Another Highrise Planned In Dartmouth’s ‘New Downtown’
HALIFAX—Plans are in the works for a highrise tower in an area of Dartmouth on the cusp of a major development boom.
Boston Developments Limited is asking for permission to build a 26-storey tower on Williams Street, near the foot of the Angus L. MacDonald Bridge.
The project, which a city report refers to as “Wyse Tower,” would stretch more than 80 metres high (or about 29 levels) with all its design elements included.
The tower would contain a total of 160 residential units: 72 one-bedroom units, 54 two-bedroom units, and two three-bedroom units. It would also hold 83 parking spaces on three levels inside the building.
Right now, 10 individual lots make up the area where Boston Developments wants to build the tower. Most of those lots are empty but two are being used for an automotive shop and parking.
To move forward with the project, Boston will need permission from the city to consolidate the lots.
However, the project is still in the very early stages of the city’s development process and hasn’t reached that point yet.
On June 8, the city’s Design Advisory Committee considered what is called a “pre-application site plan approval” for the project. Boston is asking for permission to ignore a few small development rules in exchange for showcasing public art on the property.
In this case, that art will be a 10-foot-high sculpture by artist Vassilis Vassili at the corner of Williams Street and Faulkner Street.
Based on the committee’s recommendation, a city development officer will decide whether to issue a full site plan approval for the project. From there, the project will go through the rest of the city’s development process.
In a March 29 Instagram post teasing the Wyse Tower project, Boston claimed it would begin construction in “summer 2022.”
A ‘New Downtown’ At The Foot Of MacDonald Bridge
Wyse Tower is one of many large highrises proposed for, or about to be built in, the Dartmouth neighbourhood at the foot of the MacDonald Bridge.
Others include the three 30-storey towers Magna Hotels wants to build behind the DoubleTree By Hilton hotel; the 20-storey tower proposed near the Zatsman Sportsplex; and the Ghosn Group’s plan for a development complex that includes a 35-storey tower.
Should those projects, and others proposed in the area, get built, it would dramatically change the character of a neighbourhood the city hopes to build up as a major residential and commercial space.
Sukhdev Toor is the president and CEO of Manga Hotels. In a past interview with Huddle about Magna’s proposed towers, he said they would be a part of a transformed neighbourhood near the MacDonald bridge.
Toor said Manga’s project, along with the developments happening near it, could mark the start of a “new downtown” in Dartmouth.
“That Dartmouth area can be a new downtown, kind of. It’s not established yet but when you bring all these buildings and shopping… I think the Halifax area is getting quite expensive, and this [Dartmouth] area needs to grow,” he said.
In a presentation to the council outlining the 20-storey apartment near the Zatzman Sportsplex, Fathom Studios also called the area “a bustling future center neighborhood for Dartmouth” that is “soon to become the connecting tissue… joining the downtown with the North End.”
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].