The Planning & Design Centre Newsletter
ISSUE 004 • NOVEMBER 2010
Many projects in the Halifax Regional Municipality are currently underway, some are just starting to be discussed, some are now coming to light and seeking public approval, others are approved but not yet evident on the ground. At least one went from its status as an approved project to simply becoming another empty site. Obviously there are also several projects under construction changing the skyline and streetscapes at this very moment. There are also plans recently approved, Functional Plans on the horizon and studies underway. Not to mention, working groups (within City Hall), Task Forces and Commissions, Corporations, Boards and Citizen Interest Groups.
Issue 004 Sponsors:
WMFARES G R O U P
Plans, projects, studies and infrastructure investments (in the centre and the suburbs, both grandfathered and parentless) are largely isolated pursuits and frequently not seen as part of a complex interrelated whole. The truth is that projects depend on each other. That each project and infrastructure investment affects everything else and all of us. Every project in every part of this region and every plan is an opportunity for innovation and creativity. Each project, every expectation has the potential to distinguish us, to build on what makes us special, to improve the quality of our community and thereby attract more residents, tourist and investment. We have to expect the best and demand creativity and quality.
The Planning & Design Centre is dedicated to three simple principles: 1. That access to information is of primary importance. To increase awareness and improve the quality of design information about projects and plans needs to be current, in one place and highly visible. 2. That an ongoing forum for public discussion and exhibitions is key to raising expectations, overcoming established polarized views, establishing a design culture and shaping our own future. 3. That developing high quality, sustainable infrastructure requires leadership, innovation and an advocate. SEEK is the newsletter for the PDC. It is a small part of that first principle. This fourth issue is dedicated to current development in the central area. It’s hoped that even this limited picture might serve as the basis for more informed discussion. The next issue will expose the connection between the centre and the region by focusing on transportation. We continue to be dedicated to the idea that planning and design need to be more visible. That development is not innately good or bad, but rather what we are able to make of it. That the future of this city cannot be contained or constrained by a plan, a project or any momentary setback. That the only limit is the reach of our collective imagination.
Templeton Properties Michael Napier Architecture Fenwick Tower
Fenwick Tower A $100 million retrofit and redevelopment is in the works for Fenwick Tower. The 41-year old, 33-storey Brutalist tower, the tallest building in Atlantic Canada, was a Dalhousie student residence for 38 years. New owners, Templeton Properties, plan to convert it to mid to high range apartments with the possibility of condominium units, and 10% allotted to affordable housing. The new mixed-use development is a candidate for LEED certification and includes green roofs, a grey water system and a pedestrian corridor inspired by Halifax’s Hydrostone District that will be lined with shops, restaurants and public art. Development plans include adding a 36’ wide addition to the existing tower along its entire height and reclading the tower in glass curtain walls, 2 additional commercial/residential towers (8 and 9 stories respectively) 6 townhouses along Fenwick Street and low-rise commercial buildings along the pedestrian corridor. The development has received positive feedback with regards to both the design and the consultation process used in its development. A series of workshops and open houses took place in the fall of 2009. The developers were applauded for starting the process with a clean slate; using an inclusive, democratic process and responding to public input. Templeton Properties has made an application to amend the MPS and LUB to allow for a mixed-use re-development of the site through the development agreement process.
