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Two closely-linked developments at the intersection of Robie Street and Quinpool Road are currently working their way through the municipal planning process labyrinth. It’s early days, but what’s being proposed could dramatically alter one of Halifax’s most visible corners.
The Armco-owned APL Properties Ltd. is trying to build two towers, 12 and 28 storeys, at Quinpool and Parker Street. Right now, that spot houses a four-storey parking garage and a 10-storey office building. The current allowable height for the area is five stories on the western side and 14 on the east. What’s being proposed by APL is double the legal limit and three times the size of what’s in place now.
Next door, Westwood Development wants to build a 24-storey condo tower (six times the current allowable height of four storeys) at the former Cruikshank’s funeral home.
Obviously, it’s a bit of an increase.
“You look at what’s existing and what’s coming in the near future,” says Daniel Chedrawe with Westwood. “We felt this site really is conducive to higher density, higher heights. If a tall building here is not suitable, where is a tall building suitable in HRM? There is no other place.”
As a comparison, the Atlantica Hotel across the street on Quinpool is only 16 storeys high. As a better comparison, the house right smack dab behind the Armco property is two. It’s a ridiculous lack of transition between what’s in the community and what’s being planned. The proposed developments are going to dominate everything around them.
Or they will for right now. The way Chedrawe talks about it, Westwood (and likely APL) are banking on the upcoming sale of the former St. Patrick’s High School property next door. Whoever buys that site will want a large development of their own, and they’ll probably get it. Considering the money the city is spending on fixing up the space, it’ll want a return on its investment.
The St. Pat’s site, and the APL/Westwood developments, would by their very existence ratchet up the size of any future proposals. Suddenly, it’ll be the residential homes and smaller commercial structures that no longer meet those transition guidelines—that no longer belong in the neighbourhood.
A 2013 Stantec study prepared for HRM concluded there was already sufficient development capacity in the region to meet the city’s density targets. Meaning the current height allowances are still applicable to the ever-important idea of peninsula densification. The corner of Quinpool and Robie can be a thriving centre of life without having to blow up and redo the entire neighbourhood.
Chedrawe is right about one thing, though—that’s an ugly corner right now. No one’s going to argue one of most prominent, visible intersections in the city is best served by a soggy grey eyesore and an abandoned funeral home. But having a nice building doesn’t necessarily mean having the most building.
It’s likely why HRM staff highlighted so many concerns with the proposals in their report. Some, like shadows on the Common, seem silly but are important considerations. Westwood did take steps to alter their plans and create a narrower, taller tower in response. Chedrawe told me at the first of many public meetings on the project that taller and narrower buildings surprisingly produce less of a shadow than shorter, wider structures.
You’ll recall that Armco’s APL took a different tactic with staff’s recommendations, politely telling HRM to both sit on it and rotate.
Westwood and Armco seem to think they’re doing a service, dragging the city up by its zoning bootstraps. But Chedrawe doesn’t see it that way.
“We have one chance to do it right, and we don’t want to do it wrong,” he says. “It’ll be there for generations to come, and when I’m gone from here I don’t want to be looked back at as a terrible developer.”
You have until the end of the week to let HRM know your thoughts on the proposed developments via an online survey (available here). After that, the city will review the public’s input, hold more meetings, and eventually either approve or reject the development agreements (individually or in tandem).
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This article appears in Oct 2-8, 2014.
these would make that corner look fantastic
If there is going to be development anywhere in the HRM, it should be on peninsular Halifax! I’m sick of seeing 3 story, half a mile wide Condos in the middle of the goddamn woods! Aside from our outrageous levels of urban sprawl, we should be taking advantage of as many developments in central Halifax as we can to build up our sad city center. It’s about time we got some proper developments in this town.
Do it. Do it now.
Towering over the commons! Wow, try and make it out to be the demise of the green space. What difference does this make to the article? Development is good and the current buildings are 70’s eyesores. Will still be the coldest, wettest, windiest corner in all of Nova Scotia.
In the spirit of HRM ‘Development’, lets all jump on the bandwagon and derail these new projects as quickly as possible – With any luck they won’t be built at all!
