk buildings and the infilling…
Don’t worry OP, these things take time and many of these projects will come soon enough. Halifax is only a city of just under 400,000 people so you can’t expect the massive, large-scale development scene in places like Toronto or Vancouver. Land development is very expensive and companies need to build up a lot of financing for these types of projects. Everything from the initial concept planning to the construction itself plus everything in between can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
On the other hand, look at what is happening at the moment: Dal is constructing a few new buildings and there’s that new one going up by Park Victoria, too. Lots of places being renovated, as well. Halifax is hardly a dump, and any amount of traveling to any other city will make you realize this. In particular, I don’t find downtown Barrington Street that bad to be honest. I like what that furniture store has done with that empty storefront… come on, you know the one I’m talking about.
We’ll see some condos built downtown, and maybe a hotel or two. But nothing much in the way of downtown office space– the new NS Power headquarters will actually free up about 100,000 square feet at present Emera Tower above Scotia Square, which will bring rents down even further, meaning still less pressure for new office construction.
Ben McCrea claims he has the finances worked out for the Waterside Centre– maybe he does, he’s self-financed and it’s a relatively small project and having one anchor tenant would do it. Still, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see even that delayed.
There’s a low vacancy rate, but that’s a little misleading, because a lot of space– I think it’s approaching 200,000 square feet– is subletted. That is, for whatever reason, big firms that had downtown space with long leases have vacated, and are getting at least some return by subletting it out on the cheap to whoever takes it. It’s counterintuitive, but that’s what’s driving rents down in a tight market.
Oh, and by the way, love him or hate him, Phil Pacey never had much to do with the lack of development downtown. Maybe a couple of projects, but there have been plenty of others with full approval for many, many years.
I’d question why anyone has a hard-on for skyscrapers, just in the abstract. Personally, I think there can be situations when they’re desirable, and situations when they’re not. But they’re not much directly related to the overall economic or social health of a city.
“”Don’t worry OP…..many of these projects will come soon enough.””
Huh?
Why on earth would anyone actually want a bunch of skyscrapers and massive complexes here anyway?
How about concentrating on making Halifax a more pleasant place to live, using the buildings you already have? It sounds to me like the whinging of students and young ‘uns that want what they see as the “glamour” and urban “city-scapes” of a Toronto (yechh) or a NYC (yechher!)…without actually to move to these places and leave behind mom’s washer and dryer, and dad’s help with the rent!
Big, tall “modern” buildings don’t make a cool city…London and Paris have very few for instance, while Kuala Lumpur and Dubai are over-run with them. They don’t make a city exciting and interesting, IMO…they’re just giant corporate billboards, filled with unhappy sheep working in cubicles, while the boss-men inhabit entire floors…
..suckers!
Well, every city is different. New York City has its charms, imo. As does Paris, obviously.
It’s interesting that besides the glaring exception of Frankfurt, European cities generally don’t have much in the way of skyscrapers, and yet they have greater population densities than American or Canadian cities. I don’t know how much I trust Wiki, but it says that Paris has a density of 25,360 /km², while NYC has a density of 842.3/km2 (I’ll concede that it depends on where you draw the boundaries, but I think that’d favour NYC over Paris. Not sure.)
It’s entirely subjective, of course, but I’ve found Europeans cities generally have a higher livability than do our cities. We’d do well to emulate them, imo.
Frosty said it well. Yes, a bunch of fancy skyrises would compensate for the garbage and smelly harbour, but how does it benefit the average person who doesn’t work like a ”sheep” in those towers? ….Chew on that. In the meantime, I’ll continue with my un-blocked, lovely view of Dartmouth from the Citadel.
Emulate European cities, are you kidding me? Living in cramped, dingy, old buildings, many of which are falling apart (you need to get out of the prettied-up city centres and to the areas where most everyday people actually live to see this) with ancient electrical and plumbing systems, while still paying through the roof to live there? I have family living in different parts of Europe and they don’t think it’s as great as some people here make it out to be. Some European countries are worse than others, of course – Italy seemed to have particularly poor living standards for a Western European country, in my opinion.
Most Europeans, on the other hand, visit us here in Canada and marvel at how spacious it is, how modern our cities are, and how much happier we are. Why are there so many Germans deciding to retire and live in Nova Scotia? Not only do they find it cheap, they also think it’s absolutely beautiful. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
As for skyscrapers, most major European cities do have them, but just outside the main part of the city. Canary Wharf in London and La Défense in Paris, for example. I imagine the relatively low population density of Paris is likely due to the fact that the official Paris city boundaries only include the main part of the city. Also from Wiki:
“The city of Paris, within its administrative limits largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated population of 2,167,994 (January 2006), but the Paris aire urbaine (or metropolitan area) has a population of 11,769,433 (January 2006), and is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe.”
Anyway, not meaning to sound like a douche or talk like I’m an expert. These are all just my opinions scattered with some possible facts and I too could very well be wrong, of course!
Finally, for the record, I looooovvvvveee tall buildings! They can have some great architecture to them when designed properly (at least they’re not building the massive, ugly concrete bunkers like they were in the 1960s and 1970s… hello Fenwick Place). Great way to cut down on urban sprawl while still allowing cities to grow as well, by the way.
What makes you think people are unhappy living in ancient buildings with old plumbing and electrical…assuming it works that is, lol?
What is it about us North Americans that everything has to be shiny and brand new to be good? A shiny new car, a new spacious condo in a boring (but new!) subdivision, new buildings downtown? Good grief.
We weren’t talking about “falling apart’ and decrepit here, we’re talking about “cool”…which IMO translates to “interesting/exciting/historical/eclectic and so forth…
I mentioned London and Paris, not Belgrade and Istanbul! And the “run-downess” of any part of any city is generally a function of poverty and ghetto-izing…the only difference is that in NA we have many decrepit inner-cities, where in the EU they have re-gentrified their city centers.