Farmers Markets of Nova Scotia Cooperative Lydon Lynch Architecture Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market
Seaport Farmers’ Market The Seaport Farmers’ Market opened its doors as scheduled in August. The new market was a major renovation, $12 million, of Halifax Port Authority (HPA) Shed 20. The market will be leased from the HPA to the Halifax Farmers’ Market cooperative for $2.25 million for the next 40 years. A candidate for LEED Platinum certification, the Seaport Farmers’ Market is one of the greenest buildings in North America. Designed by local architecture firm Lydon Lynch, the market retains the original support beams and ceiling trusses of the original shed and incorporates a variety of green techniques including geothermal heating, green roofs and a green interior wall, mini wind turbines and rainwater harvesting. Building features include an accessible roof platform with demonstration plots for urban agriculture, 4 built-in storefronts, an outdoor area for vendors and a public gathering plaza. The market has received funding from all three levels of government and has raised $1.8 million through its Farmers’ Market Investment Cooperative which has been certified as a community economic investment fund and allows investors provincial tax breaks for investing their RRSP’s. Additional funds are created through rental fees paid by vendors. Starting in November, the Seaport Farmers’ Market will be open: • • • •
Saturday: 7am-4pm Sunday: 8am-4pm Wednesday: 8am-4pm Friday (International & Farmers’ Market): 10am-7pm
HRM Fowler Bauld & Mitchell Ltd. Schmidt Hammer Lassen Halifax Central Library
Halifax Central Library The design team for the Halifax Central Library has been selected and the public consultation process is underway. Fowler Bauld & Mitchell Architects (Halifax) along with Dutch architects shmidt hammer lassen will lead the project. The highest bidding team at $4.3 million, they were selected from four short-listed architecture teams. The Halifax Central Library site is on the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street where presently there is a gravel parking lot. The Central Library falls under the HRM by Design guidelines and is restricted in height to 27m. A public open space within the 21m setback from Spring Garden Road will provide a venue for special events and festivals. The library at 109,000 square feet will cost an estimated $55 million and will include a larger book collection, additional meeting rooms and computers as well as a 250-seat auditorium. To date, four public consultation sessions out of a series of five have been conducted. The first session was predesign, the second session reviewed conceptual design sketches resulting from previous public input and the third session revealed the conceptual design with sketches and models. Promotions for the first public consultation included sidewalk chalk art and a knit-in that resulted in a hand knit cozy for a tree on the site with pockets that held event invitations. The next public consultation session is November 4 (please see our events guide for more info).
1 3
2
4
6
1 The Armour Group Ekistics Planning & Design, Sasaki Associates, Inc. Queens Landing
4 Centennial Group WZMH Architects Salter Street Block
2 ECL Developments Zeidler Partnership Architects International Place
5 YMCA of Greater Halifax /Dartmouth Michael Napier Architecture New Halifax YMCA
3 Starfish Properties David F. Garrett Architecture Barrington Espace
6 Nova Scotia Power WZMH Architects Nova Scotia Power, Corporate Office Facilities
HRM by Design Neighbourhood Greenprint Halifax’s Regional Plan, adopted in 2006, called for a Regional Centre Urban Design Study, now known as HRM by Design. The Regional Centre is defined by the Halifax Peninsula and downtown Dartmouth within the circumferential highway. The study has two parts: A new plan for downtown Halifax, as well as a document intended to give structure and guidance to other Regional Centre neighbourhood planning processes. This document is known as the Neighbourhood Greenprint. Its purpose is to encourage sustainable neighbourhood design by offering design-based guidelines calling for appropriately and sensitively scaled development. Currently HRM, when compared to cities of a similar size, has some of the lowest levels of population density. Eventually, all communities in the Regional Centre will update their plans. The Neighbouhood Greenprint aims to give structure to this process while curbing sprawl by getting more people to live and work in Halifax’s core. When finished, the Neighbourhood Greenprint will be comprised of four sections: Background and Vision, Reurbanization Strategies and Urban Design Guidelines, Design Guidelines for the Model Building Typologies, and Implementation Strategies. The Urban Design Task Force, in association with consultants, have been working to translate the lessons learned from the HRM by Design public forums into constructive guidelines that can be used by subsequent planning processes. The process is ongoing, and how the document gets turned into action is under development.
Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District Update The Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District regulations were passed just over a year ago as part of the suite of policies included in HRM by Design’s Downtown Municipal Planning Strategy. The creation of the Heritage Conservation District includes an incentive program to encourage investment. HRM staff have recommended that Council award $200,000 in grants and $1,018,686 in tax credits spread over eight eligible restoration projects. HRM expects to recoup the tax credit losses with greater tax assessment from the renovated properties. The first year of the District being in effect has not been without controversy. A ‘drafting error’ is being blamed for holding up two projects that had been grandfathered into the new planning strategy. During the planning process, four projects were ‘grandfathered’ into the HRM by Design documents, meaning they were allowed to proceed under the regulations in place at time the proposal was filed. The drafting error occurred because two projects, a development proposed on the site of the Roy Building, and another on the site of the Discovery Centre, were grandfathered in to the new Downtown MPS but not the Heritage Conservation District legislation. Since the proposals do not meet the new height limits imposed by the Heritage Conservation District guidelines, Council has no way to approve them, meaning they are unable to fulfill their original intention of allowing the proposals to be considered. To rectify this situation, HRM council is considering amendments to the Heri-
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tage Conservation District regulations; if these amendments are approved, both projects will be considered under development agreements that require a public hearing, giving the people of Halifax a chance to voice their opinions about the projects. Hali-FACTS Total population of HRM (1976): 278,500 people Total population of HRM (2001): 359,090 people Total population of HRM (2006): 372,679 people Projected population of HRM by 2030: 472,679 people Total number of households in HRM (1976): 84,900 Total number of households in HRM (2001): 150,100 Total number of households in HRM (2006): 155,045 Projected number of new households in HRM (2026): 58,750 Total land area within Regional Centre: 8,000 acres Vacant land in Regional Centre: 250 acres Percentage of HRM jobs in the Regional Centre: 50% Number of major academic institutions in the Regional Centre: 6 Number of built projects in the downtown completed since the year 2000: 6 Amount of public dollars allocated to the proposed Convention Centre: $159 million Amount of public dollars allocated to the new Halifax Central Library: $53 million Sources: HRM Baseline Report, Statistics Canada, HRM Regional Plan, The Coast
New Halifax YMCA // 13 and 17-storey mixed-use commercial/hotel/residential The YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth Michael Napier Architecture $300 million 500,000 sq ft newhalifaxymca.ca Trinity Church site // hotel and residential Templeton Developments
City Centre Atlantic // 5-storey residential addition Dexel Developments Ltd Michael Napier Architecture $18 million 100,000 sq ft
Nova Centre // Convention centre, 14-storey office a Rank Inc Noel Fowler Architect $300 million 1,200,000 sq ft novacentre.ca / conventioncentreinfo.com
International Place // 22-storey mixed-us ECL Developments Ltd Zeidler Partnership Architects 660,000 sq ft
Morse Tea Building // retail and o Starfish Properties
Waterside Centre // 9-storey o The Armour Group Lydon Lynch Architects 85,500 sq ft $16 million hpwatersidecentre.ca
TD Building Exp TDB Halifax Ho Anwyll Fogo Arc $20 million 200,000 sq ft halifaxdowntown
ISSUE 004 • NOVEMBER 2010
NEW DEVELOPMENTS MAP
and 18-storey hotel
se office
0
50 100
Proposed
250
Proposed (application in) Approved Under Construction
Barrington Espace // 5-storey mixed-use retail and office Starfish Properties Ltd David F. Garrett Architects First application to be approved through HRM by Design starfishproperties.ca 34,600 sq ft Roy Building Site // 16-storey mixed-use Starfish Properties Ltd DRSA Envision Architecture 268,000 sq ft
office
office building with retail
pansion // office oldings Ltd chitects Ltd
n.ca
Discovery Centre 14-storey retail/office or retail/office/residential 1595 Investments Ltd Duffus Romans Kundzins Rounsefell Architects Ltd $30 million 112,000 sq ft
United Gulf Towers // two 27-storey mixed-use towers United Gulf Developments Hariri Pontarini Architects 661,000 sq ft $180 million hariripontarini.com
Queen’s Wharf // mixed-use waterfront development The Armour Group Ltd Ekistics Planning & Design / Sasaki Associates, Inc. $200 million queenslanding.ca NFB Site 4-storey residential with street-level commercial Costa Elles and Chris Tzaneteas David F. Garrett Architects $11 million Salter Block // 12-storey mixed-use retail/condominium/hotel The Centennial Group WZMH Architects $100 million Birmingham Street // 4-storey commercial tower 552,421 sq ft DSRA Envision Architecture wzmh.com Westwood Developments Ltd. $10 million 20,000 sq ft
Chicken Burger // Restaurant Mickey MacDonald 20,000 sq ft
Brewery Market South // 4 sites with a mix of residential, Office and commercial Halkark Properties Ltd.
