Highrise Towers On Joseph Howe Drive In Halifax One Step Closer To Approval
HALIFAX – A project that would see a pair of highrise towers built on Joseph Howe Drive is one step closer to approval.
At a virtual public hearing Tuesday, Halifax Regional Council OK’d zoning changes that paved the way for the 12-storey, mixed-use development.
The project, proposed by BANC investments with the help of Zwicker Zareski Architecture and Planning and Lydon Lynch Architects, is planned for 3514 Joseph Howe Drive, near the intersection with Bayers Road.
The building’s base will be a large, five-storey podium occupying a swath of the property with two seven-storey towers atop it, for a total height of 12 storeys.
The ground floor of the building will feature three commercial spaces, with the rest of the building given over to 324 residential apartments (224 two-bedroom and 100 one-bedroom units).
The building will also house 414 parking spaces spread across two levels of underground parking and 50 above-ground parking spaces.
To make that project a reality, the developers asked permission from council to build the towers slightly higher (42 metres instead of 37.5), and the podium slightly taller (20 metres instead of 16.5), than current zoning laws allow.
Council unanimously gave that permission Tuesday night, but the developers still need to secure a development agreement from Halifax West Community Council before they can start the project.
One of the main aspects of the project up for debate, when that happens, will likely be the 20-metre-high podium. The podium will be the most striking feature of the proposed development and feature a large “streetwall” close to Joseph Howe Drive.
Keith Tufts of Lydon Lynch Architects spoke about the podium and streetwall as part of Tuesday night’s public hearing.
Tufts said the streetwall design was inspired by the “history of rail” near the property, as well as the Chain of Lakes Trail and Joseph Howe Drive itself.
“We tried to catch that movement and mobility in the façade facing the street,” he said.
He said the streetwall and podium will feature three individual retail spaces at ground level and four floors of “randomized protruding balconies and bedrooms” above.
That balcony pattern is designed to appear randomized and never repeats itself across the entire façade.
“What we attempted to do was have the building be different every 10 feet along that streetwall,” Tufts said.
But the streetwall design did raise some concerns from the council.
As city staff pointed out in their report on the development, the 20-metre-high streetwall would sit close to the road and is “quite long,” running 114 metres along Joseph Howe Drive.
Coun. Sam Austin said he’s concerned the ground level of the streetwall is “just one, long glass façade” that won’t be attractive to people on the street.
“This is one of those things that looks good in the rendering, but I’m far from convinced it will be a space that really adds to the streetscape when it’s actually built,” he said.
Austin supported the zoning changes that will make the project possible but said the “hard work” will come at Halifax West Community Council, where the development agreement for the project will be considered.
“As much as I’m going to support [Tuesday’s approvals], if I were sitting in your shoes at Halifax and West [Community Council] I would not support this project based on what I have seen,” Austin said.
He urged his colleagues on Halifax West Community council to “take a second look” when they eventually consider the development agreement for the project.
Although the council gave its approval for the development as part of a virtual public hearing, no one from the community showed up to weigh in on the project.
District 10 Coun. Russell Walker said he has heard almost nothing about it from his constituents, and city staff say there “wasn’t a lot of feedback from the community” during its public engagement process.