Major Waterfront Development Approved in Halifax
HALIFAX – A major development project has just been approved along Halifax’s waterfront after a seven-year process.
On July 30, Southwest Properties’ Cunard project was given the go-ahead by the Design Review Committee. The Cunard property will be transformed into a space with 200-plus residential units, plus thousands of square feet in retail and restaurant space on top of public areas.
Southwest Properties is leasing the land from Develop Nova Scotia, and they hope to break ground in 2021. The 30-month construction project is expected to create hundreds of jobs on-site.
The company says it already has a list of 300 people interested in the residential units, and five interested in retail space.
Ben Young, senior vice president of development for South West Properties said it’s too early to know how much rent will cost in the Cunard building. He also doesn’t know whether or not any rental units will be set aside for affordable housing.
“We haven’t ruled it in or ruled it out at this point,” said Young.
Young said seven years is a long time to get through the approval process. But in this area, big developments can often take up to five years to get through the red tape. He said the company used the time to make sure they had the right design in place for the property.
“I think typical would be five years. Surely, from the development community, five years even seems excessive. But that seems to be the average,” said Young.
“We as a company are prepared to spend whatever time and invest more money to make sure we get a good design. The end result is the most important outcome for us…it’s about having it done right.”
Young admitted there was some opposition to the major development since 2013, but compared to other projects this size, the opposition was relatively small.
“There’s opposition to every project that goes forward. I would say the opposition to this project was a one or a two (out of 10).” Claims Young. “This did not have a great deal of opposition.”
Whenever people discuss new developments in Downtown Halifax, parking is often an issue brought forth. Many will be glad to know that the Cunard property will come with 228 interior parking spaces. But this parking space is unique. It is designed so some parking spaces can be converted into more residential units in the future.
“Our company sees the likelihood that there will be fewer and fewer cars on the road,” said Young. “It feels like we’re heading that direction. And we’ve designed this building with a flat parkade, and it gives us the ability to convert some of that parking back into residential.”
Since Develop Nova Scotia owns the Cunard property, it is holding public consultations to find out how best to utilize the available public space. Peter Bigelow, vice president of planning and development with DNS says people want more places on the waterfront where they can play and relax.
“There some things that are missing on the waterfront,” said Bigelow. “There are some things that we’ve played with have been successful, like giving urban folks a place to play and chillax.”
In terms of “play” Bigelow mentions the enjoyment people had on the floating bridge that was used a while back when Queen’s Park was under construction.
“What we learned from that was how much we love getting right down on the water…the action of sea swells and boat wakes making that floating bridge move just became a tremendous feature. So that’s what we call playing,” he said.
As for being able to “chillax” at the waterfront, Bigelow references the giant hammocks that have become a big hit downtown.
“It’s not normal to lay down in public, yet people will come to the waterfront and they will lay down on those hammocks.”