The Captain will have lost his last inkling of hope for this city if another great development opportunity gets driven out of town by the usual Fire & Pitchfork gang…
Change = Not bad
Spending Money = Not Bad
Tearing down old buildings = Not bad
Building new buildings = Not Bad
Tall Buildings = Not Bad
Clinging to arbitrary and outdated by-laws and city planning guidelines = Bad
Building far too many sprawling apartment and condo developments outside the city = Bad
The belief that these new buildings will destroy neighborhoods or drive people away is foolish and unfounded.
@Captain
A few things you should know: Residents in all cities in this country can be NIMBYish at times, and Halifax is no worse than any others.
Tearing down old buildings is, very often, bad—and most developers and planners in other cities agree. Halifax isn’t alone in valuing heritage, and in fact we’re not even especially good at it.
Finally, planning rules regulating shadowing and density aren’t arbitrary or outmoded. And every city has them.
HOWEVER, I don’t really see anything wrong with these proposals. Armco is kind of being prickish, but Chedrawe’s plan seems fine. I too hope they get built, and I think they will.
Aye, Pigeon – Though those are things The Captain already knows…
To clarify: I didn’t mean having by-laws and zones established was an outdated practice, rather the specifics of our by-laws are what’s outdated.
“Tearing down old buildings is, very often, bad” – We could argue this point from both sides until we are both blue in the face – and both of us could present sound arguments for either the keeping of or destroying of outdated buildings; It depends on the building being torn down / it depends on what’s replacing it / it depends on what either building is constructed of / and so on… But, at the end of the day, every single building will eventually be demolished. The general statement that it’s better not to tear down old buildings is a little naive, IMO
Heritage, however, has nothing to do with my point or post, and less to do with the building on the corner of Robie & Quinpool… Some people will call anything old a ‘heritage’ item – others put stringent stipulations on the classification, requiring historic figures to have lived in the place, or a historic event to have happened there, and so on…
And so on…
“I too hope they get built, and I think they will.” – The Captain agrees
The sooner the ugly eyesores are torn down the better. The parking garage and office tower are blights on the landscape. I hope they are replaced by the proposed new structures.
Cue the usual suspects: retired sociology prof Beverly Miller, and left-wing nutjob “Solidarity Halifax” prof Judy Haiven over at Save the View of Shitville and Friends of the Commons to the rescue! Can we expect court injunctions against the developer soon? Like when Ecology Action Center filed a court injunction against Kings Warf for infilling the old Dartmouth shipyards oops I mean the “pristine coast line” ?
“It’s a ridiculous lack of transition between what’s in the community and what’s being planned.” Precisely. And this, like recent developments such as Harris East on a residential street, show a complete disregard for the fabric of the neighborhood.
I question whether there is really a demand for this many condo units. Condos do not create community for the newcomers and can be horrible for those who’ve established lives in the area. Urban social cohesion is a determinant of health. Forget love thy neighbour – what about KNOW thy neighbour.
PS – Was woken early this morning to symphony of condo construction in the Harris/Maynard area, before the Harris East developers were legally able to begin. The commons will be rendered enjoyable during the construction, not just once the buildings are erected.
According to a report on Save the View’s website, tall buildings cause crime, juvenile delinquency, and make people become neurotic!
@ rb395591 “I question whether there is really a demand for this many condo units.” Are you the one who is putting up your capital to build the thing?
HELP!! A capitalist is trying to create jobs and develop Nova Scotia!! Someone call Maude Barlow!!!
Am I the only one to post here who’s been to Central Park in New York ?
that space is surrounded by tall buildings, which gives the local residents easy access & you want to see that park fill up with people on nice days.
That’s IMO one great reason to put a big condo, apartment complex there. A nice green area for residents to use.
Instead of derailing them (the developers) …tell them, they have to also build a raised pedestrian crossing from the Commons over Robie street. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d make them build 2 of them one at the corner of Quinpool, & one further North at Welsford as part of their permit to build their new developments & make the crossings having to be in service before their buildings hit the 8th floor. That way each new building builds a new “safe” crossing across Robie ~;D
I do not know why people in Halifax have this phobia of tallish buildings (they are not even that tall really by comparison to the taller buildings of major cities). I am glad to now be living in Vancouver where people are not infected with this condition.