Victoria Suites // 10-storey residential with retail Dexel Developments Ltd Michael Napier Architecture $16 million 100,000 sq ft Nova Scotia Power Inc Headquarters WZMH Architects $53.4 million 160,000 sq ft Expected to open Spring 2011 nspower.ca
Halifax Central Library Halifax Regional Municipality Fowler Bauld & Mitchell $55 million 108,000 sq ft Expected to open 2014 halifaxcentrallibrary.ca
Seaport Farmers’ Market Farmers’ Market Investment Cooperative Lydon Lynch Architects $12 million 42,000 sq ft halifaxfarmersmarket.com The Trillium // 19-storey mixed-use residential WM Fares Group $30 million 230,000 sq ft3 Expected completion June 2011 thetrillium.ca Fenwick Tower Redevelopment // mixed-use residential/commercial Templeton Properties Ltd Michael Napier Architecture $100 million fenwicktower.ca
Municipal Tax Yield Summary
seeking Collaborators
Events
Altus Group was engaged to estimate municipal taxes per type of square footage that would be charged for new development. A formula was developed, applicable to any development that assigned the following low/high taxes per square foot: Office $9.00/$10.50; Retail $9.00/$17.00; Hotel $4.25/$6.25; Residential Condominium $4.00/$6.00; Multi-Unit Residential $1.25/$1.75; Parking $345/$460 per space. Types of square footages were, where possible, obtained from the developer, or estimated. Developments were then assigned a total annual municipal tax value, using the Altus Group formula. These estimates are meant to give a realistic range of the tangible value to the municipal tax base. The timing of construction, as well as the final composition of type of square footage would impact these estimates. Actual taxes would only be realized by charging the municipal tax rate to the assessment of the final project.
November 26 at 6:00pm Critical Mass Bike Ride Victoria Park Corner of Spring Garden & South Park November 30 at 6:00pm Halifax Regional Council regular session Halifax City Hall 1841 Argyle Street 902.490.4210 December 1 at 12:00pm Ciclovia Working Group meeting Cities & Environment Unit offices 5257 Morris Street 902.494.3678 December 7 at 6:00pm Halifax Regional Council regular session Halifax City Hall 1841 Argyle Street 902.490.4210
Have ideas on how to make Halifax a better place? Public participation is critical to successful development. There’s opportunity to get involved at various scales; have your say at the project, policy, or social level. At the project level, development projects of a certain size are required to have public engagement sessions. Keep an eye out for notices in the newspaper advertising public engagement sessions. You can also have your say at the policy level. Plan amendments require a public hearing, and that gives you a chance to speak directly to Council, whether to offer your support or opposition.
December 15 at 12:00pm Sustainable Transportation Task Force Cities & Environment Unit offices 5257 Morris Street 902.494.3678
The table below outlines estimated tax yields for proposed, approved and under construction developments. Development
Low
High
Nova Centre*
$3,433,000
$6,271,000
City Centre Atlantic
$525,000
$775,000
Espace
$311,000
$447,000
Waterside
$752,000
$943,000
TD
$810,000
$990,000
Discovery Centre
$1,028,000
$1,245,000
International Place
$3,696,000
$4,746,000
Roy Building
$2,356,000
$2,890,000
TexPark
$2,729,000
$3,984,000
Queens Landing
$1,881,000
$2,514,000
$252,000
$420,000
$1,437,000
$2,359,000
Chicken Burger
$180,000
$254,000
Victoria Suites
$173,000
$226,000
$1,474,000
$1,726,000
Seaport Market
$414,000
$756,000
Trillium
$867,000
$1,305,000
Cunard Block
$838,000
$1,343,000
YMCA
$1,830,000
$2,617,750
Brewery Market
$1,180,000
$1,914,000
Total
$27,739,358
$39,460,770
NFB Salter Block
NSPI
*Not including the convention centre
There are many individuals, groups and organizations working to make Halifax a better place to live. The PDC wholeheartedly believes that together we can accomplish much more than we can individually. As such, in the coming weeks we propose a meeting of interested and potential collaborators. If you are interested in attending this meeting, please get in touch.
Get in touch: t. 902.494.3678 e. info@pdcentre.ca 5257 Morris Street Halifax, NS
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