Halifax council has decided 10 affordable housing units are worth more than 36. On Tuesday, councillors approved a motion moving forward with a 25-storey height for the proposed Willow Tree tower at the corner of Quinpool Road and Robie Street in exchange for some below-market rents and other public benefits. Previously on Willow Tree, a […]
Willow Tree
Posted inNews + Opinion
Cleary downplays Stroink conflict on Willow Tree
Ask Shawn Cleary about his friendship with Joachim Stroink and he’ll tell you something this town already knows. “In Halifax, it’s one-and-a-half degrees of separation,” he says. “Everybody knows everybody.” The councillor’s platonic relationship with Armco’s latest hired gun doesn’t raise any ethical or legal conflicts, he says, even as the development firm tries one […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Halifax is smarter than Vancouver and it’s time to prove it
When I left Vancouver a year ago to settle into my new life here in Halifax, I was so relieved to think of never having to speak in front of city council ever again. Seven long years of fighting for livability and affordable housing in Metro Vancouver left me drained, depressed and defeated. Leaving all […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Willow Tree roundabout: Verdict on polarizing development delayed
It’s either a landmark building that will put food on the tables of Halifax’s working-class, or a shakedown that’s anathema to positive urban design. Depends who you ask. Over 40 residents, planners and friends of the Common attended a public hearing Tuesday evening at City Hall to speak out both for and against Armco’s Willow […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
So does the Centre Plan exist or WTF?
Willow Tree is in limbo. Armco’s proposed tower at the corner of Robie Street and Quinpool Road was approved by Halifax Regional Council this past spring at a staff-recommended, Centre Plan-inspired height of 20 storeys. APL Properties, Armco’s development wing, came back to city hall last week saying 20 wouldn’t work. The company had been […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Council prunes Willow Tree development
What a difference a new council makes. After approving a 29-storey limit for the Willow Tree development last year—against the recommendation of planning staff—this week Halifax Regional Council voted to shrink that height restriction down to 62 metres (or about 20 storeys). George Armoyan’s Armco Captial, through its APL Properties, first proposed the development at […]