…The Germans come here to buy property, q, not because it is more “interesting”, but because the wide open land, including entire islands is relatively very cheap (and of course many Germans have kin here)…in fact, many Nova scotians sold their homesteads and acreages to Germans when the mark was VERY strong in the 80’s and 90’s for a pittance! and we’re still doing it…
But you’re right…if you have relatives in the EU, especially younger ones – I expect they think they would LOVE to move to Canada…until they got here and were arrested for drinking in the park, smoking a joint, going to the beach in a storm, topless on the beach, parking facing the wrong way, speeding at only 60 mph and so on and so! They would also wonder why everyone was so conservative, and where are the movie stars, lol!? and why is eveyone so fat and ugly!?…
…. Europeans tend to have a very “Hollywood” image of NA, even Canada, can you believe it. we do the same in reverse…we have a very historic and gothic view of Eruope…but guess what? It doesn’t disappoint!
(parts of) Canada may have great wide-open spaces, fishing, hunting, access to good harbours for sailing etc etc….you’re right, and Europeans envy us that, although how many Haligonians make full use of these things on a regular basis anyway?
Naw, big high-rises with elite and over-priced high rents and drive-to sterile shopping centers like Bayers Lake are a scourge to culture if you ask me. Many, probably most EU cities for instance have a completely pedestrianized city center, bike lanes, and top rate public transit…although in the UK they still complain, but you can go ANYWHERE by transit, anywhere! And, of course, for OAP’s it’s FREE!, …anywhere in the country…beat that, NS…
Halifax needs to do better with the stuff she has before building big modern south-east Asia style buildings, just to excite the young ‘uns!
You see, first you need to attract someone to come here and lease them! It ain’t “If we build it, they will come!”
“”You see, first you need to attract someone to come here and lease them! It ain’t “If we build it, they will come!” “”
Is that an oxy?…………moron!
1st: Attract.
2nd: Lease.
3rd: Then Build?
Hmmm.
Most development of any volume is speculative……….Yes….it is exactly: “If we build it, they will come!”
Very very few development deals involving commercial and residential occupancies are pre-attracted and pre-leased in HRM. You might get a small percentage as such in a larger project…………but shit…………….your full of it!
It’s the economy stupid (as the phrase goes). Until things settle down a developer would be crazy to start new projects, unless they had ready made tenants.
I don’t see the Germans building many skyscrapers in Cape Breton.
They should. Everyone knows the Germans make good stuff.
The Germans have purchased massive amounts of land in Cape Breton and are currently undergoing a 10 year project to develop golf-courses, spas, restaurants and over 300 amazing houses (I know this because my uncle is the construction foreman and I’ve had a tour). This is taking place on the Louisbourg Highway and if anyone knows where that is, knows its not exactly a highly populated area. No skyscrapers as I know of yet but as a result of the Germans coming to CB the entire highway between Sydney and Louisbourg has been re-paved. Mind you they are also distroying a massive area of trees… I suppose thats the pros and cons of such an investment.
Might as well golf if you can’t mine coal. Cape Breton is beautiful and more amenities for wealthy tourists isn’t a bad idea. Too bad it has to be the Germans investing in our province rather than ourselves.
Germans aren’t bad people. A bit weird, but generally friendly and good-hearted. It’d be cool if they started building some Autobahns here, too (with bike lanes of course). They can keep their weird pooing porn to themselves though.
It’s largely because of richer nations with high real estate values that WE can’t invest in our own provincial land.
They have driven up the value of our land because they’ll pay anything, it all seems cheap to them, a great deal. Prices rise.
Personally, I think it should be illegal for foreigners to come, buy, and yet not live here.
Come…….yes, buy………sure, but……….stay here fella and become part of our economy…….don’t just suck it dry from afar!
If you were a developer……….would you build when the economy was flat out and prices at their peak and everybodys’ schedules jam packed …….or when prices for engineering, labour, supplies, services, etc were less expensive because lots of folks are hungry to work?
A developer would be crazy like a fox to start a development now when savings of up to 15% is an easy pitch.
Capital is the cheapest it’s been in a long time and it’s not forecast to take any sharp increases for years. 20 million $ projects take about 3 years to complete. Where do you think the economy will be on opening day?
Your thinking like a small consumer, not a developer my little Tim Bro.
Getting tenants signed into contract now would be quite hard to do……….. because those little tenants think like you, small & scared.
3 years from now when the economy is well back on track……..there Smee is with a brand new handsome building ready to lease………that’s good timing……..not crazy. Tim Bro wants to start thinking about the development on my opening day………….sucker!
Your opening day will be just in time for the next economic stagger.
I bet you buy high and sell low too!
Yes the interest rates etc are good now but that’s only a part of it. You also have to get people to use it and make a profit. Don’t believe that crap about if you build it they will come. Look at Mirabel and Euro-Disney, time share and other grandoise plans that failed. That’s not negativism, it’s reality, don’t confuse the two.
Miles, you are not the Shamwow guy, but the comment made me laugh nonetheless. Well played sir.
“”Most development of any volume is speculative……….Yes….it is exactly: “If we build it, they will come!”””
Smee, you’re a bit off the mark here bro’, even with the clever name-calling, you’re wrong. I suggest starting with the great Coast article that was linked to above, before making a further fool of yourself. No-one, NO-ONE is going to build in HRM (or anywhere else) without having lined up at least half the tenants ahead of time. It’s how they get finacing for the build…
Why do you think these developments are on hold?
“If you build it they will come!!” HAHAHA….
Jesus H. Christ Smee, I hope you don’t go into property development! Stick to making coffee…
LMAO
Too late.