Canadian City Proposals

[AndrewJM3D]

Indeed.

[Ashok]

Well, it is small because of the 1250 René-Lévesque which is quite large! In terms of development, it is a pretty big project.

[davidivivid]

I know these are only town houses so it's really not an impressive proposal compared to the Icone for example, but I really like them nonetheless. Some neighbourhoods are in need of slow densification and these town houses, replacing one single 70's bungalow, are doing just that. The black brick, the two different types of wood on the facade... yep, I like it.




http://www.menuiserieranger.com/Proj...rles-huot.html

[davidivivid]

New renders for the Îlot Overdale project in Montreal.

Originally Posted by Martin Mtl

By martinmtl at 2012-04-26


By martinmtl at 2012-04-26

[isaidso]

Skye twins proposed for Halifax with other buildings U/C, approved, or proposed added for context. Note that Purdy's Wharf, the city's biggest office building, and Fenwick, the city's tallest building are not in this shot. If built, Skye would be the tallest residential east of Toronto.



It's starting to look like a real city. If Halifax can get these built, it would represent a huge cultural shift. Too many locals still see Halifax as some sleepy town and want to keep it like that forever. I think a large segment of the population will be really dejected if this gets turned down as it will be seen as a sign that Halifax will remain anti-development.

[Haligonian]

Yeah, there tends not to me much Atlantic Canada representation on SSC but lots of stuff is happening on the East Coast lately and there are many great projects in Halifax under construction and proposed. Right now is certainly the best time for development I've ever seen, with the Trillium, library, King's Wharf, Citadel Hotel buildings ,Nova Centre, etc. and now the Skye proposal.

Here's a brief sample of some other proposals:

TD tower expansion. This one's approved and construction is set to start in a couple months:

http://www.halifaxdowntown.ca/images

Waterside Centre, U/C:


hpwatersidecentre.ca

Barrington Espace, U/C:

fusionhalifax.ca

Central Library, U/C:

halifaxcentrallibrary.ca

Vic Suites, recently completed:

breakhouse.ca

Nova Centre office, hotel, and convention complex, set to begin construction in the next few weeks:

novacentre.ca

King's Wharf development. Includes a dozen or so buildings, including a 30 storey tower. Right now 2 buildings are nearly completed and 2 more are about to start. The 30 storey tower will be started in 2013. Here are the nearly finished buildings:

kingswharf.ca

[isaidso]

I love the library, Nova Centre, and Skye. I'm not crazy about the shorter buildings in King's Wharf, but the signature tower is absolutely dynamite! Toronto-Dominion will look much better than before. It looks a bit weird the way it is.

Is there now a low rise building in that triangular bit behind Maritimes Centre or am I not seeing that photo right?

[Haligonian]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Toronto-Dominion will look much better than before. It looks a bit weird the way it is.

There is a story to that building. The left side in that rendering is set back because of a viewplane. That is one limitation of the site. You'll also notice that in the foreground there's a chunk of the building (with the TD logo) that looks separate from the piece behind. That chunk is over two small lots that the original builder was unable to acquire at the time of construction. The present owner recently purchased those lots and now the tower will be built out as originally intended.

I think they're also adding a couple floors to the top. It's going to be 83 m and it is now 72 m or something like that.

[isaidso]

Looks like CIBC will have to follow up with an expansion to its 'tower' as well. Pushing CIBC to 30 would be nice, but likely too much space for them.

[Nouvellecosse]

I don't think that any of the towers downtown have only a single tenant. The ones with bank logos would just have the bank as the largest tenant with other firms occupying the remaining space. So if any of the buildings expand, the new space would be added to the general downtown inventory.

[isaidso]

Wouldn't CIBC demand have a big effect on the size of an expansion being a lead tenant?

[Nouvellecosse]

If CIBC was the one wanting the extra space, as the lead tenant they'd likely have the sway to get the building owner to push out other tenants to make more room. If the total space in the building was not sufficient, then sure, the property owner might look for other ways to provide it. What I'm saying is that currently, downtown office vacancy rates are running low so it's likely such expansions would ease the overall demand. The expansion of the building may not be related to CIBC or its needs at all, and may happen if CIBC didn't even plan on expanding.

[Ashok]

I am curious if one can argue that Halifax has a similar urban planning like Montreal does; in a sense that all of Montreal's core is sandwiched between the mountain + the river. For Halifax, this area would be similar to between the Citadel's surround park and its waterfront, it is much much more smaller in size. Perhaps in a few years, this area will be extremely high?

Either way, I am really pleased to see so many projects in Halifax!

[Haligonian]

It is a very similar layout to Montreal. There's even an area along the waterfront in Halifax similar to Old Montreal.

One difference though is that the area between the Citadel and waterfront in Halifax is only a part of the downtown. The busiest part is actually up the hill.

I would say even Dalhousie (Carlton campus) is blending in with the downtown a bit, much like McGill in Montreal, and Dal extends to the other side of the downtown peninsula.

Here's a composite aerial image from Bing. "Old" downtown is on the far right:

[Nouvellecosse]

I love how Halifax has such an expansive park district at the center. The Commons, Citadel Hill, Public Gardens, Victoria Park, Wanderers Grounds, Camp Hill Cemetery, the Museum grounds together make such a lush area it feels amazing in the spring/summer/fall to walk or bike around there.

[isaidso]

Never thought of the parallels between Montreal and Halifax layout, but they're there. One thing Halifax does in spades is green space. Not only are there abundant green spaces downtown, but they're not just patches of grass. Most of them are well designed and have a feeling of grandeur to them: Public Gardens, Citadel Hill, Victoria Park, Camp Hill cemetery. Point Pleasant is more untouched, but even that is choke full of 100+ year old forts and monuments.

Living in Toronto makes me appreciate Halifax green spaces even more. Toronto has a few that are as nice like Allan Gardens and Queen's Park, but most of the others downtown are quite crummy looking.

[AndrewJM3D]

219 Queen St West

[AndrewJM3D]

Something cool for Winnipeg (except for the terrible surface lot).

[AndrewJM3D]

Casa 2 - posted on UT

[Taller, Better]

Originally Posted by AndrewJM3D

Something cool for Winnipeg (except for the terrible surface lot).

wtf is it?